First of all let me congradulate you for your very mature thinking.
I wish all magicians could think before they perform.
Your questions and thinking really made my day.
Other than that I'll just say what all the other guys are saying

Perform! You don't have to get booked in fancy shows and fear that you'll get shot at if you flash...go with baby steps.
DO some random magic to people at first...when you go and buy something from a store...show the employee behind the counter something. But do this with all your might...as Jeff McBride says : "You may be the first magician he ever sees"...you DO have a great responsibillity towards the public "name" of the art wherever you perform...but...if it does not go as planned you won't beat your self up that hard...you can go home and study what happened. "when I flashed?" "how did he see my hand go to the pocket?" etc...
Interaction with people is a vital ingredient for our art and it can only be mastered with flight-time and ofcourse...interaction
Let us know how you 've been doing and take care
De'Mon-Greece