‘I Am So Extremely Embarrassed by My Entire Life !’

‘I Am So Extremely Embarrassed by My Entire Life!’ - Ask Polly
▻https://askpolly.substack.com/p/i-am-so-extremely-embarrassed-by

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I set boundaries for what parts of me I share. Still, sharing my opinions and thoughts and really, my truest self, feels humiliating. I treat the internet like a massive world stage and I feel like I’m performing but I forgot my pants. I worry constantly what people think, if I’m too honest and they’ll think I’m crazy.

Sometimes I want to fail, so that I can live a life of agoraphobic anonymity. I feel like I’m running out of time. I know I’m not, but the awareness doesn’t make me feel better. The anxiety of succeeding is as painful as the anxiety of doing what I need to do to succeed. Which is write.

Am I doomed to feel embarrassed of myself forever, or do writers overcome self-doubt? Do writers enjoy being vulnerable, or is shame part of the job?

Humiliated By My Own Words

Dear HBMOW,

via @mona l’ultime selecta