Hi everyone —

Thank you for coming to Celebrate Shyness. I hope you stay awhile, learn something, and share your thoughts on shyness.

This is my first blog post on shyness, so I’m just going to dive in and explain why I launched this site.

I am a writer who has collaborated with Bernardo Carducci, Ph.D., on three books about shy people. I loved those projects, and hope that I can write more books about shy people in the future. But while researching those books, I realized that something was missing: online forums for shy people.

Shy people spend a lot of time online because they (or should I say, “we”) feel more comfortable sharing our thoughts in this medium, where we can remain anonymous and lose our inhibitions. Yet precious few places on the Internet are solely devoted to shy people sharing their thoughts, experiences, and feelings.

So why not start one right here?

I invite you to comment freely on this site, and I’ll provide regular posts and prompts to spur discussion.

I only ask that you be courteous, respectful, and generous with each other. I really want this to be a safe space for shy people to express themselves (ahem–“ourselves”). It’s hard enough to write about our tender spots and vulnerabilities even when we’re surrounded by supportive friends. But it’s almost impossible to do so when we’re afraid of being called out, shamed, or harassed.

Enough with the lecture.

Welcome.