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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Things To Hold On To
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Some Big Picture Parts
Hey! It's another super long post! This one puts some of the pieces together in one place that we're not all talking about as a big... Read more
Time To Think Deeper Resilience
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Folks it's time to think deeper resilience.
Put your contingency plans in place. Write down the phone numbers you need. Have backup plans for meeting... Read more
Fighting For Each Other
Monday, June 1, 2020
We're in a hell of a moment. If you are hoping that it is going to calm down, I'm here to tell you that it won't. We just had a series of super spreader... Read more
3 Things To Demand From Legislators
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Wondering what to demand from your legislators? Please share widely.
These 3 federal authorities & capabilities are not being fully used. People will... Read more
3 Huge Federal Things Not Fully Activating
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Three Huge Things The US Government Is Deliberately Not Fully Activating That Could Help Keep You Alive:
1 -- The Defense Production Act.
2 -- The... Read more
Play Time Is Over
Friday, February 28, 2020
Play time is over.
If you don't think the pandemic threat of coronavirus is worth taking seriously, then you're not paying attention to the ENTIRE FREAKING... Read more
Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Late night commiserating, here.
And fight.
I am super frustrated lately with a) judgment and b) unnecessary meanness. Oh, and c) dismissiveness.
These... Read more
Stop Waiting For Something Bad To Happen: It Has (And There Are Things You Can Do About It)
Saturday, August 4, 2018
If you are under the impression that the United States government can do nothing to fight Russian cyber actions and attacks, to help states with election security, to help with detection of cyber threats to states or companies or federal systems, or to take offensive cyber... 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
Despondency Doesn't Save Democracy
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” – Representative John Lewis
Things are getting more intense, here in the U.S. of A. We’re in a near-constant ramping up of, well, a whole heck of a lot.
This weekend, a protest... Read more
Homeland Security: Action Calls & Election Issues
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
× × × PLEASE SHARE WIDELY × × ×
When you're making action calls, and/or preparing for the 2018 mid-term elections:
Ask which homeland security priorities... Read more
Doing The Same Thing Over & Over Doesn't Cause Change
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Y'all, @600 people were shot at one single incident in the past year in Las Vegas. There are active shooter incidents every few days in the US. Orlando in... Read more
Holding The Line: Law & Order
Thursday, January 25, 2018
The Institution Is Essential
Institutions matter. They are the anchors to society, the social contract, and government itself.
When it is your... Read more
The Mueller-Oprah Phenomenon, & Another Way
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Holding Out for a Hero
No one person is going to save the day – or the country. It's not Special Counsel Mueller. Despite all of the twitterpation since Sunday’s Golden Globes that Oprah... Read more
Allowing Hope In
Saturday, December 30, 2017
I keep leaving fire. It’s a funny thing to leave, because the ways in which I leave are not really visible to the fire world. They’re quiet – as so many leavings are. They vary, too. I left the field for fire management. I left fire management to work on post-9/11 stuff in Washington, DC. I left that because it didn’t... Read more
It's Time To Talk About National Security
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
My advice today: it is time to talk about National Security.
This is the dialogue. This isn't about politics. This isn't about anything else now but a threat to the security of... Read more
Keeping My Damn Voice
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
There are moments... and I find myself tempted to temper my voice to meet some perceived Important Mission.
Here's the thing, though. I tempered my voice... Read more
Catastrophe in a Catastrophe: Hurricane Harvey
Saturday, August 26, 2017
There is no doubt that Hurricane Harvey is a natural disaster already underway. We don’t know yet if it will become a catastrophe – time will tell, as flooding persists over days. First, this post will note how to help in a... Read more
Be the Storm: Channeling Intensity
Thursday, August 24, 2017
"Fate whispers to the warrior, 'you cannot withstand the storm,’ and the warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm.’” – Unknown
Sometimes I forget that I am an intense person. This is probably due in part to years of work in federal bureaucracy attempting to squish it out of me. Today I remembered because I was playing the Beastie... Read more
Quick Guide: Get Media Coverage Of Your Protest
Sunday, August 13, 2017
NOTE: This post was originally published on the Counterfear Facebook page here, where there is some discussion.
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Folks, if you are doing... Read more
Charlottesville: What Would Your City Do?
Saturday, August 12, 2017
A white supremacist rally was declared unlawful after turning violent today in Charlottesville, VA, and an emergency declaration was issued by the... Read more
Guam, North Korea, & a Nuclear Threat
Friday, August 11, 2017
I have never been to Guam, but I have twice been on teams whose job it is to look after it in some way. At South Ops in Riverside, CA, the South Pacific... Read more
It's Kind of a Long Story (Book vs. Blog)
Friday, May 12, 2017
Way back when I was in college, my mom suggested I write a book. Wait, do I sound younger if I just say "Back when I was in college?"
I digress.
At the... 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: Sphere of Control
Friday, June 17, 2016
"You don't surrender your dreams. You surrender the one thing you never had and you never will: control." - Socrates, Peaceful Warrior
Read more
Tool: Change Your Language, Shift Your Life
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Take a look at your language.
You are not what you were. From this moment on, you can be something different.
Language is powerful. How we use it reflects how we think. When you pay attention to your language, you can see what it reflects about how you think. When you put the work in to change your language and your thinking - you can shift both.
Talking about You
To start with,... 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
On Newsletters
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
So I will admit this: I was a bit of a policy wonk during my quality time in Washington, DC. I only mention this because one of the things you do when policy wonking is... 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
About the Blog
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
“If not us, who? If not now, when?”
The Counterfear Blog is a piece of the heart and soul of this website, and of the counterfear idea. I do not promise brevity. I am... 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
Launching an Idea: What is Counterfear?
Friday, January 22, 2016
Welcome to Counterfear! This right here represents my first blog post, and something I didn't expect. That is because the word "blog" annoys the daylights out of me. It is an ugly word, although the idea behind it is good. I purposefully avoided using the word for several years, hoping maybe it wouldn't stick around. Hoping... Read more