With 9 people in attendance, including one new face, (Welcome to the family Nilabja!) we were ready to have a spooky good time. As usual, we started with introductions, and this month we wanted to know what unique talent or things our members possessed, so we asked everybody to introduce themselves with “Hello, my name is _________ and I’m probably the only one in the room that ______” and we were pleasantly surprised. Shamal admitted he was probably the only one in the room that speaks a little Vietnamese, while Priyanka (through a huge grin) shared that she has watched every episode of Grey’s Anatomy (that’s 13 seasons… in case everyone was wondering).
After introductions, we moved on to our topic of the month. With Halloween just around the corner, we decided that it would be more than appropriate to talk about FEAR and what we are afraid of. As people who stutter, we are constantly faced with “scary situations” that are very specific to our community. Things like having to introduce ourselves in a room full of strangers, or the dreaded “can you repeat that?”. As Brett said, he feels like shouting “HEAR ME OUT!”, when someone asks him to repeat himself.
To explore the topic further, everybody in the room received a notecard and pen and was asked to write 3 things fearful stuttering experiences they fear. Next, we paired with a partner, exchanged cards, and talked about the things that scare us.
This turned out to be a very interesting experience, because, as usual, the first thing that was noticeable was the number of “oh, me too’s!” in the room. One of the most powerful things about our meetings is that they can be the first and possibly only place where you get to be around people that totally get you. With that understanding comes a sense of relief, and that can help alleviate fear, right? Having a team around you is less scary than being alone!
Secondly, and perhaps as important, was that with understanding it’s easier to find humor in situations– you would never hear a conversation about fear with so much laughter involved!
At the end of the day, we learned that many of our fears associated with stuttering are just in our mind, and learning to identify those fears as irrational is the first step to vanishing them. As the Japanese proverb says “Fear is only as deep as the mind allows”, and learning to control your mind is the first step in overcoming any fear in life.
With that, we closed another great meeting of the mighty Dallas Chapter.
Have fun trick or treating tonight and see you in a few weeks for our November Chat and Chew!
Dallas NSA