Yep, I sure messed up by not getting this post out in time for Halloween. It would have been spot on! But before our very weird tradition of embracing all things creepy fades completely into the background for another year, I thought we could do some exploring on the topic together.
Let’s start with a question… you game?
Soooo… What creeps you out?
Do you even know? I do—centipedes creep me out! I remember encountering my first one in our basement when I was about eight years old. I ran full speed up the stairs, through the kitchen, out the back door, and all the way to the alley in the back of our house. That’s clearly where my fear of centipedes originated.
Having never seen a critter so fast and so ugly, I was scared out of my wits and felt I was facing imminent harm and maybe even death itself.
My adult self can see my fear was exaggerated unnecessarily and was at least ninety percent irrational. Fear does that to us.
If we recognize its origin, we can begin to face then overcome our fear.
I didn’t encounter another centipede for decades. Not in Texas. Not in Colorado. The closest ones until now were those pesky, creepy little millipedes we had in Virginia. So now, I find we have these bona fide desert centipedes, as well as several other varieties here in Santa Fe. And they’re the big ass ones too. Gak!
I haven’t even seen one of the mongo ones yet. Two-and-a-half to three inches is about all I’ve encountered, but Lanette has seen one of the big fellas. That said, something was enough to inspire last night’s nightmare about an eight-incher capable of near warp speed evasive maneuvers. It was in the house, of course, escaping my every attempt at eradication. His own tactical moves were clearly better than mine.
In my defense, these critters have fourteen more pairs of legs!
I’m pretty sure the inspiration came from a conversation with Ramon, our pest control guy, and new BFF. We were talking about the various critters to be aware of and watch out for in our new environs out here in the desert Southwest. Then he felt the need to share that he had a giant centipede as a pet when he was a kid.
Who does that?
(Enter the willies.)
And like I said, we’ve got a lot of new critters to learn about out here. Snakes. Tarantulas. Scorpions. The aforementioned centipedes. Lizards (they’re cool, though). And what have you?
Then we get to the bigger class of wild things. Assorted rodents like pack rats that like to dine on your car’s wiring harness. Bobcats. Coyotes. Mountain lions. Black bears. A funny thing though… the bigger they are, the less they bother me. Sometimes the smaller the threat, the bigger our fear. Why is that?
Size matters here, but not in the usual way.
Are you still with me? Good!
Because there are a few lessons that can be learned from those pesky little critters that can creep us out just by showing up. Many times, our fears have no rational basis.
As I’m searching how to apply the metaphor of things that creep us out, I’ll share a few transferrable critter management strategies that I learned from Ramon.
These are simple, reasonable, and effective countertactics.
First, learn what they like, then don’t give it to them. Food, water, warmth, easy entry, and the like.
Don’t unwittingly invite them to stay. So, what do I mean? Little things like cleaning up your crumbs after that late-night snack. Mom would be so proud.
Invite their predators to hang out. Raptors like hawks and falcons love to chow down on the buffet of rodents. Here’s a link to a good article on attracting new raptor friends.
Look for the benefit. You know those snakes I mentioned earlier? Well, it turns out that gopher snakes (aka – bull snakes), one of the most common in these parts, will clear your yard of small rodents and then move on to dine elsewhere. Cool, huh?
Here’s a final thought…
How could that thing that’s creeping you out can be channeled into strength or motivation?
They say fear can be a great motivator—after all, its primary purpose was to keep us alive back in the time of saber-toothed tigers. Staying alive was pretty good motivation back then.
There are essentially two types of people in the world: those who run from fear, and those who square their shoulders and face it even if their hands are shaking while they do.”
—Ashley Arcel, blogger
In her post on Elite Daily, “5 Reasons Why You Should Use Fear As Motivation To Achieve Better Things,” Ashley gives us five great reasons to feel the fear and then move forward anyway. You can read her post here.
One of her five reasons seemed to tie in nicely with the idea of things that creep us out. She says fear is going to happen, so we should make friends with it. Hmmm, friends huh?
“Life is scary, and freak[y] things happen.”
People who embrace their fears and face them are happier in the long run. We’ll be more successful and become better equipped to handle the ups and downs of life.
Fear and excitement feel much the same. That twinge we feel in our gut can excite and motivate us, or we can allow it to stop us cold.
Ashley points out, “When we look back on the most exciting and growth-filled periods of our lives, we can see that they were also some of the most terrifying.”
Be sure to peek under your bed before climbing in tonight.
Oh, and check your shoes in the morning.
Be untucked.
Thank you for reading LifeUntucked today. It really means a lot considering you have over 31 million other choices. I strive to make it one of the most helpful and entertaining blogs in cyberspace. Your thoughts and comments are always welcome!
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