The Wasp of Damocles

A wasp strolled leisurely across my cheek as I sat on my porch meditating this morning.

There’s a whole nest under there. And eventually, I’m going to have to crawl down there past the dog poo and the spiders and shoot it out with the hose.

But in the meantime, the wasps and I coexist.

And my friend taught me an important lesson about fear.

The Sword of Damocles

The sword of Damocles is an ancient Greek tale.

Damocles, a courtier, admires the riches and power of the king Dionysius, so Dionysius offers to switch places with him for a day.

Damocles enjoys the riches, the luxury, the beautiful servants – but soon he notices a sharp sword hanging by a single horse-hair above his head, constantly threatening to fall and kill him.

Paralyzed with terror, he soon begs to leave.

The moral often given here is that wealth and power have their own risks, and are not as nice as they seem. There is always the danger of loss, death, attack, or pain.

But this isn’t only true of wealth or power.

We All Have Something to Lose

Even if it’s only peace, or health, or comfort. We’re alive. And any moment we could not be.

The sword is always hanging.

Our first instinct is to run from the danger, swerve from the pain, escape to safety.

But (while it is certainly good to back away from the bear), the risk of pain and suffering stays with us, regardless.

Meditation Teaches Us to Sit With It

One of the greatest gifts of meditation for me has been the ability to sit with things without needing to change them.

To notice the moment your outbreath turns to inbreath, without controlling the process.

To notice thoughts and feelings, without needing to judge them or change them.

That gentle noticing is what gives us the space and awareness to make different choices.

Maybe fear asks a similar response of us.

Like the risk of death or the sword of Damocles, there will always be danger there. There will always be fear at the edge.

Like our ancestors, terrified of a lion in the bushes, maybe our first step should not be to run. But neither can we never step into the woods.

Maybe the work is simply to remember.

And our task is not to run, but to breathe, and notice.

Fear asks our attention.

Educational Wasps

Wasps don’t like it if you run around screaming and slapping at things, FYI.

They like calm.

And being calm in the face of something scary is what opens up other choices you didn’t see.

Eventually she flew off about her business, and I finished meditating.

And I’m grateful to her. I learned a lot.