Tanking is... hm.

Tanking is like throwing a party.

You spend all this time and effort planning out the entire experience from start to finish, worrying about new events, and handling things that happen. You set up the enemies so the DPS don't have to worry about getting damaged while they lay down all of the reckless destruction they can, and you make the healer feel like your champion, helping you rise above threats that you couldn't take on by yourself. Meanwhile, you're not damaging or healing as much as anybody else, you're just... arranging things. The host of the party is never the most funny or attractive or charming, they're just the one who facilitates the fun. It takes a very specific kind of person to find that interesting and rewarding.

I'm that kind of person for my friends, so it translates well into this game. But I can see why it's intimidating for most. It's hard to get over Tanxiety.