A picture of what frightens you

I am with a group of people at a workshop or something, and the facilitator asks everyone to draw a picture of what frightens us. I leave my page blank for a while while I think it over. The woman next to me draws a shark, which is usually the symbol I fall back on to show primal fear, and I think to myself, great, now I have to think up something new, because I can't draw exactly what she has drawn!

The effort of delving for a new image starts to really get to me, & I start whining, then crying, then tearing my hair out because I can't think of anything that epitomizes "fear"; I try thinking of different ways to draw sharks, but not only does that not seem creative enough, but I also literally scare myself with the images that come into my head. Pretty soon I am reduced to a two-year-old style temper tantrum, rolling on the floor while people say "Oh for fuck's sake, woman!" and the ones who were comforting me at first withdraw and leave me to straighten myself out.

In the back of my mind, I know I am pushing myself to a place where my instincts will suggest a symbol I can use that will have real meaning, even if my conscious mind doesn't yet recognize it. Finally I go one degree of separation away from the shark itself, and I draw the marine biologist; a man standing beside a Jeep on a beach under a cloudy sky. The man is no-one I know, but at least I get to finish the project in a way that feels true to me. Several people complement me on my drawing.