Thought of the Day

My irrational fears.

I am afraid of clowns. This is irrational. I know I fear clowns because of the movie IT! by Stephen King.
I also know I am afraid of clowns because their disguise their body shape, size, and face. They could be serial killers and I'd never be able to profile them with that creepy ass coloured makeup on.
However, I am well aware that people don't get attacked by clowns. It doesn't happen.

I am also afraid of spiders. It isn't because I think they'll bite me. It's because they're so small that they can disappear and I don't know when they might crawl up on me. Also, anything with more than 4 legs is strange to me.

I have a very irrational fear that something will crawl into my right ear when I am sleeping. For years I can only fall asleep if that ear is covered. If a strand of hair happens to brush by that ear? I flip. I have also noticed that my right ear hole is slightly larger than the left. This encourages my fear that something could easily slip inside, eat my brains, and possess me.

Beyond that, however, I have quite a normal disposition and don't fear many things. Large dogs? No problem. Dark areas? I can run around. Snakes? I find them graceful and beautiful. Heights? No problem. I can look straight down. Lightning? Cool! Injections? No biggie. Yes, I fear the pain that comes with it, but that's because I'm not a sadist. Flying? Flying is fine. I'm afraid of falling though... but most people and their dogs are too.

But my biggest irrational fear?
Dirty bathroom floors when I'm barefoot.
One tiny cut on my foot, and I believe I'll get the worst viral infection that's incurable. Long black hairs intertwined with gum, bandages, soapy residue... I could pass out just thinking about it.
For as long as I can remember, I will wear sandals in any changeroom in fear of treading on this horror. And yes, there are times where I just have to be barefoot. In which case I will take hand sanitizer and douse my entire lower body with it.

That kind of struck me today, as I was speaking with my Dad. Turns out he has the exact same fear of dirty floors. Wonder what that could have stemmed from.

Though I know it's irrational to fear these things, I still take precautions. I don't want to be that 1 in 100000 that gets that horrible disease or gets poisoned by the rarest spider ever found. So I'll shy away from clowns. I'll keep my sandals near me, and I'll pull those covers up tight against my ears at night.