every time...I felt a little social anxiety I would just go right toward them and open up a conversation

THIS! So much this! I am experiencing something similar in a relationship I currently have where we agreed to be 100% honest about everything. So whenever I do something I would normally hide from someone I'm in a relationship with, I just call her up and tell her right away. This makes it so much easier to stay honest because it's a habit at this point rather than a choice.

"all fear is illusion, walk straight ahead" ... when you see the fear just go straight towards it

This kind of makes me think of it as: kill the fear when it's a baby and it can't grow up to terrorize you ... lol. Or to phrase it more positively: befriend the fear before it grows to scary and it will grow into something you understand instead of something you fear.