anything goes with emma chamberlain - i had a public meltdown, storytime [video]
Episode Date: February 9, 2025[video available on spotify] today i'm going to tell you a story about something that happened to me a few weeks ago. it was so traumatic that i completely blocked it out, up until today. you're going... to judge me, because this story is mortifying. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Today, I'm going to tell you a story.
Today, I'm going to tell you a story about something that happened to me a few weeks
ago that I didn't bring up sooner because I completely forgot that it happened.
Up until today, while I was eating my lunch, I completely forgot that this happened.
Completely forgot.
That's something I don't do often.
When something significant happens, I don't often erase it from my memory, especially
if it's a story that I could tell on my podcast.
Okay, I'm in the business of telling stories.
I don't forget about a story, but somehow this one was so traumatic for me that I completely
blocked it out up until today at around 12 or 5 p.m. when I was eating my yogurt bowl.
At 12 or 5 p.m. when I was eating my yogurt bowl, the memories came flooding back. In
the second that they did, I knew what I had to do. So I finished my yogurt bowl, put it
in the sink, put a little bit of water in it so that the yogurt didn't get crusty, walked
over to my desk, turned on my camera, turned on my recording equipment and sat down to
tell you the story. And now here I am to tell you the story. And can I be honest? You are going to judge me.
Yep. You're going to judge me because this story is embarrassing. It's mortifying. It's traumatizing
to me, but it's not traumatizing in a way that you're going to sympathize with. It's traumatizing
in a way that you are going to judge. You are going to judge me for being traumatized by what happened. But I'm going to tell you the story anyway.
Because the silver lining of unfortunate events in my life is that I get to talk about them
on my podcast. And beyond that, this story might be embarrassing and mortifying, but
it's human. And that's why I have to share it with you.
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Now let's get back to the episode. So let me set the scene for you. For New Year's this year, I got invited to go on a little
trip with some friends, okay? A group of like 10 friends, some friends that I'm super close
with, some friends that I'm maybe a bit less close with, but a big group, 10 people, to
a mountain town, okay? Like a ski town snow ski lifts ski mountains
cute little shops cute little restaurants, you know the vibe a little ski town I
Absolutely love a ski town. So I was so excited for this trip
I've always loved a ski town. There's something about it. That's so
peaceful and charming in the most dystopian way, but
it's dystopian in a theme park sort of way, in a Disneyland sort of way.
And I've just always loved it.
However, I've never skied.
I've never snowboarded.
Every time I've ever gone to a little ski town, I've just been there to hang out. Except for one time when
I tried to snowboard for like an hour and never even stood up. So I guess you could
say, I tried it once, but I don't even count it really. All of my experiences at ski mountains
involve drinking a hot beverage by a fire in the lodge. Okay. I'm not going
down the mountain. And that's because I didn't grow up doing it. Like I grew up with some
kids who had really rich dads that had vacation houses in Lake Tahoe, which is sort of a ski
town during the winter. And so there were a lot of kids I knew that
were incredible at skiing and snowboarding because every holiday weekend they were going
up to ski and snowboard, but I didn't have that. My dad does not have a Lake Tahoe house
and I didn't get invited to Lake Tahoe houses very often. So I just never tried it. And
they do say that learning skiing and snowboarding gets harder the older that you get.
So I was never really inclined to try it, but I've always been really jealous.
Like I've always wanted to be good at it.
I always thought it was such a cool thing.
Like the kids that could ski and snowboard, I was like, fuck, it's so cool that you can
go to a little ski town and actually do something. I go to a little
ski town and I have to hang out at the gift shop and drink hot chocolate. That's fun,
but it would be so fun to do that after skiing or after snowboarding. I love this environment.
I love this ski town so much that I just wish I could participate, but alas, I never could. And so back to this
New Year's trip, it was a trip to a ski town. And immediately when this plan came up, I
said to myself almost subconsciously, like, hopefully there's other people who don't want
to ski or snowboard. And when I arrived and we all sort of discussed our experience with
skiing and snowboarding, I was comforted to
see that a bunch of people didn't want to ski or snowboard. I was like, this is incredible.
