Your cringe phase was just you being brave before you were polished.

Enthusiasm without technique looks embarrassing in hindsight and is actually the required first stage. You cared about something openly before you were good at it, which takes more nerve than staying cool and uninvolved. The people who never had a cringe phase usually never risked liking anything in public. Polish comes from the practice you were already doing badly.

Look at old work or old photos and try to see the effort instead of the awkwardness. Say something kind about that version, since they are the reason you can do this now. Then go be visibly enthusiastic about something current, at the same risk.