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Blog archive

July 2025

June 2025

May 2025

A Day to Celebrate, Connect, and Empower: Older Americans Month at Victory Park
05/30/2025

End of Life: You Do Have Choices!
05/30/2025

Get Moving, Pasadena Village: Walking Toward a Healthier, Happier You
05/30/2025

Music: A Universal Language
05/30/2025

President's Message
05/30/2025

The New Grammar Guardian of Pasadena Village
05/30/2025

Undue Influence: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
05/30/2025

Village Within a Village
05/30/2025

What do we do now?
05/30/2025

A Tribute to Dad
05/05/2025

A Tribute to Mom
05/05/2025

A Board Director Perspective
05/02/2025

A Death Valley Adventure
05/02/2025

Ask an Architect
05/02/2025

Message from the President
05/02/2025

My 15-Minute City
05/02/2025

Neighboring Anew
05/02/2025

Scam Red Flags
05/02/2025

Sir Beckett, A Woman's Best Friend
05/02/2025

Volunteer Appreciation: Giving a New Level of Love and Caring
05/02/2025

April 2025

March 2025

About Senior Solutions
03/28/2025

Building a Bridge With Journey House, A Home Base for Former Foster Youth
03/28/2025

Come for the Knitting, Stay for the Conversation... and the Cookies
03/28/2025

Creating Safe and Smart Spaces with Home Technology
03/28/2025

Finding Joy in My Role on The Pasadena Village Board
03/28/2025

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!
03/28/2025

Managing Anxiety
03/28/2025

Message from Our President: Keeping Pasadena Village Strong Together
03/28/2025

My Favorite Easter Gift
03/28/2025

The Hidden History of Black Women in WWII
03/28/2025

Urinary Tract Infection – Watch Out!
03/28/2025

Volunteer Coordinator and Blade-Runner
03/28/2025

Continuing Commitment to Combating Racism
03/26/2025

Goodbye and Keep Cold by Robert Frost
03/13/2025

What The Living Do by Marie Howe
03/13/2025

Racism is Not Genetic
03/11/2025

Bill Gould, The First
03/07/2025

THIS IS A CHAPTER, NOT MY WHOLE STORY
03/07/2025

Dramatic Flair: Villagers Share their Digital Art
03/03/2025

Empowering Senior LGBTQ+ Caregivers
03/03/2025

A Life Never Anticipated
03/02/2025

Eaton Fire Changes Life
03/02/2025

February 2025

Commemorating Black History Month 2025
02/28/2025

Transportation at the Pasadena Village
02/28/2025

A Look at Proposition 19
02/27/2025

Behind the Scenes: Understanding the Pasadena Village Board and Its Role
02/27/2025

Beyond and Within the Village: The Power of One
02/27/2025

Celebrating Black Voices
02/27/2025

Creatively Supporting Our Village Community
02/27/2025

Decluttering: More Than The Name Implies
02/27/2025

Hidden Gems of Forest Lawn Museum
02/27/2025

LA River Walk
02/27/2025

Message from the President
02/27/2025

Phoenix Rising
02/27/2025

1619 Conversations with West African Art
02/25/2025

The Party Line
02/24/2025

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski
02/17/2025

Dreams by Langston Hughes
02/17/2025

Haiku - Four by Fritzie
02/17/2025

Haikus - Nine by Virginia
02/17/2025

Wind and Fire
02/17/2025

Partnerships Amplify Relief Efforts
02/07/2025

Another Community Giving Back
02/05/2025

Diary of Disaster Response
02/05/2025

Eaton Fire: A Community United in Loss and Recovery
02/05/2025

Healing Powers of Creative Energy
02/05/2025

Living the Mission
02/05/2025

Message from the President: Honoring Black History Month
02/05/2025

Surviving and Thriving: Elder Health Considerations After the Fires
02/05/2025

Treasure Hunting in The Ashes
02/05/2025

Villager's Stories
02/05/2025

A Beginning of Healing
02/03/2025

Hectic Evacuation From Eaton Canyon Fire
02/02/2025

Hurricanes and Fires are Different Monsters
02/02/2025

January 2025

Are You Afraid? The Effects of Widespread FEAR

By Maureen Kellen-Taylor
Posted: 07/04/2025
Tags: fear, maureen kellen taylor

Some months back, increasingly people in meetings expressed their fear at what is happening in our country. I saw how much fear was being intentionally spread and this raised red flags. Fear-mongering as a control strategy has been used throughout political history to sway public opinion, influence voting patterns and even shift cultural agendas. Examples abound.

My reaction to how fear is being used to manipulate our emotions and behavior is anger. At first, I felt helpless but, the more I saw, the angrier I have become. I resolved to learn as much as I can about how fear-based propaganda affects each of us, so that I could find ways to resist that control.

I learned that being bombarded with fear-inducing messages by the media maintains us in a constant state of threat.  Even funding solicitations are couched in dramatic foreboding and bleak consequences. News of a different social institution being attacked every day keeps us off balance and reinforces our fears. We are being conditioned!

Effects of Fear Conditioning

Conditioning, a result of continuous exposure to fear over time, develops the habit of feeling fearful. Since our biochemistry changes according to our constant emotional states, we no longer need to encounter actual danger to feel afraid because we habitually feel fear, stress, and anxiety. When we are in this heightened emotional state, we are more likely to make impulsive decisions based in fear rather than rational thinking and ethical behavior. A belief in what is right is often sidelined as we react.  

There are serious implications for our health. Living under constant threat weakens our immune systems, can cause cardio-vascular damage, create gastrointestinal problems, accelerate aging and even premature death. Our memory is also affected, as well as our ability to regulate emotions (fear), read non-verbal cues, reflect before acting and making decisions. Other consequences are fatigue, clinical depression and PTSD.

By now, I am furious. I learn that my responses of anger and helplessness are common and can drive us into either inappropriate fits of rage or a state of apathetic numbness if we surrender to them. However, anger expressed in positive ways can be useful. Feelings of helplessness are diminished when we help someone else. Obviously, I am channeling my fury into this exploration (and I swear a lot). Transforming the Fear-cycle and sharing it may even lessen our helpless feelings.

In our next post we will discuss ways of breaking the Fear-Cycle as described above.  This will include specific ways to personally deal with the fear and also how to find the “all-important community” so necessary for support.

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