NHT has guests! The first guest is a dear friend that I met in a social anxiety group online. I knew Anthony was the first person I wanted to ask to be on my show. Find out more about Anthony and how he has been challenging himself to face his anxiety for years. Listen to the end to find out how we will be challenging each other to be BOLD.

A bit of a warning, I am new to the whole interview someone for a podcast thing, especially considering Anthony and I had a lot to catch up on. Our conversation meandered for forty-five minutes, which I cut down to just under twenty. I forgot to “introduce” him and Zoom cut us off before I could close out the interview, so I had to add that after the fact. But like I’ve told my kids, it’s my first attempt in learning. Future interviews should be smoother. I hope.

This episode is very meta and a roller coaster ride of emotions as I take one more step towards facing my anxiety. Guests. It’s one thing to talk into the void, but now I have to talk with other people? Sure, they may have anxieties too, but that’s not helping mine any. Now I’ve got the added anxiety layer of making them comfortable as well!

If you’re interested in joining the conversation, fill out the form below. It may be scary, but if you’re even halfway considering it, this might just be the BOLD act you need.

Saturday, I had a table at my fifth bookfair event. It was my fourth with Get Lit and a return to the venue where it all began for me. On the drive to/from the event, I decided to record my thoughts. I hadn’t planned to post another episode so soon, but I’m making all of this up as I go along. Perhaps I can get to a point where I can record clips while I’m in the midst of an anxious activity? That would certainly be a challenge!

Contact me if you’d like to be a part of the conversation.

I’ve recorded an official episode! Considering the fact that no one has listened to episode zero, it’s not as scary as it was initially. So, I did a scary thing to talk about on the episode.

For the last year I’ve been putting myself through self-assigned exposure therapy. Challenging myself to do the things I’ve wanted to do but haven’t because of my anxiety. I’ve been tracking these on the blog under the BOLD category. I’ve found that this self-imposed challenge has been incredibly helpful and will continue to find ways to show up anyway.

This episode takes me back to the location of my June challenge, but with a friend! Listen to my before and after anxieties and reflection.

What scary thing will you do this week?

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Some formal, some for fun, some to process. Writing is like breathing to me. It’s something I need to do. People talk about using your voice and I know that writing can be one way of doing that. But writing comes easily to me, for the most part. Talking? That’s harder.

Sure, I can hold a conversation. I have even performed in front of live audiences. But every time is followed by days, months, weeks, and sometimes years of rumination. Should I have said this differently? Did I make sense? Did I talk too much? Not enough? Did people think I was crazy when I said xyz?

The anxiety involved in using my actual voice is much higher than writing. That’s why I’ve had a blog for nineteen years. I can write down my thoughts and send it out into the world and barely think about it. I rarely re-read what I’ve written here on the blog. At least, not for the purpose of improving it or changing anything. Sure, there have been times that I’ve hesitated to hit the publish button but overall, I post and move on.

That’s why this month I’m going to try something new. I’m going to talk. With my voice. I’m going to put my voice out into the world and try not to have a panic attack about it or edit it to pieces because it doesn’t sound like I thought it would. You’ll notice a lot of pauses and rambling in this first episode. I chose not to edit it out because I want to be real with you. This s**t scares me, and you can tell. Do you know how long it took me to pick an intro/outro?! I’m praying it gets easier.

This is the start of something that I hope will continue. I’m not entirely certain where it will go but look forward to finding out. Join me as I use my voice. I’ll be looking for guests soon. For now, you get to hear me ramble.