Consistency, pushiness, dorkiness and concealment

I recently went back through my blog and noticed that my 2nd entry documents when I crashed a post-performance reception to meet the super captain for the local opera comapny. I just went up on stage (where the reception was), found a guy I recognized as having been a super in the production and asked him to point the super captain out. Then I went over, inserted myself into his conversation and introduced myself. So it appears that my behavior has been pretty consistent regarding working the backstage opera scene.

Reading about all of it is like reading about someone else, because I consider myself to be shy. Shy but brave I guess? When I was a kid my mother told me to never be afraid to introduce myself because most people will be happy that you did. So even though I feel shy, I take a deep breath, push through that wall that tries to build itself and introduce myself It's not a brick wall, it's more like a wall of shaving cream. No, that's too messy. A beaded curtain perhaps? One fact that I didn't put in that party-crashing entry was that I distinctly recall taking my hair out of a braid before going in. Maybe I use my hair as a curtain to protect me? It gets me noticed, that and my, uh, low cut dresses (thank you pregnancy and nursing!). But seriously, although it seems that I often just jump right in and introduce myself to people, I have to take a deep breath first to get the courage, and then afterwards I go over what I said and wonder if I made a fool of myself.

Just thought I'd get that out there, if anyone has been reading my blog thinking, "I could never do that..." when I call out to Nathan Gunn down a hallway, weave through a crowd to introduce myself to John Osborn, crash a party to meet the super captain or do anything else that seems gutsy. Trust me, I feel like a complete dork the entire time, I'm just very good at concealing it... perhaps behind my hair?

So I challenge everyone to go ahead and try it. Do you have a singer or actor or someone you admire? Wait by the stage door or get yourself backstage, go up to them, stick out your hand and say, "Hi, my name is xxxx. I really enjoyed the performance." They'll be thrilled, I promise! If not, they're not worth your time.