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"Just be yourself"

SunsetBrush

One of the hardest things I've found is to truly feel comfortable in social situations. You could attribute this to my Aspergers, social anxiety or just being a shy person in general - I'm not sure what the exact reason is, but real life friendships seem hard to forge.

I think I'm stuck assuming the worst - I know I'm a very introverted geeky person, with many aspects that "the real world" would find strange. I spend most of my time online, I'm bisexual and have a long distance boyfriend in Chicago, I'm part of the brony/furry communities, I love to embrace my feminine side. Yet when I meet strangers irl, or even in the workplace, I feel like I have to hide these things to avoid judgement.

I've gotten better about it - I've travelled the world, been to conventions and made a lot of online connections into a physical thing. I've tried to be more open about who I am once I got through education. I've met so many accepting and loving people. But there's still a grip it has on me, and I can't help but feel how many social opportunities I've missed out on.

Does anyone else feel similar?

Parents

  • Yep. When I'm "myself", I'm either silly and child-like, or very geeky and talking about random facts (I spend a lot of my spare time reading books and articles), which seems to bore people. Whenever I meet new people, which is rare, I either clam up or end up masking them heavily/agreeing with everything they say. 

  • in reply to violetdr3amer

    I think it's really interesting! It's great to learn about people's passions and see their eyes light up, even if you don't share that interest. It helps to have an open mind. The path of not masking our personalities seems to be the harder one, but it's a leap of faith when we do and sometimes it pays off. Our brains like to convince us of negativity that isn't there. 

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  • in reply to violetdr3amer

    I think it's really interesting! It's great to learn about people's passions and see their eyes light up, even if you don't share that interest. It helps to have an open mind. The path of not masking our personalities seems to be the harder one, but it's a leap of faith when we do and sometimes it pays off. Our brains like to convince us of negativity that isn't there. 

Children