I used to panic before all presentations. I’d lose sleep for a week, develop a terrible stomach ache, and erupt in acne.

Over the years, I’ve slowly improved. Before last week’s Vancouver Writers Fest talks, I lost only one night of sleep and had only one pimple (though it was ginormous).

Yesterday, I gave a lecture to a creative writing class at UBC, and I didn’t panic at all. I slept fine, had no unusual skin conditions, and even managed to dress appropriately.

But then, I woke up at 2 a.m. last night, stewing about all the things I should have done differently.

WHAT GOOD WAS THAT? THE PRESENTATION WAS OVER!

Sometimes I think I should take my brain back to the store and ask for a more reasonable replacement.