“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.”
~ Lao Tsu

I may have mentioned this on one of my previous posts before, but for a recap for those that don’t know me… my name is Eva and in RL I am an introvert.  My job requires me to play the extroverted role (which I can do quite well).  But at the end of the day, if I could be a hermit, that would be an awesome thing. Okay, I take that back… I do like to hop on SL at the end of the day, but interestingly, at times I find my shyness permeates into my avi as well.  It’s funny how our avatars can mirror us on occasion.

So, I mention all of this because this week, I had a RL breakthrough that I am personally really excited about.  This week, I had to travel to New Orleans for a work conference. I usually dread these things because it always requires being “on” – smiling to the bosses, making small talk, making sure you don’t say something stupid, making sure you don’t have that annoying leafy lettuce stuck on your teeth at dinner, using the right utensils (thank goodness I had a southern mama that was all about drilling proper etiquette), and it goes on and on and on.

On the last night of the conference, I let one of my work colleagues drag me out to celebrate the end of the meeting.  Ordinarily, I would make my excuses to go back and do some work, but something told me to just go for it.  And, I’m glad I did.  Not only did I have a great time, but those same bosses that leave me on edge were there and were actually dancing like 50 year old white guys who rediscovered their fraternity days to hip hop music.  Luckily, I was able to hide my smile behind my beer, but it made me start to think… I really need to start loosening up and being more accepting of me.  I think my being an introvert has allowed me to use it as a shield to try to protect myself from social rejection.  It’s not even like I’m that socially awkward (at least I don’t think I am….) It’s more that I’m so protective of my perceived perception that I almost paralyze myself by keeping to myself.

So, from now on, whenever I feel like being a hermit, I will remember the image of my bosses doing The Wobble (the original post had the song, but YouTube removed the video 😦 ).

Now… off to sunny Palm Springs to get my spa weekend on!  Happy shopping <3!

CREDITS

Jeans: ArisAris  | Contemporary Jeans (NEW! You can get them here)
Hair: CaTwA | Aura
Body: Maitreya | Lara Mesh Body v. 3.3

Pose by Aerial Poses – My Back