'I don't know what time is it in the world,' she spoke to the audience while she walked on-stage, her face turned towards the side she was walking.
'But my body clock says it's 2:43 am—the time I should be sound asleep in my warm bed and posting memes the next day about how much I love to sleep. But no, I sit and think, bathing in silence, talk philosophy with other lunatics I find awake, all in the name of being honest, raw and dangerously unguarded.' She was facing the audience now.
'So in that vulnerable state where my words win the race while logic and reason lag behind, I say, let's talk about fear.' She pauses.
'Now, now, I didn't think that through, did I?' She grins, rubbing the back of her neck.
'As much as I'd like to continue, I'm not sure if I can, if my legs would start to wobble and my lips would keep quivering unless I bite them down, if you'd notice the only reason my hands are clenched is to stop them from trembling, if my throat wouldn't be so constricting, suddenly drying out, if my fear wasn't so dominating that even thinking about it would make it cut the blood supply of my vocal cords leaving me unable to speak.' Her lips stretched into a painful smile, her eyes downcast.
'But maybe,' she looked up, eyeing the audience.
'Maybe, dominant as it may be, it's afraid. Afraid to get out in the open. To be exposed like that, heard and seen, having the spotlight shining on it—the spotlight it never asked for. Maybe it just feels safe, hidden inside of me, fooling me into biting my nails, when in reality, it is my peace and calm being bitten away, my sanity slowly chipping off.
Perhaps, fear fears itself which is why it makes you fear it because fear is all it knows, fear is all it does and fear is all it breeds.' She steps down and a loud applause fills the hall.
