The Rocking Horse
This photo was taken on the festival of Purim, which is the time for fancy dress. I’m dressed as Queen Esther, who helped to save the Jews of Persia by begging her husband, the king, to spare her people from the wicked Haman. And, of course, I’m on the rocking horse.
Purim
It was the bullying that led to the visitor that never left. Social anxiety began with a conscious decision to keep quiet to stop the bullying, and turned into something I couldn’t switch off when I wanted to. It’s been a big nuisance in my life and something I’d much rather do without, but social anxiety also drove me to start writing and led to my non-fiction book on that subject, Social Anxiety Revealed. Every cloud has a silver lining?
Hiking and Family
Our most favourite country for hiking is Switzerland. There, the paths are well marked showing not only where they lead but also how long it takes to walk there. Public transport is so good that we don’t have to hire a car and walks don’t have to be circular. We travel by train, boat, bus or cable car to the starting place and take other transport from wherever we end up. And we rent an apartment, which makes the experience cheaper than people think.
This photo, taken on holiday in Scotland in the year 2000, covers those two parts of my life: family and hiking. Everyone was laughing because David was slipping on the rock as he tried to get into the picture on time.
We have also been to more exotic places, like India and Japan. If I were to add a sixth photo, it would be one of me climbing a vertical wall in Ethiopia. My sensible husband chose not to attempt that one.
Dancing
Does social anxiety affect my enjoyment of dancing? Not at all. When I dance, I’m not self-conscious or self-critical. I think I dance fairly well and have nothing to be embarrassed about. Talking, though, is another matter.
On a technical point, it’s hard to capture a moment in a dance, and I tried to take this one from a video that was blurred to start with, but there I am in a purple dress with a white band. Here’s the video, which for some reason got conveniently blurred when I put it on YouTube. “Conveniently” because it’s probably good that you can’t make out the faces.
Writing
Thank you, Miriam. I adore that picture of you on the rocking horse! So cute. I’m very glad your own story has had such a happy ending. Thank you for sharing your five photos with us today.
About Miriam Drori:
As the jigsaw piece that never fitted the UK puzzle, Miriam Drori finally found her slot in the smaller but more complex Israel puzzle. There, she married and raised a family, working in computer programming and technical writing before turning to creative writing.
The only problem was that when she left the UK, the unwanted visitor called social anxiety insisted on accompanying her and has never left her side since. However, since realising it’s here to stay, she has learnt to tame it and make friends with it… most of the time.
Apart from writing, Miriam loves reading, hiking, travelling and dancing. She also likes public speaking and gets a thrill out of standing in front of an audience.
Miriam’s writing has been published as short stories, a romance, a co-written historical novella and a non-fiction book about social anxiety. She has plans for other books.
Fear of other people? Most of us feel this occasionally, when giving a presentation or being grilled in a job interview. This is not social anxiety disorder.
Fear of what other people think of you? We have all felt this, too. It is why we dress as we do and generally try to behave in a way that is expected of us. This is not social anxiety disorder either.
But when those fears become so prevalent that they take over your life? When they cause you to hide away, either literally or by not revealing your real self? When you keep quiet in an attempt to avoid those raised eyebrows and the possible thoughts behind them? That is social anxiety disorder.
And it is much more common than you might think. In the mental health table, it comes third – after alcoholism and depression – and yet most people don’t even know it exists.
If you have social anxiety disorder, this book is for you.
Even if you don’t have social anxiety disorder, you might have a friend, a relative or a work colleague who does. You might see it developing in your son, your daughter, or a child you teach. This book is for you, too.
Social Anxiety Revealed is created by people who yearn to ditch all these problems and live their lives to the full.
Can you help?
You can buy Social Anxiety Revealed here.
To find out more about Miriam and her writing, visit her website.