I'm just going to hang out with this part of the friend group and everybody else will
go and ski and snowboard and it'll be great. But then there were a few people who didn't
know how to ski or snowboard, who wanted to try skiing. Then I'm faced with a dilemma. Do I do what's comfortable, do
what's safe and stay back with the people who have no interest in touching the snow
at all? Or do I challenge myself and end 2024 off, start 2025 off doing something challenging?
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So I contemplated about it for a while and I sort of talked to the group and part of
the group was like, no, stay with us. We're going to hang out and we're going to watch
TV and chill and do face masks and be comfortable or whatever. And then the small part of the
group that was going to take a skiing lesson was like, come on, we're going to take a skiing
lesson. You'll be safe with us. We're going to be on the bunny hill. It's going to be
easy. It's going to be safe. It's going to be fun. And then the group who is experienced
is like, it's going to be amazing. You're going to learn and then you're going to be
able to come with us. And I'm like, oh, and I could not decide, but I eventually decided, fuck
it, I'm going to go. I'm going to do it. Yeah, I'm going to do it.
And so the next day was the day of the skiing lesson. Okay. And, you know, we go to a ski
shop, rent all of the equipment. And I'm like, I'm starting to get nervous. Okay. Because
I'm like, I'm picking up the skis, I'm trying on the boots and I'm like, this stuff is really
heavy and it's really hard to like move around in this stuff. I'm a little nervous about
like my mobility. Like, am I going to gonna be able to control my body with this stuff?
And so my anxiety is starting to build.
But I comfort myself with the idea,
hey, I'm not the only one who has no idea what's going on,
and we're gonna take a lesson, so we're gonna learn.
And I see a bunch of kids around,
there's kids in the ski shop.
I saw kids walking around in the morning just around town.
I'm like, there's kids doing this?
Emma, you fucking got this.
Like, it's all good.
So we pack everything into the car.
We go to the ski hill and we meet up with our instructor.
And this instructor is just so sweet.
Okay, he's just like a sweet dude, right?
He's like probably 50, sweet guy, right?
Like just not intimidating at all, chill guy.
I'm like, this is great, you know? The worst thing is when you have some sort of instructor and you're really new at something
and the instructor is like hot.
Like I'm not saying like hot like, oh, I'm interested.
That's actually kind of incredible when like an instructor is hot and you're single.
And like, but no, I just mean like hot in general, right?
Not even necessarily somebody that I'm attracted to, but just somebody who's hot and cool.
That is not ideal for learning. When I'm learning, I'm not like, I'm not like, I'm not like, I'm not like, I'm mean like hot in general, right? Not even necessarily somebody that I'm attracted to, but just somebody who's hot and cool.
That is not ideal for learning.
When I'm learning something, I want to not care about what this person is thinking of
me.
And this person was so that, okay?
He's just like, he could be my uncle.
He actually felt like, yeah, he felt like an uncle.
And I was like, this is great.
And for the first like 30 minutes of the lesson, we are doing stuff that to me makes no sense.
We're learning how to jump while wearing the ski boots, which I get.
It's all understanding mobility and how to move and stuff, but I was impatient.
I was like, oh my God, I feel like I'm not learning enough.
How is this going to prepare me to go up on the mountain?
Meanwhile, while we're doing these really odd minor movements, like jumping around with
the ski boots on or clicking in and out of the skis 50 times to make sure that we know
how to do it, I'm watching experienced skiers and snowboarders go up on the ski lift and
just absolutely be so far off the ground that if they fell, they would die.
They would absolutely die immediately.
And if they survived, it would be a medical miracle. Okay. And I'm watching that and I'm watching people not even pull down the safety bar and just be sitting there willy nilly. And I'm
starting to feel a pit in my stomach, but I'm like, you know what? This lesson is going to prepare me
to the point where I feel ready to go on the ski lift. So I keep the attitude positive,
but I start to get frustrated very quickly
because as we're doing these like small,
minor little exercises, clicking the shoe in and out
of the ski and like balancing on one foot
for like a minute to see if we could do it,
I started to struggle with these minor little actions.
And I was like, I'm fucked, I'm fucked.
How am I supposed to ever get to a point today where I can even go down an adult mountain?
How am I going to get to that point if I can't do these little warmups? And so my attitude
starts to shift a little bit and I keep it together. I'm not being an asshole completely,
but I get a little quiet. I'm scared. Everyone
else in the group is seemingly feeling less nervous than me. They're excited about the
ski lift. They're excited about all of it. They're not afraid. They're not as anxious
as me. So eventually, we start going down bunny hills. And the first few times, it was
a catastrophe. The instructor's explaining how it works.
