It is impossible to ignore the barrier of fear in community development. As consultants, who have individually spent up to 20 years in communities working toward sustainability, the reality of fear as a barrier cannot be denied. Our approach to dealing with this reality is tied to an understanding that each moment of our lives is an open space in which we either expand our care for people and concern for things or shrivel in fear – fear of the unknown; fear of competition; fear of looking bad, not good; fear of loss – identity, money, recognition, fame. Each moment is a definitive window through which we greet the world with an expansive heart or a knotted stomach.

For example, consider the emotion of “anger” – when you are angry you have a choice – you can shrink away from it in fear or you can embrace it with an open heart. Give your fear some room to breathe – surround it with care for others – tell the truth about it – go so far as to regard it as sacred. In our community work, we find when people face the hard stuff and welcome it into their lives, they become free of it. When we show care for it just the way it is, instead of shrinking away from it in fear, it changes before our eyes.

Return to Results Page