11 Comments
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Doris Espineta's avatar

What a great story. Thank you for illuminating a part of me as well. I’ve been masking as an extrovert my whole life. Wonderful how you describe it.

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Isa Catto's avatar

I well know that space. Thanks for reading!

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Sabrina Simpson's avatar

Your essay rings so true, and have heard about your family from Martin Kohout. So nice to to find you here! What a blessing to have a cool grownup save the situation! Reading Susan Cain's book was a revelation to me, and a relief to finally have words to describe myself. I wrote for her magazine about some of my strategies for coping in college, and subsequently the working world with my terror of having to meet and talk to new people in a large social settings. It never goes away, does it?

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Isa Catto's avatar

Wonderful! Thanks for reading and sharing a bit of your introvert journey. As for the entering a new space I always play a select song to ground me and remember that I always have the bathroom to hide in if things go south.

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Barry's avatar

Love this story!!! You were so brave to even try to enter a circle of adults like that (world famous or not)!

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Isa Catto's avatar

Not sure about the brave bit. Just wanted to please my father! Thank you for reading!

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Brooks Tanner's avatar

Took me more than 50 years to get comfortable with my introversion. Nice story.

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Isa Catto's avatar

Me too. And I masked for decades!

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Martin Kohout's avatar

What a wonderful story, Isa. Having married into your formidable family, and being an introvert myself, I was always a bit intimidated at those dinner parties. God bless Rowlie.

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James Baker Studio's avatar

Thank you for that wonderful story. I smiled when I read how your 10-year-old self walked into that circle of some of the most formidable people anyone could encounter.

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Isa Catto's avatar

Kind of a go big or go home moment.

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