Forget, stutter, lower confidence, forget, stutter. Moments of speaking have become terrifying, and they are central to every part of everyday life.

Anxiety can be an extremely sensory-related disorder. When those senses become overwhelmed, super normal situations can become physically paralyzing.

For people with anxiety, networking can feel like someone has plucked you out of your home and dropped you into an arena to battle the most amplified versions of all of your fears at once.

I soon found out that parties were mostly people smushed like sardines in smoky basements or littered backyards, glassy eyed and hormones raging. Weird reward for therapy, but I did learn flip cup skills.

I’m still not fully over this fear and it comes in waves every few years. But honestly, the worst part of a phone call is the anxiety leading up to it. The phone call itself isn’t actually that bad. Here’s what I hold onto throughout it…