You Don't Need to Be "Fearless"

One of my pet peeves has long been the phrase "and I am fearless" used to describe people who have done something courageous.

In the first place, courageous acts are seldom solitary. Courage usually arises from working alongside and encouraging each other. We are at our best in the company of others.

Second, I doubt that many of us actually are without fear when we face a difficult task. If fearlessness is a prerequisite for courage, then most of us have good reason to not even try.

The students in the year-long Freshman Inquiry class I recently completed at Portland State certainly taught me both of the above. We worked together to encourage and support each other as we shared vulnerable stories with each other, confronted personal fears and hardships, and volunteered more than 1,000 hours with vulnerable youth, often helping them to overcome their own fears.

Many of us often confessed, including myself, that we often felt afraid. But, as the adjectives we selected to describe the class reveal, we were also  "courageous," "strong," "caring," "together," and "family."

We don't need to be fearless to do great things if we care for and support each other.