Why does the software scare me more than the blank page?

Someone in your pod says, 'I'm still learning the software,' and looks down at their hands. Everyone nods and moves on. But watch the hands — they are not learning anything in that moment. They are hiding. This is what happens when tool fear meets teamwork: the fear that was private becomes visible. Alone, you could avoid the equipment for months and no one would notice. With others waiting on your part, the avoidance has an audience. What used to be quiet shame becomes a delay someone else feels. The work in your head is often finer than anything you have made with your hands. That is not a flaw in you. It is the ordinary distance between imagining and doing. The distance closes through use, not through more imagining — and it closes faster when someone stands beside you while you use the thing badly for the first time.