HOW RECONNECTION FITNESS WAS BORN
09/07/2025, Written by Mikayla Bloom Welcome to the World! My First Event Have you ever wondered what happens when you let a very socially awkward and introverted individual organize and host social events? Well, that was me September of last year when I decided to host my first Let Your Feet Do the Talking social in Howland, OH. What’s funny is I can’t remember almost anything from that day. It’s like when you go on autopilot while driving, you blink and all of a sudden you’re at your destination. I couldn’t tell you what day or time the event took place, but what I do know is that it definitely happened and clearly something clicked since Reconnection Fitness is still hosting events a year later. Childhood, Confidence, and Sports Growing up, I didn’t realize how much anxiety could shape the choices I made. I always thought it was just a “me” problem for being quiet, feeling awkward, overthinking everything. But looking back, it wasn’t just shyness. It was fear. Fear of judgment, fear of standing out, fear of not being good enough. And that fear stuck around longer than I ever expected. Like a lot of people, I spent years trying to blend in, constantly adjusting who I was depending on the group I was around. Over time, I had so many different “versions” of myself on standby that I didn’t really know who I was anymore. I felt fake… Not in a dishonest way, but like I was never showing up fully as me. That habit slowly chipped away at my confidence without me even realizing it. Still, despite all of that, I did try track and soccer in middle school and I actually really enjoyed them. Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t exactly a star athlete, but I loved being outside and moving my body. I especially loved running the 400 and 800 meter events in track. But the older I got, the harder it became to keep doing things just for fun. Anxiety started to win more often and that’s where things really began to shift. When Reality Feels Like a Question By the time I got to high school, things changed. Sports weren’t just about having fun anymore. Up until that point, I had done them purely because I liked them. But suddenly, all I could see ahead of me was a field full of new teammates who might judge every move I make. I imagined losing every meet, sitting on the sidelines, and just feeling like I didn’t belong. So I quit. Just gave it all up. Because clearly, I’d never be “good enough,” right? The Mental Battles of Anxiety The Brain is Stupid Sometimes… Now, you might be thinking: You can’t just assume those things would happen, you have to at least try first! And honestly, you’re right. Logically, that’s what a reasonable person would do. But anxiety isn’t logical. It’s that annoying little voice in your head that constantly imagines the worst-case scenario under the guise of trying to “protect” you. Even when those fears are ridiculous, they feel real. And because of that, I missed out on a lot in high school. Not because I didn’t want to participate, but because I was so afraid of what people would think. Thanks for the Nicknames, I Guess Once I graduated I noticed my best friend had been going to the gym and was getting super strong! I on the other hand was the equivalent of a string bean. My whole life I have been called things like skinny minny, anorexic (I wasn’t), and of course string bean, and there was a period in time I was also called Randall from Monster’s Inc… I still don’t know where that came from, but hey, if you see the resemblance, feel free to let me know. Those comments didn’t feel great at the time, but I can laugh about them now. Honestly, looking back, they probably played a part in why I decided to start getting stronger in the first place. Getting Strong and Saying Goodbye to String Bean Me So after some thinking I thought building my strength could be good for me so I started going to the gym. I set zero standards or expectations for myself, I just went. It took a couple months of being consistent and it was seriously hard to get to that point. My anxiety would win sometimes because if I saw someone I knew from high school at the gym I would drop everything and leave. If I felt like someone was judging me, I would leave. If I thought my outfit looked stupid, I would leave. It was a constant mental battle that I felt like I would never win. A Fresh Start in Pennsylvania Where No One Knew My Name (and That Was Perfect) But when I moved all the way to Oakdale, PA for college I honestly felt a lot of that anxiety disappear? It was quite freeing actually! I think it’s because I realized I wasn’t going to see anyone I knew from high school, I also knew I probably wasn’t going to stay in PA forever. So in reality I would never see the gym-goers of the Planet Fitness in Moon, PA ever again. So it really allowed me to build confidence in the gym without worrying about people’s opinions so much. A Fresh Start Short-Lived It’s safe to say that I soon fell in love with weightlifting and it became my main hobby throughout college. Flash forward to 2024 when I had been back in Ohio for a while and was working an office job in my field for about three years. With the gym no longer being a hobby for me but now a lifestyle I started becoming bored and quite frankly I was just completely miserable. The gym wasn’t giving me the same dopamine boost that it used to even though I still enjoyed going. So I started