Embrace your awkwardness and take chances
When I became sick at 21-years-old, my confidence took a nose-dive. As I began to recover, I regained my confidence slowly. Writing was the first medium I used to talk about mental health through social media and blogging. In work and other projects, I started to use public speaking to talk about my experiences and discuss mental illness and stigma. I felt calm and comfortable with writing and talking to individuals and groups face-to-face. However, I knew that I was missing out on some popular ways to connect and build a community. . . dun dun dun. . . vlogging and live streaming. No matter how comfortable I felt sharing my story or talking to large groups of people, I felt very intimidated if I was being filmed. When I get nervous, I trip over words, lose my train of thought, and become besties with the word "like." My perception of awkwardness was holding me back. When COVID-19 provided me with more free time than I could've imagined, I wondered if it was finally time