Fear is the Mind Killer.

Fear is an interesting human emotion. It's not just all about monsters in the closet or falling from great heights or being sat on my extremely fat white girls either. In fact, fear has one commonality, regardless of what it is you think you're afraid of. What we are always really afraid of is loss.

We fear losing a winning streak. Or our innocence. Or our health. Our wealth. Our lives.

Frequently, in a human twist of irony, loss is what helps us get past our fears too. Show me a truly fearless man, and I will show you a person with absolutely nothing to lose. And everything to gain.

I realized today, immediately after being stung by a wasp on the steps outside my apartment, that over the past 30 years I had developed a fear of stinging insects. And the only reason I had was because I had gone 30 years without being stung. Simple. I never had a traumatic experience with a yellow jacket, never saw someone die in my arms because they had an allergic reaction to a sting, nada. I just hadn't been stung in a long-ass time.

And every year that I became further removed from what it actually felt like to be stung by a wasp (I didn't enjoy it, but overall wasn't really all that bad), The more I feared that it might happen again.To the point where I probably acted pretty ridiculous if a bee was nearby, irrational thought kicking in and deciding for me that the more I moved about the less likely it was that I'd get stung.

But why? Who cares? I'm not allergic to bees, and like I said, it's not an enjoyable experience, but it wasn't so bad.

It's the fear of loss of innocence more than anything, I think. That pristine record of 30 years without a sting (which is a good thing, but not what I strive for in life) broken. The fear of a lovely afternoon outdoors marred by a little pain and discomfort and swelling, perhaps. The fear that I'd scream like a little girl and flail my arms about helplessly if I ever did get stung again (for the record, I swore - man-style - and kept on doing what I was doing).

It can't be that I had been afraid of being stung by bees, I'm way too manly for that...