A Socially Anxious Person Goes...Social!

A Socially Anxious Person Goes...Social! (Or, My Time at the Smithtown Library’s Historical Nonfiction Book Club)

I thought, this week, that we’d take a break from politics (as usual) on this blog and bring up a personal triumph that happened to me--today, actually. Today, I went to a Historical Nonfiction Book Club at the Smithtown Library. It was early in the morning (about 10:30). The book we were covering was “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot. For those of you who haven’t read it, I would check it out. It’s the story of the HeLa cells, which have been used in everything, from polio vaccines to medical breakthroughs in other fields--in fact, they have been sent up into space! This also tells the human side of the story, how these cells, which were cancerous, were harvested from a woman named Henrietta Lacks, how her family made no money off of the research, and how Deborah Lacks (Henrietta’s daughter) found out more about her mother. I’d say more, but I’d ruin the book completely! 

Back to the reason I am writing this: for those of you who don’t know the man behind the blog, I am very socially anxious. In fact, I am actually diagnosed as being on the Autism spectrum (I think I still am even with the DSM change, but I’m not sure). Being in large groups of over 5 people, let’s say, makes me very uncomfortable. But here, at the Smithtown Library, I was very comfortable. There were 10 people there, which would have been enough to make me squirm. I did at first--hopefully not noticeably--and after a few minutes, and after I had participated a bit, I became more comfortable. The instructor was very nice and helped steer the conversation, making sure that everyone who had a thought about the book on a particular question was heard. The room felt “safe” (in the same sense that when you find a psychologist you are comfortable with, you feel “safe”) and, unlike many other times I had been in a group, I did not feel judged or put on the spot. In fact, the instructor did a great job welcoming me into the group and even agreed with some of the points that I made. 

Usually, I would not have gone to such an event. However, since it was something that was a huge interest of mine (history--I was a history and political science major in college!), I figured I would try it. I thought that I would wind up being shy and not saying a lot and just taking it all in, but from the moment the group started, I definitely wanted to say a lot--which is a good thing, and totally unlike me! 

If I am not busy, I will definitely go to the next one, in July. I definitely recommend going to their book club if you’re reading this in Long Island near Smithtown. I just wanted to share some thoughts and a personal triumph, and politics will return next week. Thank you.