Yesterday, I rambled and wrote about some personal, irrational fears.
I was going to call these personal fears “ridiculous,” but I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, since evidence exists that others might share some of my personal phobias, too.
When I published that post yesterday, I felt an extra little burst of joy, thinking, “Wow! This topic is a friggin’ gold mine for future post ideas!”
And as I often like to say, “Why wait?”
Herewith — for your viewing and reading pleasure — are more personal phobias, inspired this morning by (a) the fertile mind of yours truly and (b) just looking around.
1. Pack-o-phobia: Travel-related fear of packing
*
and — even more inexplicably — unpacking.
2. Pill-o-phobia: Fears related to the taking of medicine.
Symptoms of pill-o-phobia may include concerns about (a) medication dependency, (b) forgetting a dosage, (c) aging, weakness, or other stigmatized perceptions, and (d) a related phobia (see directly below).
3. Medetails-o-phobia: The fear of encountering written or spoken medication disclaimers which focus on side effects** and soothing sentences like “ask your doctor if this medication is right for you.”
4. Spill-o-phobia (generalized): The fear of spilling anything, anywhere.
5. Pantrymoth-o-phobia: The fear of opened (and, in severe cases, unopened) boxes of grain-based products.
6. Lactolack-o-phobia: The fear of running out of any kind of milk, especially for cereal:
And finally …
7. Utensiloss-o-phobia: The fear of encountering a missing eating implement, especially when hungry:
I could go on (believe me), but I don’t want to trigger anybody’s longblog-o-phobia, which I think is self-explanatory.
Thanks to courageous people everywhere who overcome personal fears all the time and to you — of course! — for braving this blog today.
* This photo was taken the day I wrote this pre-travel post. All other photos taken this morning.
** Which almost always include death.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 
So how did the cat acquire its phobia about packing?
(Sorry, couldn’t resist it.)
Good question, Rod. I will ask Oscar. Like me, though, he might have difficulty putting that into words.
I think you need one of those disclaimers yourself, Ann. Warning: Reading The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally may result in user learning about themselves and how they really do fit into the big plan no matter how much they think their behavior odd. Thank you, Ann. I still take my chance daily, usually in the morning.
Now THAT is what I call a truly soothing and helpful disclaimer, Mark (at least for me). Thank you for that healing morning dosage.
The professor fears the spill!
Professor! Something else we have in common!
Nothing about phobias at all. But since I have always found the details of other people’s lives endlessly fascinating, your photos of same prompt three observations this morning:
(1) Extraordinarily neat and clean cutlery drawer!
(2) If you can access a Whole Foods, try Califfia Almond Milk (in dairy, not grocery, section): Vanilla, Plain or Original: it trumps the packaged brands big time!
Also (3): a belated welcome back!
OMG! You named my favorite almond milk! Believe it or not, that beautiful bottle would have made an appearance yesterday. Thanks for the visit, the observations, and your obvious good taste. Great to see you, as always.
What was it we used to say as kids? “Great minds run in the same channel?” 🙂
I never heard the channel part, Nina. I wonder if in Panama they say, “Great minds run in the same canal”?
Very possibly. Why not? Wisdom is wisdom, in any language! Even about almond milk!
Very true, Nina. Here’s that beautiful bottle:
Yes, indeed. I see you’re a purist. For 10 calories more per glass, you can get Vanilla (and a mite of sweetening.) I admire your fortitude in resisting! 🙂
Fun! Thank you. My dog Duke has a suitcase phobia. Every time he sees one it isn’t long before his human disappears. He has no way of knowing whether or when he’ll ever see me again. It saddens me to see that look in eyes and expression in his face whenever suitcases appear.
Poor Duke. He misses you so when you go away. Is Duke looking happy now?
Spill-o-phobia… so glad to know about this, now I have a name for it and it’s less of a problem somehow. Thank You!
You think it’s that childhood conditioning thing?
I think that’s a very good guess. It certainly fits my experience. Thanks so much for the visit and the comment.
I get a variation of that pill-o-phobia,
…. called break-the-damn-bottle-open-cause-it’s-got-one-of-those-child-proof-things-on-it ophobia,.
Is there any cure?
I wish there WAS a cure to modern packaging of all kinds. That’s a big phobia/pet peeve of mine, too. Great to see you here!
Thank you — have a groovy weekend ! 🙂
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