In order to slow down, you want to put the top tips of the skis together and the back
tips of the skis out in the shape of a triangle or a pizza or whatever.
And that's how you control your speed.
That's how you go slow. That was self-explanatory
enough. But the first handful of times that I went down, I needed him to be skiing backwards
right in front of me to prevent me from, I don't know, just barreling down the bunny hill. It was
just a mess. It was a mess. And I kept slipping of almost falling. It was just not good. And I was
clearly not a natural. Meanwhile, there's seven-year-olds around me who are just so good.
And I was like, all right, I don't know how this is going to go. And if something doesn't click for
me soon, I'm screwed. Meanwhile, some people in the group, more rebellious members of the group
who are taking the ski lesson are like, this. I'm just gonna go okay, so
Some people just leave the ski lesson and just start going up with the experienced skiers in our friend group and snowboarders
but a few of us stay back and continue and
I'm really the only one that's nervous in my anxiety
Only gets worse and worse because I'm not not learning at the pace that I feel like
I need to, to be able to meet up with the group to go down the mountain for real at
some point that day.
So we practice, we go down the bunny hill again and again, and finally I start to get it.
I don't need the instructor to be there anymore.
I'm actually doing pretty well.
And then he explains how to do turns
and weaving back and forth. And that actually comes pretty easily to me. And I'm like, wait
a minute, I think it clicked. I think I'm an incredible skier now.
So I start to feel more confident and I start to get sort of excited. I'm like, all right,
you know what? It's a little frightening. It's a little scary, but I can do this alone.
I don't need him anymore. It's okay. And so it was almost lunchtime and
My whole friend group was like, hey, we should do one run all together down the mountain before lunch
And so I was like, you know what? Fuck. Yeah, like I think I'm ready. Let's do it. And the instructor was gonna come with us and
So I was like, let's do this thing. So we get in line to get on the ski lift
and I start having a panic attack, absolute panic attack.
Okay.
And I'm shaking and I'm telling the instructor,
I'm like, I don't think I can do it.
He's like, you can totally do it.
So like, fine.
And then I'm telling my friends, I'm like, you guys,
and mind you, some of these friends,
I've only met like once, right?
So it's not like these are people that I'm comfortable
with having a panic attack in front of.
These are people that do not know me having a panic attack in front of.
These are people that do not know me like that.
They don't need to see that.
However, here I am starting to have a panic attack.
Some members of the group are like, don't go.
Just don't go.
It's all good.
And then some are like, come on, you've made it this far.
You just got to do it.
And I was like, fuck, you know what?
I made it this far.
I came out.
I rented the skis.
I did the whole thing. I need out. I rented the skis. I did the whole thing.
I need to go down the mountain just once.
And the instructor reassured me
we're going down the easiest one.
It's a little bit long.
It's like a two mile run,
which is a bit longer than normal,
but it's gonna be okay.
And I'm like, yeah,
but I don't know how to go on the ski lift.
I don't understand it.
What if I fall? What if I trip? What if it pushes me over? He's like, yeah, but I don't know how to go on the ski lift. I don't understand it. What if I fall?
What if I trip?
What if it pushes me over?
He's like, you'll be totally fine.
It moves slower than you think.
You'll be able to get on safely.
We'll bring down the bar.
He's reassuring me, reassuring me, reassuring me.
And I'm starting to cry.
And I'm like, fuck, Emma, you can't start crying.
You just have to fucking go.
Improve yourself that you do it.
You can't cry. There are seven, you're, there are seven year olds
going on the ski lift, like laughing.
Like you are a 23 year old woman.
Hold it fucking together, okay?
We need to hold it together.
So I'm choking down my tears.
I really just want to explode with tears
and just start crying.
But I'm holding it together, holding it together.
And I'm like almost in shock as I'm like gliding over to the ski lift and getting in line to get on. And I
get into position, I'm shaking. Okay. I literally, I'm so dissociated at this point. I literally
don't, I feel like I'm dreaming. Like I feel like I need to pinch myself and make sure
I'm like actually a real human being and that this is actually happening. That's how bad I was panicking.
