
1:01
In this monologue, the speaker explains that ‘shrinking’—the act of suppressing oneself in social situations—has both financial and mental costs. They detail the extensive mental gymnastics required: constantly deciding when to speak, what to say, tone, cadence, posture, and monitoring who is in the room and who is speaking. This perpetual self‑monitoring creates anxiety because the speaker must anticipate multiple possible scenarios before even forming a thought, leading to significant exhaustion from the continual effort throughout the day.










