Stage Fright

This has been a goal of mine for about three years now. Every time I think I'm finally ready to get started, I find some excuse to chicken out. I still want to back out of this. I'm sitting at my desk typing with knots in my stomach. I'm shaking uncontrollably and I'm pretty sure I'm going to cry. This is stage fright taken to a new level. Let's take a moment and have a glass of wine.

...So much better. OK, so many of my friends keep telling me I have nothing to be nervous about. "It's not like you have to read it to anyone," they say. No shit! I'm a nervous wreck, not a dunce! What most people don't understand is that it's not the actual act of presenting that freaks me out. It's what people might be thinking. So in a way, writing this is even worse than presenting to a class full of strangers. Here my thoughts are going to be judged, commented on, and possibly discussed and shared with more people that will then judge and comment. That's a lot of shit for me to deal with right now!