It’s a funny one, I know. I never really went to school so I missed out on most of the socialising thing until I went to college at 16, and had all sorts of confidence issues. I was always ridiculously nervous and was only comfortable interacting with certain people in certain situations. I also never really knew how to act, and I’ve never really been a very masculine guy. It was very difficult, always self concious and often terrified that I might appear the wrong way or say the wrong thing, etc. maybe that is how you feel? I’m at uni now and I have completely changed, although it has taken me a couple of years to really find myself and work it all out. With me, I had a bit of a heavy ride, I was kinda thrown in at the deep end a fair bit, but what really changed me was having some pretty heavy and sometimes devastating/awakening/learning experiences.
In the end I learned simply not to care too much, just to be free and easy. I reckon I really found myself through reaching this outlook, and you can reach this by simply being what feels natural. There have been times when I have really embraced a quirky side to me; getting a sense of the ridiculous, having a laugh, learning to laugh at myself, and achieving whatever situation I want with enough conviction to pull it off.
I never imagined that the shy 18yr old drummer going to uni, away from home for the first time, would end up playing a tool song at a graded end of year performance, one handed with the other broken hand in a cast, whilst wearing a wedding dress combined with a shaved head and mohican, opening the set with a distorted version of ‘here comes the bride’. And I am a straight, shy, self conscious guy!
But nowadays I have learnt to deal with whatever situation I am in through whatever manner I see fit, that which comes naturally. And I believe this can be achieved by challenging yourself; putting yourself in the situation and not worrying about the outcome, just enjoying it and seeing if you can pull it off.
rant over. lol