What We Can Learn From Fear; A review of Karen Thompson’s Ted.com Speech

          Karen Thompson Walker is a writer from California.  On Ted.com she discusses what we can learn from frightening situations. She discusses that we are often told to look at fear as a weakness.  As something that we should discard and overcome.  She uses the American whale-ship, Essex, as an example for her speech. The Essex was attacked and wrecked by a sperm whale.  They were left with limited resources and they needed to quickly devise a plan. They had three options; travel to the Marquesas Islands, travel to Hawaii, or sail south in hopes to reach a certain band of winds to that would eventually push them to South America.  Every option came with a fearful consequence.  The men, afraid of the consequences of the first two options, chose to take the long and difficult route to South America.  After two months, the men ran out of food and almost half of them died from starvation.  The best option for the men was to travel to the Marquesas island, but the were too afraid that they would encounter cannibals. 

           

            Karen challenges the audience to look at fear as an act of the imagination. She goes on to describe how fears and stories have the same structure.  We have to consider our fears to be stories, and we are the authors and readers of those stories.

          Karen’s speech inspires me because I have oftentimes let fear get in the way of my decision-making.  I am a very practical person, and like the men of the Essex, I try to take the least frightening route when making decisions.  When I feel fear, my logical senses shut down and I make a decision that seems easier to handle.  Karen’s speech made me realize I have to read my fears with a level head and not be swayed by what seems to be the least scary.  This speech is not specific to an industry or a business, but speaks to everyone no matter what the fear.  Her speech was very inspirational to me.  I can apply her speech to any fear I encounter in any situation.  Here is the link for this speech; http://www.ted.com/talks/karen_thompson_walker_what_fear_can_teach_us.html