An eye. A blushing cheek. The princess senses her desire for the lad, gets scared and flees. The lad is puzzled.
''Afraid of = desires, wants''
The notion of wants and desire
Everything that we really want or desire, we also fear. Similarly, everything we fear, we also desire. I know this may seem confounding, and from experience I also know that some find the notion very provoking – but before you reject the idea, give it a chance.
‘I am afraid that you won’t like me the way I really am’ (I want you to like me the way I really am). ‘I am afraid of getting lost’ (I want to get lost so that you will miss me).
In the limited space available here I will just briefly outline some extreme situations, where the notion may seem counterintuitive but will prove valid when it is interpreted correctly. ‘I am afraid of dying’ (part of me wants to die so I can escape the difficult challenges of my life). ‘I am afraid that something might happen to my children’ (naturally, I don’t want anything to happen to my children, but I do miss the advantages of not having kids – perhaps the lack of responsibility and the freedom?).