It swoops me up and I look down and within six seconds, I'm so far off the ground that
if I fell in that moment, I would die. I start screaming, like crying. Crying. I hold onto
the arm of my instructor.
I felt so bad.
I didn't ask permission if I was allowed to, but I was so frightened like a child that
I start bawling.
I grab his arm and I'm like, I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so scared.
He's like, it's totally fine.
It's totally fine.
Everything's fine.
I start sob, gushing, gushing tears.
Okay, meanwhile, two of the friends in the friend group
are on the ski lift with me,
one who was in the lesson with me,
and one other friend who's more experienced.
We've hung out multiple times, okay?
We're totally friends, but they don't know me like that.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, I don't cry in front of my best friends like that even.
I've never cried like that in front of my best friends. And now suddenly I am
bawling, bawling, bawling, snot running down my face like a fucking seven year old. And
I'm kind of enjoying it though at the same time. Like I'm freaking out, okay? Realizing
how afraid I am of heights.
It's all coming to me.
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But I'm also kind of like, wow, this is beautiful.
But I'm also like, I'm gonna die and this is the worst thing that's ever happened to
me.
And I can't believe I have to go all the way down and this is just a catastrophe.
And I asked the instructor, I'm like, is this normal?
Does this happen to everyone?
He's like, don't worry about that.
I'm like, fuck.
I'm literally probably the first student he's ever had who's had a mental breakdown.
But I realized in that moment how truly terrifying the concept of skiing is to me. Every element
of it taps into one of my biggest fears. Okay? Number one, the fear of heights. I wasn't
always afraid of heights, but as I've gotten older, my fear of heights. I wasn't always afraid of heights, but as I've gotten
older, my fear of heights has gotten worse. And I struggle with flying on the plane. I
go through phases where it's like, I literally, it is just really hard for me. Then I have
phases where I get over it, I teeter back and forth. It's something I'm working on,
but I definitely struggle with it.
I have no interest in skydiving.
I never have.
That's just terrifying to me.
That's not a fun life goal, life activity.
Oh my God, once in a lifetime bucket list, got to skydive.
No thanks.
I hate heights, okay?
But I also hate things that are unnecessarily
dangerous and skiing, snowboarding, all of these things are very dangerous. There is
so much risk for injury. The risk for injury is very high. You could run into a tree, you
could get hit by another skier or snowboarder, you could, I don't know, get frostbite. I don't
fucking know, but a lot of bad things can happen. And I am somebody who really deeply
fears injury. I'm very afraid of injury, okay? And I'm pretty paranoid about it.
But another thing about me is that I'm really particular about my body and how my body feels. I'm very sensitive about how things feel on my body.
So a good example of that would be when I was a kid,
I was really particular about my socks,
specifically the seam on top of the toe on a sock,
because I was very focused on that sensation on my foot.
If it was not right, if it was poking me
or digging into my skin, like that really bothered me.
I've always been really particular
about the tags in my clothes.
If there's an itchy tag in my clothes, can't do it.
Have to cut it out.
I cut out pretty much every single tag
in every single piece of clothing that I wear.
I've always preferred participating in sports
that require less
clothing. I like doing physical activity in less clothing. I'll give you an example of
that. I grew up doing cheerleading and gymnastics. You wear very aerodynamic, limited clothing
for those sports because that's what makes the most sense versus lacrosse or surfing. Those things
have always been a bit more challenging for me because I don't like having gear on me.
I don't like the feeling of holding a lacrosse stick and wearing a lacrosse mask and having
a mouth guard in and wearing knee pads and having all this stuff on my body. I don't
feel comfortable like that. It's hard for me to focus. It makes me feel claustrophobic
and anxious. Same thing with a wetsuit. I've always hated putting on a wetsuit. Recently,
I tried surfing with my dad within the last probably six months and I got a really thick
wetsuit, super thick. It's great because once
it's on, it keeps you warm. But getting that thing on and off, I actually couldn't do it
alone. I had to have someone help because it was so tight and so sucked onto my body.
And I had a really hard time with that. I remember the first day I was trying to get the wetsuit off after I had surfed with my
dad.
I was in the shower, water running, I'm sitting on the ground, I'm trying to get the strap
over my head.
And I physically couldn't do it.
It was too tight.
I was using every single ounce of strength that I had.
