Anxiety’s Infinite Claim

In the mailbox this Odin's Day, the first day of Fall in my mind, notwithstanding the insistence of Summer to refuse to move into transition…Oh, and from the “never say never” file: Today in 1904 Helen Keller graduated from Radcliffe. And for those always looking for the impossible…

Anxiety is our egoic response to the truth of not knowing, of openness to the Great Mystery animating the ongoing flow of Creation. Our lives are an infinite set of processes, coming into being from infinite potential into possibilities.

We can't “know” or possess or contain a process, much less one of infinite dimension. The ego is a component of this process, serving as a tool with which to explore but with the potential to insist on “standing under” that which is beyond understanding. Thus, anxiety cannot be made to “go away” with a wish like brushing away a pesky fly.

Anxiety is a bit like looking at the world through a narrow lens when switching to wide-angle would provide a better view. If you've ever tried to capture in your camera a near-infinite landscape – like, say, the Grand Canyon or the Tetons – you know how impossible it is. Then, when you put down the camera, the totality embraces you, taking your breath away for that moment free of the anxiety present in the attempt to grasp, own, control the view. As you drive away from the scenic overlook, the memory of that free moment can be recalled … even days later.