The Cheap Prop

Metaphorical Narrative

Imagine sitting through the world’s worst stage play. No matter the scene — courtroom, battlefield, family dinner — the actors keep pulling out the exact same wobbly cardboard prop. It squeaks, it bends, it doesn’t even look real.

At first you gasp. By the third time, you roll your eyes. By the tenth, you realise it’s comedy, not tragedy.

Core Insight

Fear scripts work the same way. They recycle the same cheap symbol, dressing it up as danger. The trick isn’t variety — it’s repetition. Your nervous system was trained to panic at a prop that doesn’t deserve the reaction.

Once you see the pattern, the authority collapses. It’s not prophecy, it’s parody.

Saturday Experiment

Next time fear rises, ask: “Is this just the same old prop?”
Say it out loud. Smile. Shrug. Let the prop wobble off the stage.

Sunday Reflection

How many times has fear replayed the same scene with a different costume?
What happens when you laugh instead of bow?