“Nowadays I can have an image in my mind of some big (software) application that I want to build and just work on the pieces bit by bit… and maybe not see a big result until the end, but having walked that path so many times I’m less afraid of it and there’s less hesitation holding me back. I think it’s just a process of teaching yourself to not be afraid of that unknown.”

Harold Treen is a software engineer, and more. His fascination with coding started with an introduction to HTML in middle school, and he quickly noted the ‘magic’ of typing something into a computer to make big changes happen on screen. “The amount of effort you need to input to see an output or to see an effect is so small that it helps start the motivation engine…” He continues to create code, now at Square Space where he contributes to massive projects. 

While his interest in coding has been present since a young age, interacting with other human beings wasn’t always at the forefront of his experience. Harold shares, “There was a time when I was very anxious and socially awkward. I made it a habit to go out and ask people for the time so I wasn’t afraid of strangers.” This deliberate action to open up to others has grown over the years, and it has moved fast. What started as saying hi to ‘strangers’ ultimately enabled Harold to say yes to an invitation to go to a dance studio. “The next thing you know I was going to this dance studio every week for a year, learning rumba and cha-cha and doing partner dancing and salsa. That was huge.”

His dancing enabled him to be more comfortable in his body, and a big weight was off his shoulders. He continued to ‘lean into it’, receiving compliments and even performing on stage as a dance instigator at the Daybreaker early morning dance parties he attends. “I just built my confidence up to the point of, ‘I don’t really care anymore’. I just feel totally free to do and act however I want.” 

And act he does as well. He performs improv, where one is required to listen intently, let go, and say ‘yes!’. What started as a means to socialize has become much more for Harold, “I think it’s scary at first, but it also encourages you to be yourself if you can put yourself through that over and over again and realize that in the process of being vulnerable you’re entertaining people, you’re making them laugh, you’re making them connect with you. That is huge positive reinforcement to being vulnerable.”

Harold brings these learnings of expression, empathy, and openness into his daily life. While this may seem like form of living he has always had, it is relatively fresh, and he has put himself in environments to be social and collaborative, “When you feel socially anxious and the story in your head is that people don’t want to hang out with you, or you’re not fun to be around… when someone offers you an activity to do, that’s like an olive branch that you want to grab on to. “

Grabbing ahold of that olive branch and saying yes continues to bring about opportunities.  Whether he is contributing well-written, accessible code for his collaborators, or creating a character onstage at improv; Harold simply wants to “be someone that can interact with people and really understand them. Who people feel comfortable approaching. Who people connect with and are excited about.”

How have you changed your perspective on something?

Listen to the episode here:

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Thank you to wistia for the music:

“Sidecar Sessions” Recorded at Wistia HQ in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Written and arranged by Dan Mills. Performed by Dan Mills. Engineered and mixed by Dan Mills. Mastered by Rob Murray.