Showmanship

I am not a showman. I can stand up in front of a class and provide training. I'm quite good at it at times, in fact. I think I trained myself to be comfortable with training, but it doesn't come naturally. When I'm done, I'm usually smoked. I think I've written before about energy and extroversion and introversion. Some (extroverts) are able to gain more energy from crowds or presentations, others (introverts) expend or waste that energy. I'm an introvert. 

So I'm not a natural showman. I'd much rather operate in the shadows rather than be a frontman. I was discussing this with my wife the other day when she was telling the CFO of the company she works for why it wasn't necessary for her to come in and meet the C-Suite. They were so appreciative of her work that they wanted to thank her. They didn't know that, like me, you thank me by not doing that. 

I remember that I didn't want to walk across the stage for my PhD. My boss basically had to make me. Whenever I win a fun run, they call my name to come get a medal, but I never walk up there. I'd rather just be left alone rather than be put in the spotlight. 

From a red-teaming or self-authorship standpoint, this causes problems. I have a very hard time understanding many people in our generation. I don't understand how you could record yourself saying something, doing something, reacting, anything with as much frequency as I see online. Even my writing . . .do I want to be a best-selling author? Sure. But that's cause I want my words to be read and appreciated, I don't want the fame. 

So, this Don Lemon protesting in a church thing has me stumped. Because I can't get into that side of life, I can't understand anyone who goes out of their way to find the limelight. In this case it seems as though Don Lemon knew they were going to protest at a church, and deliberately inserted himself in there. Why? Well, journalism to a point. But that doesn't explain it all. He seems to have been a much more active participant than that. Is he hoping to dare the federal government to arrest him? Maybe. He'd certainly get a lot more limelight right? A court case? Talk shows galore? All that comes with that. 

Would he be convicted? Based on what I've seen and what I know, I think he might. But he would get the limelight. See, this is the exact opposite of how I see the world. Seeking the limelight is something I do not naturally understand, so it's hard to understand that perspective.