Working through the fear of fireworks

The 4th of July is fast approaching. I saw on the news that people are setting off more fireworks early this year, probably to blow off the steam of being at home all the time. I wrote this blog to help animals by teaching their humans ways to address the fear of fireworks.

First of all, solving fear is not magic. Yes, sometimes, fear could be healed instantaneously through spiritual work, but it is not the norm. Also, know that even if you can remove the fear, if you haven’t solved the underlying cause, it is bound to return. For animals to start exhibiting fear, there are multiple steps that they already took to get there, and it is necessary to look at them one by one.

Negative energy associated with fireworks

First of all, for animals to start fearing fireworks, they have to first establish the fear. It could have started in the past life, present life before you met the animal, or they established it after you met your animal. I also see cases they might have come with the fear of fireworks when they were adopted, but it gets worse. Since I am writing this blog to be useful for everyone, including those who are not spiritually oriented, I am not going to touch on the past life issue. I also am not going to talk about what happened before you met your animal. It is not important. Your animal is already fearful, let’s talk about how to ease the problem now.

Your animal senses your fear and annoyance

People might not realize that you, too, have associated fear or negative feelings about fireworks or loud noise that significantly impacts how your animal perceives it. Imagine you love fireworks and cannot wait to hear the loud boom. Your energy is much different from those who hate it and fear it. Please note that your animals are susceptible to your energy because that’s how they communicate with you since they do not possess the ability to speak human languages.

Before you welcomed your animals, you might have had positive feelings about the fireworks. Maybe as a child, you were so happy to see them go boom! However, it is possible seeing your animal being fearful caused you to be annoyed by them. It is very understandable. Yet, know that it is adding to the negative energy.

Addressing your negative feelings

So how do you want to address if you have any negative emotions about fireworks?

Acknowledge them – please admit that you have negative feelings about the fireworks
Identify them – pinpoint the reason where the negative feeling is coming from
- Is it a physical issue? Does it hurt your ears?
- Is it emotional? Are you annoyed at people who set off fireworks?
- Is it fear? Are you afraid of fireworks because it could cause damage?
Understand them – understand why people set off fireworks in the first place
- Remember the reason why people set off fireworks. It may be to celebrate something.
- It may be to create loud noise, maybe with annoyance to neighbors. But if so, try to understand their story why that may be enjoyable for them. You don’t need to agree with them, just try to understand.
- Remember, you might have had a positive feeling about it in the past. Remember why it was fun, but not anymore.
Accept them – Accept that you have those feelings, and fireworks will go off this year. So what are you going to do about it? What can you do about it?
Forgive them – forgive the sources of negative feeling and animosity to others
- Remember that you cannot change others to do anything. Your negative emotion is only aggravating your animal’s fear. The only thing you can change is your perception.

Have a conversation with your animals about your negative feelings

When you go through the above steps, try to involve your animals. Have a conversation with your animals. Imagine you are having a talk explaining why you feel negative about the fireworks. Be honest, your animals know what the actual truth is. You cannot tell you like fireworks when you hate it in your heart.

Is your animal calm regardless of noise?

If your animal is nervous, even when there is no noise, it is understandable that the noise will worsen the situation. For those nervous animals, do they have a safe place they can feel at ease and calm? If not, think about establishing such a safe environment before the fireworks start.

Creating safe space physically

You can physically establish a safe space and protect it energetically. Let’s talk about physical space first. I recommend you choose an enclosed area since animals feel safer when they can be assured that nothing will come to attack them from behind.

When you established the space, make sure your animal likes the area. Make sure you create the space before the fireworks start. Do not bring out these “safe space” only when the fireworks are going off. What would you feel if you see your parents give you a cake every time they scold you? You will soon start associating the cake with negative feelings, even how much you like the cake?

Make sure your animals are 100% safe from the negative experience. Please do not use these “safe places” for time outs, reprimand, etc. For example, crate often is used for both being a safe space and a place of punishment, especially for those who use it to train dogs. There is a way to let your animal learn that the area can be safe even if they are occasionally used for those purposes. Still, you have to teach them, and it won’t come naturally.

Protecting the space energetically

As mentioned, animals are susceptible to energy. They not only feel your energy but are continually feeling the energy of the world around them. Your animals’ senses are going overtime when there are substantial emotional shifts in the world. This is especially troublesome when that is compounded with noise, which is the case on the 4th of July, New Year’s Eve, etc. By establishing energetically safe place, you can also help them shield from the energy from the world around them.

Pick a spot – Pick a place physically
Imagine a pink balloon – Imagine a pink balloon surrounding the safe spot
- It doesn’t have to be pink or balloon, but the point here is to imagine a warm and safe color, and it’s surrounding the space
Imagine outside-facing mirror – Just around the boundary of the safe area, imagine a flexible mirror facing outside that is bouncing off energy from the world, shielding your animal.
Recharge it when you think about it – Whenever you remember, do step #2 and #3 to recharge the energy.
Intend that it is there as long as it is needed – Intend that it is always there even if you are not sending energy constantly.

Have a conversation about the safe space with your animals

Just as you had a conversation about the negative feeling, have a conversation with your animal about this safe space. Promise that you will keep this space safe and fun. And keep your promise. Go over the steps you did to create a safe space with them so that they can also do this themselves.

Let them know how it is all going to happen

Another vital thing to do is to make sure your animal understands this is temporary and safe. This is assuming it is so. If not, then you will need to adjust the conversation you have here. I recommend you go through the exercise above to address your negative feelings to decide what you are going to do about it.

Explain to your animal when those things are going to start and when you think they are going to end. Emphasize the point about it being temporary. If the noise comes from the distance, explain how they are safe because these noise travels far but cannot do any physical harm.

Just pretend you are having a conversation with your 1 or 2-year-old child who heard the fireworks for the first time. What would you tell them about it?

A couple of rules here:

Do not promise things you don’t know or cannot control – do not guarantee if you don’t know if the fireworks will end or say it will not happen when it is going to happen.
Do not use the negative word – It is ironic I say “do not” here, but animals do not hear “no.” So when you tell them, “Do not fear,” what they hear is “do fear.” This is because when you are talking to them, you imagine the fear, which gets negated somehow in your logical mind. Animals just receive the image.

See this as an opportunity to bond with your animals

I know it is hard to turn a negative experience into a positive experience. However, try to make lemonade. If you are forced to go camping or stay at a hotel somewhere else because of the noise, then enjoy it. Thanks to fireworks, you have this opportunity to go off and have fun with your animals!