2012 mantra: No fear
In her post yesterday Cathy mentioned the word gratitude as a good one for 2012. I have picked two words for this year's mantra: no fear. When you read interviews with people nearing the end of their lives, they often regret not taking more risks -- personally, professionally and especially, in creative endeavors. Over the weekend, I read Michael Crichton's potboiler "State of Fear" and his words inspired the no-fear mantra, too. He wrote: "Modern people live in abject fear. They are afraid of strangers, of disease, of crime, of the environment. They are afraid of the homes they live in, the food they eat, the technology that surrounds them. They are in a particular panic over things they can't see -- germs, chemicals, additives, pollutants. They are timid, nervous, fretful and depressed."