And I'm not weak.
I feel like I'm actually pretty strong,
you know what I mean?
Couldn't get it over my head.
And I just started crying.
Because the feeling of like being stuck,
I can't handle it.
It really, really bothers me.
So anyway, I went off on that long tangent
to sort of express to you how much I don't like
the feeling of having clothes on my body, equipment
on my body, things like that, that aren't ergonomic, don't feel human. I prefer things
that feel comfortable or even non-existent.
And skiing requires some of the most uncomfortable clothing and equipment that you could ever
imagine. You can barely move when you're wearing, you know,
a whole snow suit and then you're wearing the skis.
Like you can't move.
So all of this is dawning on me while I'm on the ski lift.
Holy fuck, this is my nightmare.
Every single thing about this, I hate.
But at the same time, I'm like, I wanna like it.
I wanna like it so bad because I've always wanted to be able
to do it. I've always wanted to be able to go on the ski trips with people. I love hanging
out in the ski town. Maybe one day I would love to make a tradition out of coming to
a ski town every winter. I've always wanted to participate in that and I've never fully
been able to because I've never been able to participate in the winter sports. So I motivated myself by thinking about how satisfying it would be if I did like it. So
many beautiful things would come from liking it. So let me just try to like it. And more
importantly than that, let me just try to get down the fucking hill because I'm on my way to the top
and there's only one way down.
So I'm gonna need to figure it out.
The ski lift pushes us off.
I get off successfully,
which is kind of impressive honestly,
because the way you get off the ski lift,
if you've never skied before,
is it like kind of just spits you out
onto like a very
small little hill and then you ride it down. So like you just kind of stand up and start going.
Like you start skiing immediately, which makes sense. Like that's smart. But I don't know if
you've never skied before, it's kind of challenging to just start like that. But I did that successfully
and I was like, huh, okay, that was pretty good.
And then I slowly start going the mountain.
And for the first, I don't know, 10 minutes, I was going pretty slow, but I was actually
starting to get it.
I had my skis going straight and then had them turning in and then out and then in and
out.
And I was like, I'm kind of weaving my way along here.
I'm kind of picking up some speed.
Like maybe this is great.
And then it starts to get a little bit steeper.
And my instructor tells me, you know, Emma,
you want to ski back and forth in an S shape, right?
So like ski to the right and then ski to the left by turning, right? And
that's the most effective way to slow down when going down a more steep hill, right?
The method of slowing down that he had taught us earlier, which is, you know, putting your
skis in like a triangle shape, kind of sticking out your heels and putting your toes together,
you know, that helps with smaller hills. But when you start to get to the slightly steeper
stuff, it's better to weave like that.
I really struggle with this.
Okay.
I was good at turning earlier, but I wasn't turning like back and forth and back and forth.
Meanwhile, I'm completely overwhelmed because there are people bombing the fucking hill,
going down at an alarming rate.
And meanwhile, I'm like swerving back and
forth at like three miles per hour and getting into people's way. And he's like, don't worry
about them. They know what they're doing. It's all good. I'm like, no, this is a horrible. None of
these people are professional. We have no idea what they're doing. One of them is going to run
into me. So I'm starting to get really upset and scared. And that's when I start falling. Okay. I
start falling a lot because I just start losing control. It's getting steeper. It's getting harder for me to do
the sort of S turns that he's telling me to do. And I just start falling a lot. And every
time I fall, I feel my knees bending in a way that to me feels a little bit too close
to a snap. Okay. Falling with skis on, like they're heavy. They get caught on stuff. I
kept bending my knees in like completely unnatural ways. Every time like really hurting my knees
and I'm like, I'm not going to get down this mountain with my kneecaps intact. Like I'm
going to lose a kneecap by the time I get to the bottom. So that really starts to upset
me. But also the fact that I'm like wearing all this equipment and I'm falling and then
I'm trying to get up. It's like my fucking nightmare. I have a mental breakdown start crying again sobbing all of a sudden. I just start sobbing
I'm like, I don't know how I'm ever going to get down and
Meanwhile, like I asked like how much further do we have to go?
