Fears of Your Life

You will miss out if you don't read this aloud. For some reason, hearing it, even if you read it to yourself, is critical - some people say this about poetry. I heard a portion of it read on NPR and I was so moved I had to pull the car over and wait till the reader stopped before driving again. I assume some of the proceeds go to the non-profit where the author goes regularly, so that makes me feel even better about buying this book for friends.

I heard a piece of this book read on "this american life" it was awesome. I found it online & received it as a birthday gift. I was expecting it to be a little photocopied zine type book, to my surprise it was hardbound book with good quality paper. This book is awesome...in content and presentation. I highly recommend it.

Michael Bernard Loggins sat down one day and wrote out everything he was afraid of. Through his work at Creativity Explored (an art program for developmentally disabled adults), his Fears of Your Life was chosen to be part of an exhibition at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. They were painted on the wall of the stairwell in his handwriting. Fears such as "Fear of Hospitals and Needles", "Fear of Heights", "Fear of being different" were there beside "Fear of Dragon", "Fear of Pirates" "Fear of something that you think that could be in the closet that might be scary is scary", and my personal favorite: "Feared that if you Put too much of toilet Paper in the toilet Bowl it will run over and get all over the Floor and on you and on someone else too. It would leak from up stairs to the Next Floor Below." "What is Fear? what does Fear tells you about a stranger? Does Fear makes you clever or Does it warns you that you and your Friends needs to Protect yourselves From Danger!" is there right next to "I better not stick my Feet out in the side of my bed or the monsters will bite me or wanting to eat me so I better stay Foot. That's Fear for you!!" All throughout the exhibition an amazing number of people could be seen each day sitting on the stairs and reading the Fears from start to finish. There was something amazingly freeing about it - as if we all were realizing just how petty those fears that we have within us really are. YBCA is a non-collecting institution that changes it's exhibitions quarterly, but for some reason it took around two years for the Visual Arts department to get around repainting that wall where the Fears were. Even when our galleries were borrowed for the DeYoung Museum's presentation of the Impressionists touring show, the Fears of Your Life remained - and people who came to see the Impressionist show would find themselves seated on the stairs, staring at the Fears with a fascinated look on their faces.When the Fears were finally painted over, many of those of us who worked at YBCA felt like we had lost a friend. I am delighted to find out that the Fears of Your Life have been published as a book that I can now share with friends. (I've already purchased four copies!)

This is a delightful book - full of fears most of us are too afraid to articulate. The list is a poignant portrayal of the traits that make us human - not just about fear - but love, longing, and the value of human connection. A quick read and a must read.....I gave this book to my holiday A-list, and all loved it.

After living in a national culture of fear dominated by headlines about terror, terrorists, and boogeymen like Hussein and Bin Laden, it's refreshing to read a book that frames our REAL everyday fears in a way that makes them humorous.Handwritten from beginning to end, Michael Bernard Loggins' book is completely charming and very fun... It's different from any other book I've ever seen - highly recommended!