I cannot think of a time when I have been truly terrified. There have been lots of moments of trepidation. And perhaps like most people there are phobias, things that cause me discomfort, or are the subject of nightmares.
Major life changes, such as interstate moves, can be filled with nervousness. And I have experienced that several times. But while these can cause some moments of unease, they are not truly terrifying.
International travel can also be both exciting and cause of some level of fear. While air travel is very safe, there are occasional incidents. And there are things like finding your way through Immigration and Customs in different countries with people speaking different languages. But I cannot call these terrifying.
One thing that could perhaps have been considered as terrifying to me was when I was a small child. My uncle ran a guesthouse in Healesville. This was on a high hill overlooking the main road. For a period, the drive to the guesthouse had a very steep drop to the road when coming back down. At the bottom of the drive, there was a sharp turn onto the road, with a drop to the creek the other side of the road. This was not a wide road, with space the other side should you overshoot the end of the drive. No, the other side of the road was just that steep drop. I hated going down that driveway. You could say I was terrified that we would not make the turn and end up crashing down the other side of the road. I can remember once refusing to get in the car and insisting on walking down the steps to the road and waiting there for my parents to pick me up. There were plenty of steps. It was a steep hill. But this was preferable to being in a car careering down the hill, over the road and then crashing down an even steeper incline through the bush and ferns and ending up in the creek.
The other time that caused me a great amount of fear, close to terror, was as a young mother. My husband travelled for work extensively at one stage. This left me at home with two young children, and no family around. Hearing sounds at night could be quite terrifying. Even hearing a siren could rob me of sleep. I would lie stiffly in bed, not quite shaking in fear, but unable to relax. I learnt to keep a radio playing music all night when my husband was away. This camouflaged any external sounds and I was able to sleep soundly.
Still, these were not the types of terror experienced when facing a life and death situation. But for me at those times, they certainly filled me with fear.
Joy Shirley
July/August 2018
Major life changes, such as interstate moves, can be filled with nervousness. And I have experienced that several times. But while these can cause some moments of unease, they are not truly terrifying.
International travel can also be both exciting and cause of some level of fear. While air travel is very safe, there are occasional incidents. And there are things like finding your way through Immigration and Customs in different countries with people speaking different languages. But I cannot call these terrifying.
One thing that could perhaps have been considered as terrifying to me was when I was a small child. My uncle ran a guesthouse in Healesville. This was on a high hill overlooking the main road. For a period, the drive to the guesthouse had a very steep drop to the road when coming back down. At the bottom of the drive, there was a sharp turn onto the road, with a drop to the creek the other side of the road. This was not a wide road, with space the other side should you overshoot the end of the drive. No, the other side of the road was just that steep drop. I hated going down that driveway. You could say I was terrified that we would not make the turn and end up crashing down the other side of the road. I can remember once refusing to get in the car and insisting on walking down the steps to the road and waiting there for my parents to pick me up. There were plenty of steps. It was a steep hill. But this was preferable to being in a car careering down the hill, over the road and then crashing down an even steeper incline through the bush and ferns and ending up in the creek.
The other time that caused me a great amount of fear, close to terror, was as a young mother. My husband travelled for work extensively at one stage. This left me at home with two young children, and no family around. Hearing sounds at night could be quite terrifying. Even hearing a siren could rob me of sleep. I would lie stiffly in bed, not quite shaking in fear, but unable to relax. I learnt to keep a radio playing music all night when my husband was away. This camouflaged any external sounds and I was able to sleep soundly.
Still, these were not the types of terror experienced when facing a life and death situation. But for me at those times, they certainly filled me with fear.
Joy Shirley
July/August 2018
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