We had gone a quarter of the way. No, not even at that point. We had gone less than a quarter
We had gone like a tenth of the way. No, not even at that point, we had gone less than a quarter. We had gone like a tenth of the way. Okay. It was, we had so long to go and the entire
rest of the way down the ski mountain. Okay. My ski instructor is ahead of me, sort of
guiding me. People are zooming around me. I am at this point
uncontrollably crying, okay? Inconsolable at this point. You know, my friends are
passing. They're like, go Emma, good job. Won't talk to them. I'm like, I can't
even talk to these people. I love everyone, but don't fucking talk to me.
Don't even look at me until I'm down this goddamn mountain. This is my
nightmare. I am living. This is
my personal hell and it's not going to end for another 30 minutes, probably, at minimum.
Like I truly felt trapped. And you know when like you're not supposed to laugh, but then
you start laughing and then for some reason you can't stop, but you know you shouldn't
be laughing. That's exactly what happened to me, but with crying.
Okay, I know I shouldn't be crying.
There are 11 year olds just rushing past me
and their parents are looking at me like,
why is this 23 year old woman sobbing
and my 11 year old is just bombing the hill like a savage?
You know, like what is happening?
What went wrong for this poor child?
Adult child, what went wrong?
Good question. It was one of the longest, I don't know, 45 minutes of my life.
And every minute that went by got worse because the ski hill was not getting any less steep.
In fact, the opposite was happening. It was only getting steeper.
And so with every minute that passes, it was getting harder for me to continue standing,
to not start going super fast, to not fall. And I was inconsolable. Snot running down my face, tears running down my face, my knees were
like shaking. Okay? And in this moment, I'm thinking to myself, what am I going to learn
from this? Is this really, is this empowering? I was like facing your fears, doing things that are hard, at what point is challenging
yourself just like almost like self abuse, right?
Like at what point is it self harm in a way?
Why did I make this decision?
Like I knew I wasn't going to like it and I knew that everything about it tapped into
some of my biggest fears. Why
am I doing it? Am I even doing it to face the fear? Not really. I'm doing it because
I'm jealous of other people who enjoy it. But my likelihood, my chances of enjoying
this are slim to none. Everything I know about myself contradicts the decision to ski and yet I did it anyway and why? Is
anything positive going to come out of this or was this just sort of an act of negligence
and self-harm in a way?
Negligence by not paying attention to myself and what I like and what I don't like and
doing something just because I'm jealous that other
people find joy in it and I wish I did too. Self-harm by being like, eh, you're going
to hate all of this stuff, but do it anyway and stop being a baby and learn a thing or
two along the way. Just fucking do it, idiot. That kind of sort of self of self harm in a way.
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I remember seeing the end, finally. coming around a corner and looking down the mountain
and seeing the end. But in front of me before the end was the steepest part of the hill
yet. I barely even remember the last like five, 10 minutes of the ski run because I was crying so hard. But I do remember getting to the
bottom and being so happy. I was like, I cannot believe the side of myself that just came
out. Like I cannot believe what a weakness this brought out in me. I'm somebody who I would say is really good at staying composed for
the most part. I think when faced with chaos, despite being a really anxious person by nature,
I am actually quite proud of my ability to stay level-headed. I feel like I keep my cool,
mainly for the sake of other people. I don't want to burden other people with my own chaos when chaos is already happening
or when chaos is not happening and I just don't want to damper the mood, right?
Like listen, there are moments in life when we need to explode, right?
And sometimes that's necessary.
But for the most part, I like to
keep it cool. Not because I'm trying to be cool, but just because I think it's a healthy
approach to try to keep it together and handle things with strength and grace and maturity.
And I feel like for the most part, I do that. And that's something that I'm really proud of.
But that all went out the fucking window on the ski hill.
That all went out the window.
All the grace, all the tact, all the maturity fucking out the window.
And to be honest, I was completely mortified.
I was like, I am a pathetic baby.
All I did was go down the ski hill.
What the fuck is going on?
That's kind of where the story ends.
I took off all my equipment immediately after, threw it in the car, and drove as fast as
I could away from that goddamn ski mountain. Okay? And I went back to the
house that we were all staying in and I told everyone my story. We all had a laugh about
it and then I forgot until today when I was eating my yogurt bowl. And I'm still sort
of trying to figure out what I learned from this. I'm not quite sure yet, but one positive that came out of it immediately was, I'm definitely
never going to go skiing again.
And I don't think that that's necessarily like a negative thing or a pessimistic thing.
