It's my birthday.

Here's why it matters (to me). An essay on shyness, confidence and self-celebration.

Me on my 9th birthday, holding a match.

When I was researching my book Shy, I interviewed several psychologists, as I wanted to understand the root of this personality trait.

I discovered that shyness is part-genetic, part-environmental.

But also, that genetic traits will only be activated in an environment, so the exact split is almost impossible to dete…