Junior high angst

“Do one thing every day that frightens you.”

                             Eleanor Roosevelt

          I’m having flashbacks to junior high and being the new kid in school. The fact that I’m referring to junior high and not middle school shows that I’m old enough for this feeling to be ridiculous.

          I’m leaving in a few minutes for a three day writer’s conference where I know absolutely no one. Over the past few days, in spite of my efforts to tamp it down, a vision will float by of me sitting at a long lunch table, alone and ignored. 

          You would think that at this advanced age I’d be immune to such fears, but a woman at the Y this morning confided that she’d once found herself on a tour alone in Rome when her traveling companions decided not to take the day trip. She spent a lonely morning until she told herself to man up and talk to people. So I’ll be the pushy person grabbing that last chair and elbowing my way into conversations.  

          I do hope to come away wiser in some way.  I’m going to Crime Bake, an East Coast conference for members of Sisters in Crime, an organization of women mystery writers. The guest of honor this year is Elizabeth George, the author of the Inspector Lynley series, so this must be a fairly big deal. 

          Anyway, I haven’t done anything lately that frightens me and I’ve learned that those are the experiences I’ve most proud to have tried.