Fighting Fear and City Hall

Fighting City Hall
Today, I went to an open hearing down at City Hall (what a beautiful building) regarding the New York Historical Society's plans to renovate their building (and construct a huge residential tower). You can learn more about that battle in my Mar. 9 post. The hearing was fascinating and the remarks by the community in opposition to the plan were inspired, insightful and spot on. Great insight into city (and real estate) politics.

Fighting Fear
We all have our demons, right? Currently, the one dogging me is 'fear.' I'm constantly fighting that little nasty. So tonight I attended a panel discussion called "Don't Panic: Living in a State of Fear" at the New School. The event was hosted by NY Salon, The Nation & The Economist, and the discussion rocked! I spoke with panelist Frank Furedi, professor at Univ. of Kent in Canterbury and author of numerous books on the effect of fear on society, primarily when it is politicized (for those who know me: okay, yes, I bought his book "Culture of Fear Revisited" just because it has a pic related to Bird Flu on the cover!) He believes that we have lost the capacity to fear with meaning, that a progressive society does NOT use fear to control the masses, and that politicizing fear is always a bad idea no matter how noble the cause.

I talked with him afterwards, and made reference to the fear I felt about moving to New York sans job. His comment? "Well, now, that is just brave!" An expert on fear called me brave!!!!