"No one is afraid of the dark, they're afraid of what the dark hides. When you can't see what's out there, you fill in the blanks. And there's no place scarier than your own imagination." - Gortimer Gibbons

As kids one of our biggest fears was the dark. Our childhood minds would take-off, and convince us all these scary things lived there. Maybe they could, and actually did, and we were just told not to believe in monsters.

When we are younger, what lied in the shadows at night became horrifying. The unknown became different for each person. For me, they were monsters from underneath my bed. I had to learn to rationalize things, and find ways to tell my mind they did not exist. I would have nightmares about what was in the dark, under my bed, or even hiding in the back of my closet (surprise!, it was me 😂). In all seriousness, It was a crippling fear as a child.

I remember when I was 5, watching (now an 80's movie) Little Monsters and being terrified by it. It was supposed to be a movie for children (still have not re-watched it as an adult). Howie Mandell played the loveable friendly monster, but there was this whole world under your bed, The unknown, that "not-so-friendly" ones came from. They could come into our lives and take as they pleased, or so he (and I back then) thought. I began to believe in it. I distinctly remember a scene where Fred Savage (who played the boy) confronted what he didn't know and set out Doritos chips as bait, to lure the monster into a trap. He outsmarted his fear.

 No one can convince you not to be "afraid of the dark', or learn it is irrational. We just outgrow things at some point (though I cannot tell you when). I no longer sleep with a nightlight, but I still love the comfort of tv and background noise. My fears have shifted too as I have lived and grown. They are more like "worries" now. I worry about My Family. Myself. The Future. And still in a similar way, The Unknown...

I started becoming complacent. I fear taking risks (Gambling is a vice I do not have). I fear not having control. I fear falling. I fear the Unknown. But I am realizing I fear regret more. I fear not trying hard enough. I fear not trying to fly. Sometimes our worst enemy is "being comfortable", Maybe the "monsters" and "fears" aren't gone, just different, and we can just outsmart them if we think differently. The unknown, will always be that, until you explore it.

Drive-by and throw some Doritos out to catch that little monster you fear.