Unconfirmed Reports

I sometimes think that the main substance of life is our battle to defeat creeping anxieties. Creeping anxieties that sometimes begin galloping; and I am convinced that almost all of us live like this. Tranquillisers, sedatives, barbiturates, are of course one way to do it. Buddhists have developed sophisticated techniques for doing it. But most do it using habitual distractions – things that they can focus on outside themselves. Many people do it by throwing themselves into work; love is another popular cure. Some people are determined to face their anxieties full on, to drag everything out of the box and examine all of it; others refuse to open the lid, or even to admit that the box exists. I don’t know yet which is the best method.

I have another, connected theory: that most people who do remarkable things in their lives have a fierce engine of anxiety working within them. I think that the main reason why a person would do something far beyond the norm is because they have a great need to fulfil, a sort of dissatisfaction that drives them. So anxiety is not just negative, but is an axis that runs through life, both good and bad.