I’ve got two. The first one is a phobia regarding flying stinging insects. I’m talking about bees, wasps, hornets, bumble bees, etc. Just look at this evil, menacing creature...
ABOVE: If one of these things comes near Dezmond, he will run off screaming like a little girl
Secondly, I am terrified of the ocean. While I still enjoy the beach and getting in the water, if I go out further than where I can stand, I freak out. Too many viewings of “Jaws” as a child.
ABOVE: Dez is frightened of this swimming under him in the ocean
A good friend of mine (“Johannes” on GNABB) is petrified of spiders. Similar to my reaction to evil flying stinging insects, when Johannes sees a spider…he runs off screaming like said little girl.
ABOVE: What is wrong with Johannes? As this picture clearly shows, spiders are not very scary. Johannes must be a wuss.
What are the roots of phobias? Who knows. Some are deeply ingrained survival instincts (perhaps it is good for humans to fear snakes). Some phobias can be traced to childhood traumas. So, dear readers, I’d be curious to hear about your phobias. Spiders? Snakes? Small, enclosed spaces? Small people? Clowns? Ahh, I saw you flinch a little there. Is it clowns, then? I bet you are afraid of clowns. Well, how about THIS!!!!!
7 comments:
You and I have the same phobias. stinging insects and creatures that lurk below knee deep water.
I have not scuba dived much, but I really enjoy it. However, the first time I ever went and jumped in the water, but before I actually "dove under" the water, I thought "This is the first time I can actually test my paranoid theory that there are always creatures around your that you can't see when you are in the ocean." Sure enough, I put my mask in the water and there were about 50 fish swimming around my feet, just circling. Granted they were clearly harmless, but it actually reinforced my paranoia even more. Now, everytime I jump in the ocean or lake, I just assume that theyre are critters within inches of my toes.
One of my favorite Johannes stories is when he was driving along a dark, deserted road late one night, and he actually saw a huge spider in the middle of the road as he drove past it. Apparently, according to legend, Johannes stopped his car, shifted into reverse, and repeatedly ran over the spider until he was sure it was dead.
Personally, I think this was actually rather brave. By stopping his car and returning to the spider, Johannes was clearly facing the risk that the spider would jump onto his car, find a way inside, and slowly devour him. Or, even more likely, the spider in the road could have been a decoy meant to distract Johannes from the fifteen or twenty spiders waiting patiently at the side of the road for him to return.
Either way, as you can see, every once in a while, a person is able to take a stand and stare his phobia straight in the face.
Personally, I have no phobias. As I have explained to my daughter on numerous occassions, I know everything, I can do anything, and I am afraid of nothing. The best part about four-year-olds is they actually sort of believe you when you say something like this. Of course, they don't stay four for long.
I have a deathly fear of Dez retiring his blog.
I've been meaning to comment on this one for a while. First off, great post, with terrific illustrations.
I have a fear of Johannes' snoring.
Also, like you, I have a fear of flying, stinging things. This is the problem my biggest fear that confronts me with some frequency.
Unlike you, I don't really fear the ocean, but that might just be because I grew up near it. I'm not saying I don't get creeped out by what might be crawling around near my feet, but I don't spend every minute in the water terrified of being eaten by a great white. If you know me, it's kind of shocking that I don't.
Things like small or high places don't really bother me unless we're talking REALLY small or REALLY high.
I'm afraid of getting lost. Not like, oh, I wonder which of these streets is Dezmond's, but lost-lost. Like, you turn off a highway in Maine and suddenly you're on an unmarked road with no one in a hundred miles and it's getting dark out. Eek.
Spiders are gross, but I'm only really afraid of them being in my bed.
Clowns are OK. Silly, not scary.
If we're talking weird, no-basis-in-reality phobias, I have a deep fear of coming upon a giant structure underwater. I used to have somewhat regular bad dreams in which I'd be swimming at the bottom of the ocean and suddenly (very suddenly) find myself face to face with a sunken airliner or cruise ship. I'm kind of freaking out just thinking about it right now...
That third paragraph should read "This is probably my biggest fear..." Sorry, it's late. I'm tired.
Funny you bring up your fear of underwater structures. Related to my general ocean phobia and somewhat related to yours: I get extremely uncomfortable swimming (or even thinking about swimming) next to a large structure on top of the water. It could be a big dock or a ship or whatever. Even if I swim in a lake off of a boat, I feel more comfortable swimming away from the boat than next to the boat. It is not about some reasonable fear of getting hit by the propellers (sp?). I can't really explain it. But I want to swim away from them. Which is strange if I always fear swimming in the ocean or a lake, because you would think I would want to be next to something I can climb into or hold on to. But no.
My phobias are needles and stinging insects. Wasps in particular. Bumble bees aren't so bad to me, though. It's the insects with the exposed stingers, or the ones that are flying too fast for you to tell.
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