Reflecting on my dad's photography and a friend's experience of betrayal, I see fear as the aperture of our minds, controlling how much light gets in and what stays in focus. Just like a camera's aperture affects the depth of field, our perception is shaped by how we allow fear to focus our thoughts. When fear narrows our viewpoint, we lose sight of the bigger picture and our capacity for empathy. Recognizing this, we can learn to manually adjust our mental aperture, broadening our perspective to understand and empathize with others' actions, rather than reacting from a place of hurt or anger.