Cycles

Every time I have a conversation with a few select friends, all connected to me via different aspects of my life because none of them overlap, I've noticed a few of the same topics cycle through. While I don't think we intentionally bring these things up, they make their way into discussions that a majority of the world would likely think we were crazy for considering. And it makes me wonder about the people I'm friends with compared to the small group of people I have these absurd one-on-one conversations with. It's difficult to put into words how we get onto these topics and how easily it just seems to flow with those select people but I'm curious what other people think because I'm so limited in the scope of who I've conversed with in this way.

Time
Does time only progress in a straight-foward, linear way or is there something more to time that we are incapable of understanding? Just like historically we've created deities to try to compartmentalize what we as humans are able to experience, have we done the same with time? What is time were experienced in the same way that a tree grows. All at once and then branching off into all the potential choices that we make? But what if time is cyclical, does that mean we have the ability to make choices at all? We are all confined by time on this planet, but if we only see what is directly in front of us and refuse to see into the past and the future, considering how they both shape the now, we're just hurting everyone.

Fear
This might be the only emotion that can be as equally freeing as it can be paralyzing. Generally it is only viewed as preventative, it stops you from doing things that could bring harm to you or others. It is not a bad emotion, it is necessary and has contributed to the survival of humankind. Yet it is also an emotion and by that nature, it does not always come from rational thought but is reactionary. This is when fear is crippling and holds us back from real progress. It is only upon acknowledging the fear, having awareness for how it is stopping us, and then purposefully overcoming it or doing something in spite of it, that fear can be freeing and beautiful. Yet we often accept this emotion and allow it to be debilitating rather than confronting it. To what extent is fear empowering and destroying us?

That's all I've got for now. Thoughts?