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This is Harry.
As a boy, Harry was very very shy.
Some people might have even said that he was painfully shy,
as if his shyness caused them pain, and not the other way around.
There are many things that can cause a person to recede,
to look away from other people's eyes
or to choose empty hallways over crowded ones.
Some shy people try to reach out
and try and nothing seems to come back.
And then there's just a point where they stop trying.
In Harry's case he was slapped in the face
and called names designed to isolate him,
designed to deliver maximum damage.
This, because he'd come from another country
and didn't know the right words to use or the right way to say them.
And so, Harry learned how to be still,
to camouflage, to be the least.
Some people describe this as receding into a shell.
where the stillness hardens and protects.
But the eyes, even when they look down, in a way, you're still watching
still looking for some way out or in, painfully shy.
Then in middle school Harry found theater,
where he forced himself to speak through other people's words
and then dance, where he started to speak through the movements of his body.
To be so still for so long when you're young
means a lot of pent-up energy. And it was released there
through work. Endless work.
If someone carves into a sapling with a knife
the injury is as wide as the entire trunk.
Though that mark will never fully heal
you can grow the tree around it. And as you grow
the scar gets smaller in proportion.
If you right now are in a shell, you should know that you're not alone.
That there are many many other people like you.
And that there's nothing wrong with you.
It might even be necessary right now.
Might keep you safe for a time. But after the danger's gone,
and after it's exhausted its use, you'll find a way out.
You may need help.
You might need to work pretty hard.
You may need to find some ways to laugh at yourself.
Or find a passion or a friend, but you will find it.
And when you do, it will be so good to see you.
This is Harry. As a boy, Harry was very very shy.