As I walked down the street I knew what I wanted to say, I just couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. I looked at each face as they passed by, certain they would think I was mad. And I was having flashbacks to the time, back in Tasmania, when I was raising money for Multicap. The local radio station had agreed to help me out, and pledged $5.00 for every man who would agree to let me shave his leg, in an hour. Talk about bravery, on their part (I couldn’t even shave my own legs at that stage without removing the skin from the front of my shins) and uncharacteristic boldness on my part. I was very much a wallflower during that time of my life, and the idea of talking unfamiliar men into rolling up their trouser legs so I could remove some of their body hair was mortifying. But I did it anyway. I forced myself, and I survived. And I made $135 in the process.
Talking to strangers still scares me. Fortunately, having not decided to take up nursing, I haven’t had to shave any more legs in the last 20 years, but the idea of approaching someone cold, for my own purposes, often sends a little shiver down my spine. What if they don’t like me? What if they’re not interested in what I have to say? What if I look silly? What if, what if…..? There’s always some way in which I give myself permission to be fearful.
Sooooo…. I’ve decided I need to break free of that. I’m giving myself permission to be brave, and bold, and to not be fearful of people that in all honesty really aren’t that scary. It’s only because I’ve talked myself into thinking they are. Maybe I’m taking the cheat’s way out, but I’m going to enlist the help of my camera to do this. I’ve set myself a little challenge, and I’m hoping there are others out there that will join in with me. That they too will be brave, and bold, and see people as strangers no more.
If you think you might be interested in joining in, please get in touch. I’d love to fill you in, and encourage you in any way I can. Anyone else that wants to come along for the ride, but would prefer to watch from the sidelines, stick around – I’ll be filling in the gaps in a week or so, if you haven’t figured it out already. But in the meantime, here’s a big hint. And I mean a HUGE hint. You have no idea how long it took for me to get this photo. But I took it in the end. I did.
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Narrelle x