This fear has been described before: "In an entirely different setting, early twentieth century Danish explorers found Greenland Eskimo hunters who suffered "kayak angst". While awaiting seals to hunt on a sunny day out on calm seas the afflicted would, out of the blue, have difficulty breathing, experience racing hearts and fear imminent death. The subjects would race back to land and flee into their igloos, some never emerging again." Reference: http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2001/december/panic.htm -----Original Message----- From: Niels Blaauw [mailto:niels.blaauw_at_wanadoo.nl] Oh yes, I do have one of those, in a way simular to Rick's. One big difference: I will NOT talk about it publicly. Shame keeps me from sharing it, knowing my quirk is totally illogical and unreasonal. Having a quirk does not make you chicken in my opinion. Being this honest about it makes you quite the contrary. It makes me a bit jealous, in fact. Do a little search of the internet on fear, anxiety and phobia and you'll find more then you ever could dream up. None of these fears are logical, a lot of them don't even remotely connect to any actual danger, like yours and mine. Therapy seems to have success in some cases, but in your case, I think you found an excellent solution by taking the long way to avoid a tunnel or big ship. Why do something you don't like? We are paddling for FUN, aren't we? Maybe we're not. Last year on Corsica, I paddled a handfull of seacaves. I found them scary, dark, hostile places. I imagined all kinds of monsters lurking in the dark and was always glad to get out of them. So why couldn't I resist to enter the next, and the next, and every bloody cave I could find? I guess I must be crazy. Sometimes, when paddling a safe, quiet lake in moonlight, there will be a tension that does not present itself as fear, but more as a feeling of excitement and mystery. The fear will make the experience more beautiful: It will convert a normal night into a fairytale. It may be a common, childish fear of the dark, but in this case it makes a trip worth my while. Happy fears, try to enjoy them whenever you can, Niels. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Apr 17 2003 - 09:29:22 PDT
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