(And Why You Should Anyhow)
Do you remember Show and Tell? It was great. You’d bring something up in front of the class and talk about it. Sometimes, if you were lucky, a kid in the second row would say, “Hey, that’s nifty. Tell me more.” That was all it took. You felt seen. And then you sat down.
At some point, it got harder.
Loaded up with a lifetime of experiences—being evaluated, judged, criticized, turned down, and sometimes praised—you start building your own definition of self-esteem around wherever praise lives. Maybe for some of us (me) it gets narrower and more invested into one or two specific things you do very well. Typecast in life, all while getting tunnel vision.
If you enjoy life-fulfilling creative outlets at the same time, sharing that can get, well, outright intimidating. Not because you don’t enjoy creating, or aren’t proud of it—that’s the fun stuff—but there’s generally a small set of outcomes you imagine from sharing:
- 🦗 (crickets)
- “You made something? I hadn’t noticed.”
- “That’s cute, Timmy.”
- Big Brother.
- It becomes wildly popular and out of control, talks loudly, constantly hums (when not talking), and microwaves leftover fish for early lunch.
It’s easy to not share. You don’t have to be subject to any of that. Why bother?
Let me get to why I’m writing this post.
The crazy thing for me is that I wasn’t in the habit of sharing or comfortable with it. I literally assumed the worst: “I have nothing important to say, and no one will care.” Which is brutal to tell oneself. Thus, “Why bother?”
Screw it, I’m gonna do it anyhow—Big Brother and microwave leftovers notwithstanding—and got 🦗 with a side of “That’s cute, Timmy.”
However… I was (totally) ((kind of)) (((not so much))) ready for it. It’s pretty loud out there in the sharing space. I just never realized actually how loud it is until recently. I think that hits a lot of people who do share, are reluctant to share, or do it once.
The important thing to realize is you’re standing up in front of the largest Show and Tell room around. The kid that’s two rows back and digs what you’re doing—wants to talk about it at lunch—can’t even see you.
But those kids are out there (and tons of them).
Show off your big cool stuff.