shy boy
I was incredibly shy as a child.
I struggled with social anxiety from a very young age and had trouble interacting with others. Some early memories show just how shy I was.
In kindergarten, I had an accident but was too shy to speak up. The teacher had to figure it out. At family gatherings, I'd cling to my parents and avoid relatives. My parents forced me to sing at school events, which terrified me, though I eventually won a prize.
I remained like that until 9 years old.
Everything changed when my family moved to a new neighborhood.
The move shifted my social environment and confidence. I started making friends. We'd go fishing, pick wild berries, and climb hills without telling our parents - things I never would have done before.
Those friendships transformed me.
Looking back, those friends were like the boys in Stephen King's novella "The Body" - they helped break me out of my shell and brought out a more raw, uninhibited side of myself.
Of course, there's really no deep life lesson here.
It's just a jumbled recollection from spending the day mostly in bed with a slight fever and aching limbs—I think it may be the flu.