The (Original) Blog

“You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free. Your. Mind.” – Morpheus, in The Matrix movie

New blog posts from 2022 on are now on the Shift the Country Substack - which are free to view or to subscribe to.  Substack is an effective publishing platform that helps writers get wider audiences and support, and it's a good fit.

This (Original) Blog for Counterfear.com is an exploration of the counterfear work from 2016-2020.  Some of the content since 2020 is on the Counterfear Facebook wall.  More background "About The (Original) Blog" is here.

This blog space is a dynamic tool.  As content builds, you can use the buttons below to search for blog topics you are interested in.  Each Focus Area has a tag.  The "Counterfear Tools (in blog)" can be found via that link or through the tags here.  Shift the Country tools have moved to the 5 Ways To Make Shift Happen page on that new website.

All blog post entries are original unless noted.  All blog post comments are moderated and delayed until approved.

 

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It Almost Certainly Is Going To Be A Pandemic

Monday, February 3, 2020
Two enormous factors converging. You never know what will cause the perfect storm. We can see the risk landscape intensifying though: *** The constitutional... Read more

DHS ICE HSI Agents Send Protest Letter To Secretary

Friday, June 29, 2018
I get very serious when it comes to what homeland security is supposed to be about.  We can push exactly that as a critical message at this time. It's directly related... Read more

Humanity in Vegas

Monday, October 2, 2017
This quote is from a witness in the Las Vegas mass shooting.  His name is Anthony, filmed with his girlfriend Dillon. He was interviewed by Jo Ling Kent, NBC News Correspondent at 8:05 p.m.... Read more

Countering Fear & 9/11: A Community Radio Conversation

Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Click on the graphic below to hear KHOI's "Heart of Iowa" 9/15/16 Community Radio Show I’ve spent kind of a ridiculous amount of time this year thinking about 9/11.  The fact that I think that that is... Read more

Light From the Darkness: The Day After 15 Years After 9/11

Monday, September 12, 2016
"I remember exactly that moment when the whole world stopped & we saw each other standing there. Wondering how we ever forgot that we are all light wanting to shine for each other." - Brian Andreas, StoryPeople Yesterday I tried to write a blog post about 9/11.  Well, if I’m honest, I started trying to write it on Friday.  Didn’t work.  Didn’t... Read more

Keep the Faith

Monday, June 20, 2016
Fire folks are known to be a little eccentric.  Well, wildland fire folks, anyway.  Come to think of it, just today I had a new friend say to me, “who voluntarily goes into a burning forest, anyway?”  To me, that sounds like a... Read more

Tool: Embrace Your Humanity

Wednesday, June 15, 2016
This is a tool from Steve Maraboli, a favourite life coach of mine.  I met Steve in 2009, well before I considered becoming a life coach myself.  Steve planted a seed, though. I listened to hours of Steve’s online radio... Read more

On Orlando: Love Makes Us Strong

Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Pulse Nightclub Attack - June 12, 2016 - Orlando, Florida Tonight I finally figured out what I wanted to say about the attack this week at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.  I outlined a... Read more

For the Universe-Denters, the Leapers, and the Dreamers: What To Do With The Voices In Your Head

Friday, April 22, 2016
“What do stars do?” - Yvaine, in the movie Stardust I’ve been in hermit-mode lately.  I suspect that the people who dream big and make stuff happen all maybe do the hermit thing every once in a while.  For me, it’s the best way to get a lot done.  If... Read more

Stealth-Help

Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Lately I’ve been busy writing an abbreviated history of my life and times for The Blog and the website.  One of the dangers and benefits of all the writing is that it inspires other... Read more

Why

Tuesday, March 1, 2016
"Light up the darkness." - Bob Marley   [NOTE:  This piece has become one of the anchor pieces in the story of getting ready for the great disruption that began in 2020 with the pandemic.  More pieces to the back stories are here, including a sort of update to this post here on Why called The Great Transformation.]   Most Counterfear.com blog posts are conversational and fun and not so technical. This one is technical, serious, and sobering. It is a memorial.  It is a foundation.  It is also an explanation.  A clearing.  And a space to dream. This blog... Read more

Children of the Cornfield: Hilarity & Inspiration at a Middle School Musical

Saturday, February 27, 2016
I moved back to Iowa recently, for a different life.  I had spent four years in the LA Basin (with 18.5 million people), and another eleven-plus in the Washington, DC area (9.5 million)… so that’s over 15 years in the country’s 2nd and 4th largest metropolitan areas.  OOF.  I add an extra “uff-da!” to that when I think about how I set out to be a park ranger, to live in the trees.  Who would have thought the world of wildland firefighting would lead to the damn... Read more

I Took the Red Pill: Why I Am On The Counterfear Path

Tuesday, January 26, 2016
“This is your last chance.  After this, there is no turning back.  You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.  You take the red... Read more