How to be less afraid of the dark?

[aart]

One thing I haven't seen addressed in this thread is the question of how reasonable is it for you to be afraid? What is your neighborhood like? What exactly are you afraid of? Are there real dangers like cougars and bears? How about weird people like bank robbers and drunks with guns? If none of these things are likely to jump out at you, what exactly are you afraid of? Tripping over a root and falling? Walking into a spider web? Identify your fear. Then, on a scale of one to ten, determine its actual threat level. Is it life-threatening or just mildly alarming? Now, also on a scale of one to ten, determine how likely you are to actually encounter it. Is it a sure thing, or maybe one in a hundred? If it's a sure thing or a very likely thing, figure out how to deal with it. Like, if it's spider webs, carry a broom and swipe it in front of you. If there are things that might trip you, carry a flashlight so you can see where you are going.

Bottom line: empower yourself. Take control. Instead of being generally afraid of the unknown, plan and prepare. Own the night! A GOOD headlamp, plus a hand-held flashlight will also help you. Good luck, Little Braveheart!

Ditto Dat!!

 

[black_cat]

One thing I haven't seen addressed in this thread is the question of how reasonable is it for you to be afraid? What is your neighborhood like? What exactly are you afraid of? Are there real dangers like cougars and bears? How about weird people like bank robbers and drunks with guns? If none of these things are likely to jump out at you, what exactly are you afraid of? Tripping over a root and falling? Walking into a spider web? Identify your fear. Then, on a scale of one to ten, determine its actual threat level. Is it life-threatening or just mildly alarming? Now, also on a scale of one to ten, determine how likely you are to actually encounter it. Is it a sure thing, or maybe one in a hundred? If it's a sure thing or a very likely thing, figure out how to deal with it. Like, if it's spider webs, carry a broom and swipe it in front of you. If there are things that might trip you, carry a flashlight so you can see where you are going.

Bottom line: empower yourself. Take control. Instead of being generally afraid of the unknown, plan and prepare. Own the night! A GOOD headlamp, plus a hand-held flashlight will also help you. Good luck, Little Braveheart!

It's not reasonable for me to be afraid, as it's a pretty safe neighborhood. Drunks with guns shouldn't be an issue, and the biggest animal I would encounter would probably be a coyote, which is scary, but not likely. I think that I'm still afraid of someone/something being there- I feel like something's watching me and there are lots of places for people to hide in my yard, which freaks me out. It happens when I'm in the dark at school, too- I sometimes have to go from one part of campus to another, across a dark field, and I always end up in a full sprint to get back to where there are other people.

 

[The Happster]

Stick earphones in and listen to some music.
Emotional, dramatic, wordless music is usually the best.
Make yourself feel like you're saving the world instead of trotting around shutting doors.

If you've got a dog, take him out after dark for a game, as regularly as possible. Bring him with you to do the birds, if you need to.

I like the dark. I don't go out with a flashlight. Makes me feel better that if I can't see anyone, they can't see me.

 

[Mmanist]

Realize YOU are what everything in the dark fears.

Moose, brown bears and cougar are the only thing to give me pause. I’ve run into each at night, and they’ve gone the opposite direction in a quick hurry.

I second this, depending on your location. There isn't anything to fear in the night! Most wild animals will run away from you. Your chicken are the ones who should be afraid of the dark! You got this!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Surrounded by forest preserves where I live. Yelp scared of the dark - lots of critters come out at night - like the ghostly looking opossums, raccoons, and used to be coyotes(luckily haven't seen any on a long time). Just make a lot of noise banging on the door, carry a rake or shovel, seems to work. Do a lot of screeching at the always present cats stalking around in the dark. Plus I am great at spewing (?) bad , angry language that sends a lot of things running.

 

[drumstick diva]

Actually I would be afraid to encounter ME in the dark. Thank goodness only one of me.

 

[Mimi13]

When I was young I used to have to put to our dog lot occasionally. It was in the woods and I was always uneasy. I found that singing really loud, even nonsensical songs, worked for me. Mainly, by me singing loudly, I scared everything off before it could scare me!

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

I think that I'm still afraid of someone/something being there- I feel like something's watching me and there are lots of places for people to hide in my yard

Get a giant spotlight, headlamp, or flashlight. Get a heavy one if you want. Sometimes it feels nice to be able to have something in your hands that you could whack someone/something with if needed.
Don't entertain your fears.
What I mean by that: If you start to think that there might be something lurking behind that trashcan or that trailer or something, go check it out.
An unknown fear is worse than a known one.
I've dealt with fear.
Actually, this same thing. My coop is a few hundred yards from the house, and I take the daily - and nightly - trek down to the coop and back. This time of year, it's dark both ways.
There was an incident that gave me a good reason to be jumpy, and to this day I still am a little fearful.
I agree with what a lot of people are saying. Hum, sing, be ridiculous. Find a silent mantra.
For me it was prayer.
I don't know if you are a religious person, but as a Christian, I believe that God is watching over you, BC. He can and has defeated fear.

These are some music videos that I really like, feel free to listen or not.
Fear is a Liar, by Zach Williams

No longer Slaves, by Bethel Music

 

[3KillerBs]

One thing I haven't seen addressed in this thread is the question of how reasonable is it for you to be afraid? ...

Just what I was going to talk about.

I helped my youngest son deal with this same issue when we moved onto this country property. His rational mind *knew* that there was nothing out here, but that doesn't change the fact that he found the woods at the back of the property creepy at night -- in the same way that my knowing with my rational mind that tractor-trailers aren't going to jump sideways and chase me doesn't change my being afraid of them.

People in the modern west aren't accustomed to being outdoors at night -- to the point that we don't even realize how much light there is out there if we let our eyes get accustomed to it -- either light from the stars or urban glow sufficient to mask the stars.

I worked with my son by going out together to look at the stars and pick out constellations, to watch the bats at dusk, and to identify night bird sounds. I also urged him to explore the woods in the daylight so he'd be more familiar with what he was seeing. I wonder if it would help you to stand in your yard at different points between your porch and your chicken coop and just look around at the different things you see and think of how they'd look in different lighting.

I also wonder if a few simple solar path lights at key points would help. It's the wrong time of year to pick them up cheaply at Wal-Mart or one of the home improvement warehouses, but you can get them on Amazon fairly reasonably: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=solar+li...ozilla-search&tag=mozilla-20&ref=sr_nr_p_36_1

If your parents don't like those, there are the lighted solar garden ornaments which can be more aesthetically pleasing. We got something similar to these for my SIL a few years ago because she likes garden ornaments: https://www.amazon.com/GIGALUMI-Sol...1612011&rnid=2661611011&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-33

 

[black_cat]

Stick earphones in and listen to some music.
Emotional, dramatic, wordless music is usually the best.
Make yourself feel like you're saving the world instead of trotting around shutting doors.

If you've got a dog, take him out after dark for a game, as regularly as possible. Bring him with you to do the birds, if you need to.

I like the dark. I don't go out with a flashlight. Makes me feel better that if I can't see anyone, they can't see me.

No dog, but music is a good idea.