Better to Mistake a Stick for a Snake

Sept. 6, 2020

“It is better to mistake a stick for a snake than a snake for a stick.”

Somewhere, long ago, when learning about how the brain is wired for anxiety, I read this sentence and I have kept it filed in memory ever since. Evolution programs us to constantly scan for what is out of place, for what is different, because that new thing might hurt us.  So when the brain finds something out of order, instead of saying, “Oh don’t worry dear, it’s nothing,” it overgeneralizes and overreacts. “Be careful. Watch out.”   It can make a body feel utterly exhausted. 

We are all scanning.  All scared. Everything is out of place.  We are all checking the sticks for snakes, sometimes not sure which is which.  And many people feel more disconnected than ever before.  Circles of protection on Zoom grow weary and thin.