The Jackson Browne lyric came to mind when I was thinking of a title for this post.  An alternate title might be why “we should pretend not to be afraid”.  Because every day there is fear of one kind or another, to one degree or another.  To live is to exist in a state of fear.

On occasion we find ways to soothe our fear, but to acknowledge fear is to empower it.  And so should we pretend it does not exist? Well, pretending is bad, isn’t it?  Isn’t pretending a form of dishonesty?  Not neccessarily.  If your intent is deception, then yes, it is an act of dishonety.  But pretense needn’t be a foundation for deception.  Let it be a foundation for transformation.  For example:

“Don’t pretend to be what you’re not, instead, pretend to what you want to be, it is not pretence, it is a journey to self realization.” ― Michael Bassey Johnson

Perhaps you’ve never heard of Micahel Bassey Johnson.  Fair enough.  You’ve heard of Ralph Waldo Emerson?  Try this on for size:

“Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself.  Go forward and make your dreams come true”– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dreaming, self-realization, transformation….pretending.  I’m pretending right now.  I’m pretending I’m wearing pants.  Just Kidding!  Seriously though, I’m pretending that I’m not afraid of someone reading this and thinking that I am stupid.  I’m pretending that someone might care at all, or that someone might read this and have an epiphany.  Without those pretenses, I probably wouldn’t bother with this at all.  In that way pretending becomes intending.  Intending becomes…???

We live in two worlds, the  spiritual and the physical.  Apparently we are more suited to the spiritual since humankind seems to have no shortage of dreams, theories, ideas and imagination, but when we try to bring these things into physical reality we stumble.  The two worlds don’t interface seamlessly; it appears to us that some “things” can only exist in one or the other.  But is that really true?  If it is possible to dream a dream, why can’t a dream be lived?  One thing I know – you can’t live your dream without pretending.