The myth of Pandora receiving a box, or originally envisioned as a jar from the gods, has become a universal metaphor for the unleashing of calamity. According to the legend, when Pandora lifted the lid, she released a storm of evils into the world: disease, sorrow, vice, violence, greed, madness, and death all escaped, with only hope remaining trapped inside.
Carrying your fears with style?
I have always wondered about fear – where it fits in this ancient story. Was fear already present in humanity before the box was opened? Or was it among the escaped evils?
Our Fears
– are like boulders we drag behind us on a heavy chain, preventing us from soaring freely. These invisible weights hold us back from living joyful, fulfilling lives and becoming our best selves. Beyond specific phobias, we find ourselves caught in prisons of our own making:
Fear of failure, fear of success
Fear of the wounds of our past, fear of the uncertainty ahead
Fear of remaining invisible, fear of being truly seen
Fear of being insignificant, fear of shining too brightly
Fear can become more than a fleeting emotion, it can transform into our very DNA. What if our fears aren’t merely acquired, but inherited, encoded into our being through generations of tribal wisdom turned to warning, or calcified through years of carrying them like familiar companions?
These deep-seated fears become our unconscious inheritance, passed down through family narratives that whisper: “People like us don’t take risks,” “Success invites downfall.” “ Softness equals weakness”. They manifest in cultural legacies where historical traumas shape communal behaviours centuries later.
Fear can cause:
Physiological problems such as an increased heart rate and blood pressure, faster breathing, muscle tension, digestive issues and changes in our senses.
Emotional and Mental problems affecting focus and concentration, having disorganised thoughts, detaching from reality, feeling overwhelmed and dreading the future.
Long- term effects can include a weakened immune system, disrupted sleep patterns, various chronic health diseases, as well as impaired memory and cognitive function.
Since childhood, we are conditioned to wage war against our fears – to be brave warriors who tackle them head-on, to slay them like dragons in a fairy tale. Yet personally, this constant battle merely drained my spirit. So I chose a different path. Instead of combat, I pursued reconciliation. I began to cultivate a relationship with my fears, acknowledging them as long-standing companions rather than enemies to be destroyed. I invited them into conversation, curious about their origins and purposes.This gentle approach allowed my fears to gradually diminish. Not through force, but through understanding. They shrank from overwhelming presences to manageable companions, eventually becoming small enough to tuck neatly into a metaphorical Birkin bag. They still accompany me wherever I go, but now they are carried with elegance rather than burden, accessible when their wisdom might serve me, but no longer dominating my life.
Carrying your fears in style – but why a Birkin Bag?
Beyond its elegant silhouette, exclusive status, and considerable worth, I am drawn to its most significant feature – like Pandora’s mythic container, it has a lock.
The lineage of this bag carries an even deeper meaning. The founder of the house of Hermès, creator of the Birkin, Thierry Hermès’s surname was derived from Greek mythology’s most canny deity -Hermès, messenger of Olympus, depicted with winged sandals, but mostly known for his ability to outsmart the gods.
Spreading your wings
The locked Birkin becomes both metaphor and method, a beautiful boundary that allows me to carry my fears without being carried away by them. And like Hermès himself, I seek the freedom that comes with transcending limitations, finding my winged sandals, and moving through the world unburdened by the weight I once carried.
In choosing a Birkin as a sanctuary for my fears, I invoke this spirit of divine ingenuity. I am not merely containing my fears; I am transforming my relationship with them through symbolic mastery.