text: Timidity is a form of fear. In particular, it is a fear of expressing oneself, and perhaps even being oneself. Timidity is characterized by inaction and/or the repetition of actions that are not fruitful. Timidity is roughly synonymous with “quiet desperation,” the state of suffering in silence while you work to maintain a life that isn’t right for you.
  To be timid is to play the game of life too tightly. Timidity’s goal is to try to “Play it safe,” and avoid taking any damage.
  This is timidity’s great irony: it puts the bulk of its efforts into protecting itself, yet it profoundly fears itself. How do you protect something you are afraid of? The answer: don’t get too close to it.
  That means that, when you are timid, you try not to get to know yourself too well. You avoid intimacy. You shy away from your true desires, concluding that they are some combination of ludicrous, embarrassing, and impossible. You try to act as though you are some neutral entity without inclinations, convictions, curiosities, or ideas. God forbid anyone finding out that you’re actually human.
  My words come from experience. I have long known timidity. That might be hard to comprehend, since I do things such as run long distances (up to 62 miles in a day, thus far), write openly about sexuality, and try unusual diets. It would be impossible to have a blog (especially one on personal growth) if I had no convictions, curiosities, or ideas.
  However, there is a reality that enables me to be timid—even in the face of the above truths. It is that incongruences can exist. In particular, the way you act can be out of line with the way you feel, and the way you speak can be out of line with what you believe.