Amateur Tampa

Hi loves,

There are some new developments for KAlexWrites on the wing coming for the remainder of 2019 and beyond. The first is a tad bit personal, but it addresses a challenge I don’t face alone in this world. In observance of #worldmentalhealthday, let’s start with:

Anxiety in general can be crippling enough that you don’t want to leave your house, but with the added factor of social fear (sometimes disgust, sometimes reprehension), it can alter the trajectory of your life. So, once a month, I’ll be taking another, and then another baby step into a better future with my #amateurtampa series.

I’ve lived in Tampa for most of my life. I was born in the Caribbean, the US Virgin Islands to be exact, but moved to Florida relatively young. Considering how long I’ve lived here, I’ve never explored too much of the city. You could say I was raised a certain way—to be good, to be compliant, to always stay in line—and part of that involved staying at home “like a good girl” and predicating all my success upon whether or not I’m marriage material.

Hey, it happens.

None of that is practical, however, and there are many women, many people across the globe struggling with who they want to be vs. who they are expected to be. Some of us are even held in line by violence—overt and subliminal—and our cries for help are so minute, you miss them every-single-time.

I like to believe that those who are undergoing the same experience come across this blog (at least one person). And if you’re here and you can’t be strong on your own, how about we find strength together?

Amateur Tampa will consist of me going to different locations in Tampa to chronicle where I am, what I’m doing there, and the physical reactions taking place while I’m there. To start, the goal is to see somewhere new once per month. The end goal is to amateur my butt all over the contiguous United States and then some. The underlying mechanism: exposure to different stimuli in amounts that increase over time to reduce the negative effects of social exposure.

In short, reduce the social anxiety but keep the introversion.

Don’t let the internet fool you. Social anxiety and introversion are two COMPLETELY different animals. One is a bull; the other is a chameleon.

Join me. Lurk in the shadows or happily comment. It doesn’t matter. I’ve a platform, albeit the length of your average pirate-ship plank, but it’s a platform nonetheless.

Ye our voices may be small, but our fingers typeth swift. It is with our pads-to-the key we shall change the world, one whisper, one stumble, and one blush at a time.

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First Post – 10.31.2019

“Tampa Through Thine Eyes”