#fearofbeingseen

You don’t have to be perfect to be seen. 🌙 These affirmations will hold you while you step into your light. Watch the full episode on YouTube now. 🌿https://youtu.be/sriWAiQX0cw

What do you do that makes you feel particularly brave? What have you accomplished that required you to face your fears? I hike all the time. I hike mountains, I hike deep in the forest without trails, I trek through bear country, and climb winding canyons. For almost a year I lived out of the van and drove around the country. These are the types of things I’ve always found exciting and not all that challenging. What really scares me? Being seen. I’ve been re-examining my own fears a lot lately. I’ve spent most of my life painfully shy. People don’t usually believe me when I tell them that because I’m really good at faking being an extrovert. But it’s true. I’m terrified of being seen. I’m terrified of people knowing me and knowing what goes on in my head. And thus, I’m terrified to share my creative work. I think I’ve put off writing for many years because of this exact fear. At some points the anxiety of people judging my work was too crippling to even write. When I hit age 24 something clicked in me and I realized I was wasting my time being afraid. That does not mean that I’m not. Two years later, I’ve written poetry and many, many things, including my debut novel. As publishing time nears, I feel the fear creeping back in. Not even creeping. It’s like a sledgehammer to the gut. Sometimes when I think about it, I want to hurl 🤢. And yet, I’m doing it anyway. This is me facing my fears. It feels as exhilarating as it does frightening. #facingmyfears #publishing #shy #fearoffailure #fearofbeingseen #writerstruggles #ampublishing #bravery https://www.instagram.com/p/B1J_k0lAIDG/?igshid=1bndigaf3we2g