The Lion Under My Bed

When I was very little, a lion lived under my bed ... It sounds cute and funny now, but then it was a Very real thing, and that lion terrorized me. Where Did that lion come from? It started before I turned Two, and goes as far back in my memories as do my Migraines - my very first remembrances. How can a Soul that young - that chaste and unsullied - have Created terror already, at such an innocent age? I Hadn't seen any movies, (this was the late 50's), I Hadn't read any books of horror or monsters with My mom, as she would never have allowed any Such materials into our home, I hadn't been teased Or terrorized by my siblings, as they both took my Protection seriously, (and we were not allowed to Even argue), and yet I believed with every fiber of My being, that if I put my feet down onto the floor After the lights were out at night, a very real and Animate lion would most certainly grab my legs and Pull me under the bed, and there's nothing anyone Could have said or done that would have made me Believe otherwise! I HAD read a Little Golden Book Called "The Tawny Scrawny Lion", but I LOVED that Lion, and he didn't scare me a bit! So just where did That fear come from? Are we BORN with a certain Amount of innate terror in our souls? Are we given Or "provided" with a part of our imagination that is Contrary to the happy and sublime, in order that we Have something to measure the good and positive Against? It has become clear to me over the years, (And some will disagree with this), that the negative Is as important in our lives as is the positive - that Tragedy, fear, anger, sadness, and even hatred, (to A certain extent), are essential to our comings and Goings, (in limited amounts, hopefully), for without Them we have no appreciation of the positive. Life On this planet would be complete apathy and pure Carelessness without the negative as a litmus to Measure the good against. This is a somewhat Disturbing thought, to a certain degree, but without Evil, there would be no good, without hate there Would be no love, without the dark there would be No light. Much as we would like to imagine a world Without those negative emotions and energies, we Would have no appreciation of anything good or Positive without them! They are as essential as Anything else, though I pray they come in limited Amounts. I, myself, often speak of how wonderful The world would be without hatred, but the very Real, naked, sane truth, is that without hatred, There would be no love, and no appreciation of the Things love can do - the changes it can affect. Are We provided from birth with an innate, soul-deep, "Healthy" fear of the negative and dark? Is it somehow Inherent to ALL creatures? Fear keeps all of us from Hurting ourselves throughout life, but is there more To it than just what we are taught? Is there a natural Darkness to our beings that is as important as the Rest, and the true source of our appreciation of What's good, happy, loving, and joyful? Is it a genetic Trait? Are we taught what is good and evil for the Sake of hearkening the good? Left to our own devices From birth, would we gravitate to the dark INSTEAD Of the light? I don't believe so - I believe we are Innately GOOD, but WHY?? What made us, as a Race and a species, gravitate toward the appreciation Of what we now consider "good"? Where did that Change in energies and motivations come from? That lion left the dark spaces under my bed many, Many years ago, but I have replaced it with much Deeper, darker horrors, born of dreams and books And movies and depression, and the subconscious Areas of my mind that I am helpless to control. I Was very afraid of the dark then, too, but I have Learned to embrace it as something very warm and Comforting, primarily due to the fact that I suffer from Migraines, and find my only refuge from pain in the Darkness. But we all have lions under our beds in Some respects, and I tend to believe that they are As important as what keeps us safe from them, Or gives us victory over them, and we learn over Time to limit their intrusion into our lives ... hopefully. There ARE, of course, some people who come to Reverse the balance of good and evil, positive and Negative, light and dark, and the result is frightening, Consistently antisocial, and blatantly contrary to Anything of benefit to the human condition. But, Our understanding of it is crucial, and I think we Miss that a lot, and even avoid it. Our fear should Be focused on the things that can bring pain and Destruction to our lives, not fear itself, for, as Strange as it may seem, THAT is an essential Element to our survival, productivity, growth ... And HAPPINESS.