It's not like I hate it and I'm never doing it again.
It's clear that I don't like it, right?
And I don't think that there's a reason to try to force myself to get to a point where
I do like it.
I'm glad that I tried it and I pushed myself to the limit to try to like it because it
showed me that I really don't like it.
And there is sort of something freeing about that because now in the future, I'm not going
to look at other people skiing and snowboarding and say, oh my God, I wish I I was out there with them. You know, I wish I could, I don't want to
try it. Maybe I should try it. Maybe I should learn. Maybe I'm going to learn. No, I'm not.
And you know what? That's okay. That is okay. And I do still have a bit of envy for people
who enjoy it and love it. But there's also things that I enjoy and I love that other
people don't enjoy and don't love
and they wish that they enjoyed and loved it.
Like I love hot yoga, okay?
I fucking love it.
I'm like obsessed with it right now.
There are so many people that have the same response
to skiing, to hot yoga.
Meanwhile, I love it.
I love the challenge.
My body likes it.
I've been doing cheerleading and gymnastics since I was young, so I like. I love the challenge. My body likes it. I've been doing cheerleading
in gymnastics since I was young, so I am a bit more flexible. My body just likes it and
I get it and it works for me. But there are so many people that would do anything to be
able to do anything. So it's like, I guess one positive epiphany that came from the experience was kind of letting go of the desire to participate
in that, but also considering in the future, like, hey, it's good to try everything once,
right? And I'm glad I did that with skiing. But I don't know. It's also okay to be like,
you know what? I don't want to try that because I know myself and I know I'll hate it. I don't know. It's also okay to be like, you know what? I don't want to try that because
I know myself and I know I'll hate it. I don't know. I'm still figuring it out. Anyway, you guys,
I don't know. Okay. Tell me what you think I learned from this. What do you think I learned
from this? Maybe I learned nothing, but maybe the fact that I got through it helped build a little
bit of self-esteem inside of me. Maybe it didn't though. I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know. Anyway, so that's my mortifying skiing story. Moral of the story is I'm never
skiing again, ever. But I will be returning to a ski mountain because I do love hanging
out at a ski mountain. So you will catch me shopping around in the little ski town, but you will not catch me
on the ski lift ever again.
I wish that I could sit here and say, you guys face your fears because it will make
your life so much better.
But I can't say that about everything.
I could say that about having
a fear of flying in planes. I'm so frightened of flying in planes. However, it's so important
for me as a person, for my career, and for my own sense of adventure in this life to
get on a goddamn plane and travel. So I push myself to do it anyway, and I face that fear.
And that is sort of somewhat empowering.
And for brief periods, it actually does sort of help alleviate the fear.
But I've noticed, at least with, say, my fear of flying, the fear does come back.
So it's sort of this constant battle.
And maybe I'll get over it one day. I probably will. But right now it's sort of a battle.
But I face that fear all the time because it's crucial that I do. Facing the fear of
skiing, I'm not quite sure what I gained from it. So yeah, I don't have some sort of like
beautiful theme for you, beautiful life lesson for you.
I just have an embarrassing story about me crying on the ski hill. And that's all I have
for today. But you know what? I started the year at such a low vulnerable point. Man,
things better be looking up. Maybe I started my year releasing all of my weakness and fear and perhaps immaturity so
that for the rest of the year, I could be a fucking baddie.
Okay?
I could be a badass and handle things with grace and tact and maturity.
Oh, now I'm remembering all the other times I've had a mental breakdown already this year.
So I don't think that that worked out.
Anyway, that's all I have
for today. Okay? That's it. If you wanted more from me, too bad. That's what you get
today. Hey, you know what? I hope you all enjoyed this story. And if you did, tune into
Anything Goes every Thursday and Sunday, available anywhere you stream podcasts and available
with video on Spotify and YouTube. if you want to watch me talk.
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Okay.
That's it.
That's it.
I'm going to go wash my yogurt bowl.
The yogurt's been soaking for a little bit, so it's not going to be crispy.
It's going to be great.
I'm just going to rinse that thing out.
Probably put it in the dishwasher.
Actually, I'm not going to hand wash it.
Why would I do that? That is what a dishwasher is for. I'll talk to you all later. I love you all.
I appreciate you all. And goodbye.