Naked with Black Socks
I have often had “the naked dream,” though it was never about public speaking. My naked dreams are always about final exams and college.
I am in a classroom ready to take the test when I realize I haven’t attended any of the lectures and have no idea what the subject is.
And … I’m naked.
Nobody notices my nakedness. Maybe they are mentally naked too.
I was a pretty good public speaker. There’s much contradiction in my relationship with performance. I can’t play the piano for anyone. I freeze solid and can’t remember anything. Microphones turn me into a mute. But I can stand in an auditorium full of live people and I’m fine. If I can make eye contact, if I can see faces in my audience, it’s okay.
But. Put me in a studio — or in front of a critical musical audience? I’m frozen, like a deer in headlights.
Stage fright is situational and selective.
My husband, who spent most of his life in front of a TV camera, is shy. Except — when the camera is live, he’s live too.
There’s no accounting for it.
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Categories: Daily Prompt, Humor, Media
DISASTROUS? OR JUST UNFORTUNATE? 
AN EXPERT ON GUILTY PLEASURES 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
I’ve had those exam dreams. Not naked. But they are no fun.
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Funny how college seems to “stick” to our unconscious, isn’t it? It was so long ago, but somewhere, we’re still students.
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I never public speak- learning to get up in front of a classroom filled with 1st graders was a challenge for me!love the title of this post 🙂 and the photo of you and Garry especially
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I was never good in front of kids. They’re a hard crowd to please and they aren’t shy about expressing their opinions. Grown ups are easier, especially when they’ve been drinking 🙂 Brave woman, to tackle first graders!
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It is said that even before death, most people fear public speaking. I taught it for many years and gave my students acting techniques that made it easier. As for dreams, I have ones in which I can’t find my classroom or my purse. In many others, I’m exploring different kinds of houses. I assume they represent portions of my mind. One of the most memorable ones was when I died, exploding into hundreds of fragments of different colored shards of crystals. It was an eye-opener!
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Garry’s are about being on a story … and when it’s a bad dream, it’s a mob closing in and as he puts it, “They aren’t buying my act.” I don’t know why my clock got stuck at college, but I assume it’s symbolic of life in general, that sense that somehow, I’m always faking it.
I was guillotined in one dream, but I never exploded. That’s unique.
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Amazing, isn’t it, what our subconscious sends us?
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I’ve never given a speech, and hope I never have to. I have enough trouble with ordinary conversation.
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Conversation for me is either really easy, or impossible. I don’t seem to have a middle ground. All the public speaking I’ve done, I was very well prepared. And I had an audience that wanted to hear what I had to say. That helps a lot. They weren’t looking for reasons to criticize. And — oh yeah — I have a degree in Drama-Public Speaking. That helps 🙂
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“Nobody notices my nakedness.” That’s because we’re all thing the same thing and wish to not bring attention to it by calling someone else out.
Good post.
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Thanks 🙂
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When you start peeling back the layers of our realities there are always so many surprises.
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I can stand up and talk in front of people, but have never had the pleasure of being on camera. I am getting more confident with my Social Snappers group. That is because I know what I am talking about.
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I don’t mind being on radio, but television is not my favorite venue. I like being behind the camera, not in front of it. Fortunately, Garry loves being on camera — he makes up for both of us!
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I wonder how it feels to stand in front of a camera and talk to thousands of people on the TV. I don’t know whether I could do it. Mr. Swiss is very much a background person, although he is always giving advice to the guys on the TV telling them how to do it better, especially the weather man.
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I have done it a little bit a couple of times. I didn’t faint or anything, but it isn’t my thing. Radio is better. But you know, my husband is a born again ham, so he’s very happy when the cameras role. I’m always glad to let him be the family spokesman and he’s happy as a clam.
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Mine should be obvious. I’m naked on a live shot —- busy street and the crowd is applauding. Of course, it’s a full frontal shot. BREAKING NEWS!!!
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I missed that one. Oh, how I would have liked to catch THAT stand-up!
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