The Fable of the Marsh Gnome and the Fearless Dragonfly

Hmmm, can a fable help
you fly in the face of fear?

Allow me to introduce
myself. I am Maurice the Marsh Gnome. I know that may seem strange to you. You
know about Garden Gnomes, but have probably never heard of a Marsh Gnome.

Until very recently, I myself
was a Garden Gnome in a very nice yard in a small town not far from here. I
greeted people who came to visit, put a smile on their face and spent my
leisure time communing with the flowers and shrubs. It was an idyllic
existence.

But one day earlier this
summer, my owners picked me up and took me for a ride in their car. I thought
perhaps they were going on vacation and taking me with them. But instead, they
brought me to this conservation area and set me on this log at the edge of a
marsh pond. I was confused and distressed at first and appealed to my owners.

“Why
are you leaving me here? Don’t you like me anymore?”

“Oh no, Maurice,” they replied. “Please don’t think that. We love you. But we have a very important job for you. We are in the midst of troubled times. Many people are living in fear. Day after day they see reports in the news chock full of worrisome facts and figures that make it seem like the grim reaper is waiting outside their door .

“We
decided to leave you here so you would bring a smile to the faces of people who
walk by. For a moment or two, they will forget about their fears and enjoy life
the way they used to.”

I was humbled by the new
job they had given me and resolved to do it to the best of my ability. I have
observed and learned much from the creatures with which I share this lovely
pond. A Twelve-Spotted Skimmer dragonfly landed on me one day and I struck up a
conversation.

“You’re
quite pretty, Mr. Twelve-Spotted. I’ve admired you for some time now. But
yesterday I saw a bird swoop down and try to eat you. Doesn’t that make you
afraid to fly?”

“Well,
Maurice, there is always that risk. But if I gave into that fear, I would never
fly again. I do quite enjoy flying. It is what I was created to do. I figured
out that the risk of getting snatched by a bird is the price to be paid for the
joy of flying. So I choose to fly in the face of fear, if you will pardon the
pun, and embrace life.”

He was a very wise
dragonfly. He helped me better understand the important job I now have. I am
here to help humans understand that living in fear of what you do not understand
is a terrible trap. Far better to ask questions and understand for yourself
what it is you fear. Knowledge defeats fear.

My job is to be a symbol
for the freedom that comes from being a seeker of the truth.

I want you to understand
that the truth often lays buried beneath unexamined facts the same way new
growth awaits beneath the dead leaves of yesterday’s fears.

Take if from Maurice the
Marsh Gnome: Your creator meant for you to live and embrace life, not to hide
from it.

~ Now
Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting
Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also
the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which
was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s
website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

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