This is the second post in a small series on the phenomenon of fear. We all know it. We will shed light on how it moves us, how it paralyses us and how it sometimes makes us freeze. In other words, how it controls us in our daily lives, sometimes more, sometimes less. We want to give you some ideas on how to deal with it better – we want to give you food for thought and look at the phenomenon of fear from different angles.

Travelling with the fear of others 

People are so fearful in this pandemic. Which fear is driving us the most? And what fear is driving the people who are making decisions?

Yesterday I took the train to Frankfurt with two huge boxes filled with mats for Thai massage, to take them on the plane to the Canary Islands today. During the ride I did translations for the Summer Evolution program, and I was thirsty for coffee. A long evening with Thorsten was coming up, I haven’t seen him for 9 months and I didn’t want to be too tired too early. So I walked through the train, which was only a quarter full, into the dining car. Train travel is nice in the pandemic, everything is quiet, everyone wears masks and doesn’t chat much, the trains are empty and usually run on time.

In the dining car I ordered my coffee and next to me a nice man ordered a wheat beer. He was kindly instructed that because of the pandemic, only non-alcoholic drinks are sold in the dining car. The man shook his head – what does my wheat beer have to do with the pandemic? Unfortunately, no one could answer that. The thought that someone could be harmed by alcohol in a wheat beer is so abstruse – it creates something like a state of illness in the mind. What fear drove someone or even a committee to make such rules? Well – it is the fear of death. Or, in the case of the decision-maker, perhaps the fear that his chair will be cut if he continues to enjoy wheat beer in the dining car.

The fear of dying with or from covid apparently causes a great many people to change their behaviour, to restrict themselves and to submit to a dictate of Kafkaesque rules in constant fear.

I am writing this article on the plane, on the way to the retreat. Forewarned, there is alcohol here on board, but again I only ordered a coffee. But there is another great rule here. Because of Covid, the front toilets are not in use. Obviously someone thought that the possible spread of viruses is less if 200 people share 2 toilets instead of 4 and of course have to walk further distances through the plane. Or that the crew should only exchange viruses among themselves (in the front). Apart from the fact that all people here have to show a current negative PCR Covid test to get on board and wear masks all the time, a contribution to world health is supposed to be made by reducing the number of toilets available.

Fear displaces and destroys intelligence – a journey through Absurdistan

The fact that the airline’s trolleys have to be moved from the front to the back 500 times because people have to run to the back toilet all the time and they can’t get past the trolleys, which results in a lot of unnecessary discussions, has not impressed anyone who came up with these regulations. The stewards are overwhelmed, understandably, the fact of the pandemic must explain everything – that there are only half the things to eat that are on the menu, that you have to pre-order everything, that this and that will not be delivered…fear supersedes reason, and we all go along with it.

There are other posts here on the blog about the wonderful retreat Shiva’s Temple. So a few lines about the return journey. This was with another airline to Düsseldorf. All toilets were available, so there was no toilet crisis. The flight was much more relaxed. However, getting off the plane was absurd in a way I had never experienced before. Exit at the front, row by row. So row 1 starts, everyone else stays seated and waits. Then row 2 stand up, pack things, get off, then row 3 and so on. Since I had allowed myself the luxury of sitting in row 4, I was on the bus after 10 minutes of this spectacle and could go to the terminal. So I was still able to catch my train. But how would my evening have gone if I had sat in row 32? Again, a great fear must control the people who decide these rules. How many lives were saved in this action – after five and a half hours of sitting close together in a full Airbus A320?

If you want to travel during this time: You will be rewarded by empty cities, wonderful nature, beautiful beaches with few tourists. But be aware that you will have to face your own fears (is what I am doing dangerous for me or others, am I breaking rules?). Also be aware that you will constantly encounter the fear of other people and that you will often be confronted with rules that make little sense.