I set myself a challenge this week. A challenge that would help me toward my goal of developing confidence this year. I went to a tweet up!

I’ve been to a tweet up before. A little one. But this was looking like being bigger. Some of the local tweeps decided that it would be a good idea to meet other local tweeps in person, so they sent out the message and we got together to meet for a drink and a real life, face to face chat!

This type of thing might not sound like a big deal for most people, but for a shy-ish introvert like me it was. I don’t normally feel particularly comfortable in large crowds of people in social situations, let alone people that I had only ever interacted with online. I made myself go as a way of challenging myself. I purposefully put myself into an intensely uncomfortable situation so that I could develop in an area that I am seriously lacking. (I’ve been reading Todd Henry’s Accidental Creative, and this is his idea…although I’m sure others have suggested it too)

I discovered that I love to hear people’s stories both online and offline. I like hearing how they got to be where they are in life and where they want to go. I also discovered that I feed distinctly less comfortable sharing my own story in person than online. I guess I can hide behind pixels here in cyberspace. So…I guess my next challenge is to develop some confidence around talking about myself and my interests and projects in the flesh

Thank you to all of the other Canberra tweeps for a lovely evening! It really was terrific to meet you all…and believe it or not I am looking forward to the next one