Meet Your Host

June 7, 2023

Hi, I'm Angela Bennett. I am an introvert who was a really shy kid. I was scared of strangers, of going to school, of basically everything and everyone except my mom.

And that story of who I am has stayed with me for a lot of my life. Feeling I was too shy and awkward around people, worried too much about what others would think of the real me. So I spent a lot of my life withdrawing from the world and hiding away, trying to protect myself. But that kept my world and my life much smaller than I truly desired. I just didn't think I had what it took to live a fulfilling and adventurous life. But boy did I want such a life. 

When I hit 30, I got kind of desperate and decided if I didn't do something different life was going to keep passing me by. My friends and sisters were married and having kids and I felt out of place, knowing I didn't want that, but unsure what I did want.

So I took a big leap. I quit my boring bookkeeping job and went to live on a Native American reservation in South Dakota for 5 months, volunteering at a youth center there. It was scary as hell. I worried my friends and family would think I was crazy and irresponsible for quitting my job. I wasn't sure I'd be any good with kids or that I'd enjoy the experience.

It turned out to be the best decision I'd ever made, up to that point. I finally had a dream of my own and I went for it. It was the first thing I'd done as an adult that felt like it was truly my decision, not something others expected of me. Believe me, no one expected shy little Angela to ever do such an adventurous thing, me included. 

And that leap led to other adventures. Working as a youth counselor out in the woods in Florida, doing my best to gain the trust of my group of 12 teenaged boys. Chasing after runaway kids, stepping in between fights. Laughing and joking with the kids, listening to their life stories and their dreams. 

I fell in love with a fellow counselor there and we're together 16 years later. We've had many adventures together. Spending 3 months hiking 700 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Moving across the country a few times with no jobs or places to live lined up in advance. 

And now I'm on the bumpy, treacherous road to self-employment. The journey that will make you look at all of that shit you buried long ago. Bring up all your insecurities and self-doubt. Send you searching for your voice and your power when you're not even sure they exist.

This community is as much for me as it is for you. I'm no guru. I'm not looking to tell you what's best for you, what you should do. That is for you to decide. What I'm really after is to become a great community facilitator, creating a welcoming and engaging place for quieter people to feel at home so that we can all come out of the shells we've outgrown. To create a place where exploration is encouraged and celebrated, where we allow ourselves the freedom of not having all the answers. 

◈ Originally written during IU 1.0, a small experimental version of the community that included shared posts, comments, and regular weekly gatherings.