You think everyone saw you trip. Most of them were busy worrying about their own shoes.

Attention feels like a spotlight because you live your own moments from the inside and everyone else’s from a distance. In practice people are running their own commentary and have very little capacity spare for yours. The embarrassment is real, and the audience for it is mostly imagined.

Test this directly by trying to recall somebody else’s stumble from last month. The blank you get is the answer. Let that lower the stakes on whatever you are currently replaying at two in the morning.