This is a big first for me. There’s the excitement of publishing the first vlog for the explorewhatsnext YouTube channel AND there’s the stomach churning anxiety of feeling totally exposed.
This is a familiar feeling. When I created this blog and posted my first post, I felt sick with nerves for a week. What was I thinking! I will look like an idiot! Now writing and posting on the Internet is easier, usually without any anxiety (until I get a negative comment but that’s another story). Eventually I got over looking like an idiot, even enjoying it, in a way.
Whenever we do something new for the first time there is usually the tingle of anxiety humming just beneath the surface or flat out in our face panic. A client, who has struggled with severe anxiety, said recently that she saw a magnet at the mall that said something like, ‘Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.’ That made us both smile. Pushing the envelope, or even nudging it just a little, for the sake of personal growth, is what Eleanor Roosevelt was getting at when she said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Well, this is my one thing today, making this video public. With hope that it is received as it is given…
Hi Dr. Aletta, Congratulations on your first vlog! (I have never heard that term before). I loved it — I smiled all the way through it. You are adorable. Your horse is beautiful. I am both impressed and amused that scooping up horse poop gives you a lift :-). That was a great way of demonstrating your message that doing something — even if it’s something productive that we’re not crazy about doing — can help relieve depression. Can’t wait for the next one! P.S. It was fun seeing more of you than just your neck up :-).
P.S. sorry about those funky smiley faces. They just did that after I hit “submit!”
Good for you! Way to go outside your comfort zone! I appreciate the way you expose your own inner working while trying help others with theirs. It is a mark of great integrity.
Thanks.
Dear Maureen and Chrysty,
Thank you both for your comments! As much as I feel good about taking the leap into vlogging, it is SO nice to get feedback like yours.
I am so glad you did a vlog! First, it’s nice to FINALLY see Annie. Second, you put yourself out there in a new way. You’ve done that in your writing before, ever so slightly, to let all of us readers know you “get it” from your own experience. This video and admitting your anxiety around posting it is another way to help us all connect with you. The video was great. As a visual learner, I appreciate seeing you “live.”
Bravo to you! 🙂
Natalie, Your comments are priceless. I am so excited about this vlogging thing. There are more to come, just need to do the editing and all that. It is so cool to be able to share those things that do so much to keep me grounded and moving forward. Annie is one of my anchors. A BIG one, in more ways than one, haha!