Saturday, March 13, 2010

Scary things

When I started this blog I wanted to always keep posts positive. I like positive. Forward moving. Optimism. However, in recent weeks, I've starting to feel slightly sneaky. Like I'm hiding secrets.

So.

In the same brave spirit as bloggers such as PJ, Jon, Elana, Mary, I'm going to spill. Here are some things that scare the snickers out of me.






Turtles - you never know if they're swimming underneath you - coming to bite your toes. In fact, this fear is so strong, I cannot swim much farther than our raft. And we live on a flippin' lake. This depresses me.






Escalators - my heart quickens whenever I have to jump on or off one. Like I'm going to be sucked under to wherever those stairs disappear to. I've had people bump into me while I pause to try and time my approach.


The dark - whenever I'm alone at night in the house, I leave on a light. Not a night light. A honkin' bright, regular light. The irony is, I'm okay at night in the bush.















Any knife left on the counter with peanut butter on it - okay, maybe not a full-blown fear, but if I have to pick it up, I do so like it's a nuclear bomb covered in ebola virus and leaking pus.






And a very recent scary thing I have acquired since reading Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass - my release day for my debut novel.

  • Excitement can come disguised as fear.

Such as my fear of sailing, kayaking, dogsledding, hiking, canoe racing, and swim competitions.

Care to share one of your scary things?

picts from flickrCC.

25 comments:

Rena Jones said...

Great post, TerryLynn. Interesting about the turtles. As you know, I don't like worms. I also don't like being in deep, open water unless I'm in a boat.

Michelle said...

Fun post! I had a terrible fear of escalators as a child.

I am completely creeped out by live birds, especially turkeys. I don't mind birds at the feeders in the yard, but any birds indoors or close enough to touch bother me. Turkeys should be in an enclosure, or at least a hundred yards away if they are wild.

Also, I fear wax museums. Probably from the old horror movie. I won't go in one.

People Who Know Me Would Say: said...

I am also afraid of getting on and off of escalators - the fear intensified in direct proportion to how many people are on them.

We used to swim in a creek when we were young and we wore canvas sneakers....would that help make you feel safer where the turtles are concerned?

Peanut butter left on knives on the counter....the culprit should be shot. Really.

Worse yet is when someone leaves them in water in a glass or dish in the sink and the peanut butter gets all mung-y ......I just threw up a little in the back of my mouth!

Jackie said...

what the heck r u doing with a knife laden in peanut butter in your house anyway? ahahah, love the post... good to show you are not just a super hero , but human too. Um, not sure if you know, but they are going to have a turtle mascot swimming in the pool next weekend. So that should be fun ay?

sarahjayne smythe said...

I'm with you on the escalators and dark. :) Since I won't swim in anything but a highly chemicalized pool, I don't have the turtle fear thing. But I've got a bunch of other fears that can get put in its place.

Lisa Gail Green said...

Congrats on the final fear - that's one I'd gladly face!

I agree on the escalator thing - so glad I'm not the only one and I'll add an unusual one. I'm afraid of walking/driving on ice. I freeze up! (not intended as bad pun) That's why I left the other side of the country and reside in sunny So Cal.

Good thing I'm not afraid of ghosts, vampires and werewolves though, or I'd have nothing to write about!

Anne M Leone said...

Ohhh, a release date DOES sound scary, in a very exciting way. Congrats!

I'm terrified of bugs. I'm embarrassed to admit this because it's sooo stereotypically girl and I'm not really. But as a child I once opened my lunch box to find it filled with hundreds of aunts. In college I had a ladybug infestation. They were dropping from the ceiling onto my bed. And wasp/bee stings make me swell like crazy. So... it's reasonable to scream and cry when I see bugs, right? =)

Thanks for stopping by my blog, by the way! I'm a little embarrassed how few followers I have, so I tend to hide the "follow" button. I believe if you're logged into blogger and visit my blog, the top bar on your screen (where you can log out, customize your blog, etc) should have a button you can click to follow.

