Who am I trying to fool? Myself. However, it is not so much fooling as it is manifesting. When I say manifest, I do not intend to go into a long, overplayed spiel about spiritual awakening and other such matters.

I am standing in the doorway to something new, and I have to remind (and convince) myself that I, too, can be fearless. Brave. Audacious. Bold. It has taken many years and many roads to reach this point in life where I just want to be myself; where the opinions of other people around me don’t matter; where I can accept myself, worry less about the flaws, embrace my quirks; where I can be unapologetically me.

I want to spend all day in my pyjamas when I feel like it. I don’t want to see people and I don’t want to make conversation all the time. It gladdens me to see that more and more people are writing articles acknowledging the introverted personality. We no longer have to be ashamed of being quiet observers. We no longer have to pretend to enjoy the company of others, when all we want is to be alone, at home, a cup of whatever in hand, doing whatever the heck we want to.

I love being an introvert. Introverts are extraordinary.

But, I digress. Intrepidly, Anni. I have always been more of a timorous wee beastie (my thanks and respect to Rabbie Burns). In all my travels- literal and figurative- I have had moments of impulsiveness, even recklessness. Oh, and, of course, stupidity.

 Mostly, however, I have been careful. Timid. Quiet. Doing what I thought was expected of me, what would not attract too much attention. When I was finally brave enough to be honest with myself, I remembered: all I have ever wanted to do was to read and to write. According to most, reading is a hobby and writing is only a profession if you are an ‘author’. To top it all, every mom and their mailman are writing these days. But that is great!

Everyone has something to say. Everyone, introvert or not, has the desire to be heard, however quietly. Me too. That is why I am here. Despite my love of working behind the scenes as a copy-editor and proofreader, I need to find words, and then a voice, as a writer. The journey will be tiresome, and probably frightening, but I will wear my brave boots as often as I am able.

Intrepidly,