There are several adolescent social quirks I thought I would have shaken off by now at the age of 28. Soon, 29. Like how I need to plan for social gatherings days in advance to mentally prepare myself to be in a setting filled with people I don’t know. Like how I don’t want to say bye to people at a party so I plot out my exit as discreetly as possible. (Also, because leaving early and being noticed would only further highlight my anti-socialness.) Like how my voice still gets nervous and shaky when speaking in front of a group. All these things point to a larger phenomenon of being an introvert in an extrovert’s world but also signify that maybe we are still way too concerned about the way people perceive us and how in actuality, being an introvert or having social anxiety is not conducive to being inherently antisocial.
I was recently at an event for work and had my manager come along with me to help me capture some content. In the brief moment he was recording a video of me, a follo…