Unknown said...

My biggest fear is failure. Oh, and tigers. Have no idea why as I've never even seen one in real life. Perhaps I'm slightly deranged.
fun post :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Things without feet creep me out - snakes and fish. I was nipped by a trout a time or two when swimming in a lake as a kid. Yuck.

Laura Pauling said...

I think a release day would be terrifying and exciting. And I'm with on the dark thing and swimming in lakes because you can't see what lurks beneath.

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

Escalators scare me, too, but my biggest fear is small places. Elevators, closets, submarines. And high places.

nanmarino said...

I was so afraid of escalators when I was a kid. I'm still not thrilled about them.

Let's see...there are so many things.

Bugs (except lady bugs, butterflies and caterpillars)
The dentist's drill.
Those leopard print snuggies.

Anonymous said...

This is so interesting. Something harmless is scary to others.

I had some childhood fears that stayed with me until my early twenties. Some of them were really strange. One of them was the fear of open windows at night time--I always had to have the shutters or shades drawn.

Janet said...

Neat post, TerryLynn. Turtles are great, except for snapping turtles! I don't like them. The release day of your novel. . . don't be terrified, be overjoyed! I'm impatient, I'm still waiting for my signed contract :)

Marcia said...

Congrats on the release date! As for my scary things, they're bees, wasps and hornets. Every May, a few usually make their way into my basement office. And then I have to flee, screaming, and get no work done till my husband comes home to play exterminator.

out of the wordwork said...

I hear you on the release date fear/excitement thing! And whoo-hoo it's creeping up fast!!

As for my biggest fears - drowning (turtles are a definite yuk but beavers scare the bejeezus out of me), being buried alive, and scary dolls coming to life. Yes, I watched too many episodes of Night Gallery as a kid. Dang you Rod Serling!! *shakes fist*

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Fun post! I am terrified of the dentist, bees (all types), and loss of a loved one.

Elana Johnson said...

So very true! Excitement can come in the form of fear. And it doesn't feel nearly as exciting as excitement.

And I'm terrified of any animal with more than two legs. And geese. :)

Anonymous said...

When I was little my mom had to drap me onto escalators because, like you, I thought I would get sucked down if I didn't get off in time.

This time of year I do a lot of cross-country skiing on narrow, windy trails and I'm scared of running into a moose and surprising it.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Centipedes. The big red ones. They get in our house sometime. Thank God for our cats!

And congrats on the release date!

Jody Hedlund said...

Love this post! And I would have to agree with the book release fear! The excitement mingels with the fear so that I don't know where one ends and the other begins!

Heather said...

Great post! Try dangling worms from your toes, then you won't have to worry about the turtles, because the fish will beat them to it!

I am also afraid of having my toes bit while swimming in deep water (by fish), and I alway get a chill throughout my body when i first jump in. I ultimately faced this fear when traveling overseas, and scuba diving with sharks on a few different occasions. Two times during shark feedings....you actually could see the sharks circling under the boat! I managed to jump in the water! It was thrilling!
And, a night dive in Shark Alley, Great Barrier Reef. Guaranteed to get the heart pumping! You know the sharks are there, you just can't see them!

The second thing was bungy jumping jumping off a a suspension bridge (300ft high)....That was a rush, and i didn't mess myself!!

But, having said all of that, sometimes it is the seemingly "smaller" things that are the scariest....like losing weight, changing your course in life, or driving in the winter! I am digging for my courage to face those fears!

TerryLynnJohnson said...

thank you everyone for your sharing! I've been negligent at responding to everyone, but I love them all!

Anne R. Allen said...

I'm late coming to this post, but I just scrolled down and had to comment on the escalator thing. I had no idea so many people shared my fear of escalators! I feel exactly what you described: that somehow I'll be sucked into the darkness under there--being shredded on the way.

I've got the bug thing too. Especially potato bugs--the ones that look like giant yellow jackets and like to crawl into your shoes and lurk.

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