...social anxiety and the literary mind

I’m blinking too much. My breathing is shallow. This is ridiculous. Why am I so scared? I can deliver lectures, I can give advice, offer ideas, lead discussions…perform on a stage… but right now I’m scared. So scared that I can hear my own pulse. So scared that I can’t feel my fingertips. So scared that I feel myself falling. Just keep paddling... Just keep paddling… duck on the pond… Calm on the surface…paddle-paddling beneath… Remember to breathe…

 Where do I begin? How do I start? Engage. Connect. Just keep paddling… Just keep paddling… Do I need a format ?…a theme? … a  structure? …Remember to breathe.  Not everything needs a plan… or a direction… no need to be exact… or even crafted… no denouement… Just keep paddling… Just keep paddling… Duck on the pond, moving with grace, paddle-paddling below…

 A simple greeting… a smile… remember to breathe… Not metaphysics or mimesis. Merely persona and point of view.  Just keep paddling… just keep paddling… Step forward… Take a breath… just keep paddling … duck on a  pond… not a silence: a caesura… remember to breathe…

 “ Hi. I’m Wendy.”