I once took guitar lessons with a small group of people who met two nights a week in the basement of a local elementary school. We spent most of each lesson practicing in little nooks and crannies we each carved out in the old room. I enjoyed picking out tunes in my own little corner at my own pace. It was all going so smoothly until... the instructor mentioned the final "concert."
I lost sleep by night, fretted by day, and practiced a lot before forcing myself to show up on the scheduled night. But a funny thing happened: no one else showed up beside me and the instructor. I'm not sure what made me happier - that I showed up, that I got off the hook, or that I had an otherwise pleasant experience that was calm and not rushed.
Shyness can be a lot of different things, debilitating at its worst, sometimes lonely at its best. It's also a lot more common than we think.
This show is the second part of a new experiment: Radio for the Deaf. Watch the Colin McEnroe Show Facebook page for a simulcast of signers from Source Interpreting interpreting our radio broadcast in American Sign Language via Facebook Live.
GUESTS:
- Joe Moran - Professor of English and cultural history at Liverpool John Moores University; author of Shrinking Violets: The Secret Life of Shyness
- David Tolin - Founder and Director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living; author of Face Your Fears: A Proven Plan to Beat Anxiety, Panic, Phobias, and Obsessions
- Susan Cain - Author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking and the founder of Quiet Revolution, which can be found at quietrev.com
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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show along with Heather Brandon, Joe Coss, Frankie Graziano, Sam Hockaday, Tucker Ives, Ryan Caron King, Josh Nilaya, and Catie Talarski. Thanks also to Source Interpreters Pat Clark, Janice Knauth, and Mary Sue Owens.
