“It sounds like you’ve got a lot of shame around this,” my friend Michelle said at the end of our meeting.
“Totally,” I responded.
Michelle and I met years ago through the storytelling scene and have become very close friends, collaborators and business partners since then. I consider her one of my closest friends and I confide in her a lot because, obviously, I trust her.
What I shared with her yesterday is something I don’t tell a lot of people. It felt good to get her support and understanding around this topic and feel a little more unburdened by it. She recommended I tell my therapist about it, gave me some advice around doing so and helped me see it in a new way, which I appreciated.
Like many people, I have held a lot of my feelings, worries and areas of shame inside for years for fear of judgment. Since I’ve been telling my personal stories on stages for over 10 years, I know how important it is to be vulnerable with an audience and reveal some of those fears and anxieties, but it still doesn’t come as easily off stage.
Baby steps though.
At least I told her what I was overwhelmed by and that’s a step in the right direction. After all, it’s all about progress, not perfection and, as this great quote states, “You don’t have to have it all figured out to move forward.”
Here’s to diminishing our shame and getting back in the game.
Do you hold a lot of your feelings inside or are you good about sharing them? Do you have someone you trust who you can confide in? Tell me about it below and if you like what you’re reading, please subcribe below, too. Thanks!