Radical Sincerity: Cheryl Strayed at TEDxConcordiaUPortland
The writing of award-winning author Cheryl Strayed has been described as courageous, gritty, elegant, precise, smart, funny, and sublime. She's a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, having written the critically acclaimed novel Torch, as well as articles for The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, Allure, Self, and many others. Most recently, however, she's been in the spotlight for her upcoming memoir, Wild, which is about her 1,100 mile solo journey along the Pacific Crest Trail. She walked the trail seeking forgiveness and hoping to find her "innocent self" again, yet what began as an "idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise," became something much greater. Through this journey, she found transcendence, hope, and healing. She confronted the wild and she confronted herself, ultimately finding the extraordinary in those things that we so often take for granted. Cheryl currently lives in Portland, Oregon where even indoors she continues to find meaning. Like her mother before her, she seems to "bring magic into every day." For instance, when we asked her what she believes is the most extraordinary place in the world, she had this to say: "My bed at six-thirty in the morning, after my two children have crammed themselves in beside me and my husband and our cat, Gulla. Because real, live, wild love is there. And what's more extraordinary than that?" Wild comes out in March 2012, and beyond that Cheryl plans to continue growing as an artist. Her hope is that her next book "always reaches further, dives deeper, and risks bolder than the one that came before it."
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
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You probably won't ever see this but I just finished reading your book and I wanted you to know that you are an inspiration in the truest sense. You're such an honest,beautiful woman and 'Wild' is incredibly touching.I wish someday I have half the amount of courage and wisdom you do.❤️
Cheryl's Wild is absolutely one of the best I've read! I could totally relate to her. Her journey, her internal healing, her misadventures.... And she proves that as long as you keep going, you'll reach your destination.
Just started reading wild. I love this woman.
@vividhappy200
8 жыл бұрын
+Chetan Bhadrashette me too ~~
'Wild by Cheryl Strayed' is one womans Beautiful, Touching, Emotionally raw story about change & challenges we all face about being lost & found & the very Real struggle of all our human lives...the journey into the extraordinary.
Reading this book.. and I don't know why this book completely touched me and is extremely empowering to me. Thanks for sharing your story Cheryl!
Finished reading the book a couple of days ago in my school and presented how to confront our thoughts.... I can only say it's TOP INSPIRING. Thank you for being a role model to others.
Those two words; "Keep Walking" at the end of her talk, form the heart of her philosophy about radical sincerity. I don't think Cheryl "strayed". Rather, she kept on walking until her mother's love lifted her spirit to recognize that beautiful self that she still carries. And keeps on making us all aware about our own inner beauty and strength through her words via books or talks. Truly blessed is she, and so are we all. I can always use any other similar TEDx talks on here that lifts one's spirit like she did. Thank you for reading.
What a fantastic story she tells. Her confrontation with her own pain is what everyone must reckon with. To keep going forward with grace and equanimity is all.
Cheryl..I have followed you for a couple of years now, but only now am I realizing how compelled I have been by your story. I hiked the camino in 2006. I did not know about you then...it was after the lost of my mother. I was loved by her in the very same way. I thought my work was to understand that love, but only now am I seeing the work was also in my complex relationship with my father. I did suffer on that trip...not more than my mother's suicide. The ultimate suffering was realizing that I had lost my power in the hatred.I had towards my father. The abuse I survived gave me a pass I thought...That power came back to me in the form of forgiveness. I have the gift of story and writing- from him. I avoided it and told myself I wasn't smart enough, good enough, ....enough. Through your work and the sugars...I see myself in a way that I am finally proud to show others. Thank you!
@anoldwilson1804
2 жыл бұрын
Hello Adrianne
Just saw the movie Wild yesterday,and wanted to learn more. Thanks to TED for this opportunity to see Cheryl Strayed and hear her speak about her transformative experience. I've done a few short hikes on the PCT so I understand in a small way the power that wilderness has to inspire and change us. My thanks to her too for being willing to share with the rest of us.
I wish I read her book before the movie....still inspiring, emotional and touching.
@chriswillams8144
3 жыл бұрын
Hello
Cheryl, I'm so proud of you. ❤
I'm someone who's constantly engaged in a mental dialogue with myself. I loathe myself and the duplicity and hypocrisy of my actions because although I would like to believe that I'm a very disciplined person who follows a set of personal rules in dealing with different situations in life, I end up more often than not, doing what I've always planned on not doing and behaving in a certain way that causes me to feel a sense of shame and indignance that burns me from within. I have been listening to the audiobook of 'Wild' for a couple of days now during my morning runs and I really relate to her story and her struggle. She was kind of like me when she started on the PCT, only older and a little more wisened from having dealt with an unsuccessful marriage and the death of a parent. She is a feminist hero because she does not shy away from exhibiting who she really is instead of attempting to appear to be someone ideal.
@Cut_Travel_Repeat
8 жыл бұрын
I think everyone goes through such a phase in their lives, where we are kind of lost, don't know what we're doing and why etc etc... but the little one thing you should never do is beat yourself up. everyone does mistakes, say stupid things, act crazy whatever but you can never ever hate yourself. because you only have you for this entire life.whatever happens stay soft to yourself, don't be harsh.Just be a little BRAVE🙂 hope this helps
@DipikaDesaboyina
8 жыл бұрын
Wow. I forgot I ever made a comment like this. Anyway, thanks a lot for the kind words. I will remember that.
Byron Gordon - As someone who grew up with an abusive father, I can tell you that this one thing alone is enough to really mess you up, and then she loses her only real parent at 22. I can't even imagine that. With no family support whatsoever, I am actually amazed she was able to pull herself together. It took me many years to get to that point.
@ThriveAfterAbuse
8 жыл бұрын
I love, appreciate, and admire your honesty and vulnerability in posting this.
@alexism.malone1882
5 жыл бұрын
@@ThriveAfterAbuse hi Dana!
I'm so glad she made it this far. I try to be kinder to the 'losers' I encounter in my travels because of Cheryl's experiences in Wild. I don't think I succeed often enough but she encourages me to go farther.
@KB-sv7fm
8 ай бұрын
You obviously never read , or understood , “The Old Man and the Sea”. Eventually , we are all losers.
Cheryl Strayed is a really great writer with some profound things to say. she really has a way with words that impacts you. also, the movie 'Wild' on which her story is based, is excellent.
Wow I love this woman! Wile listening to her story I realise I saw a movie about her story... is amazing!
Cheryl, you are so real ....I enjoy knowing about your journey.....thank you for being transparent ❤️
@anoldwilson1804
2 жыл бұрын
Hello Lena How are you doing?
Wild is a book I found myself Connecting with almost too easily....The PCT is a journey I'm so glad I took...Thru this story & thru all those pages. 💚
I love you Cheryl Strayed. You’re a true inspiration. I could listen to your words all day.
I thank him who has been inspired by breaking through cycles great book very inspiring ✨
I just wanna keep listening to her talk
Wow...what a story...
@anoldwilson1804
2 жыл бұрын
Hello Kathy How are you doing?
It's not about the miles, it's about the smiles, well done Cheryll. Obviously a thru hike in 1995 was a different reality than in 2014 in that she probably did experience more solitude, and in that I'm sure that would have made it more difficult. I've yet to read wild or see the movie, though I found this to be more than relatable.Just finished my first thru hike of the AT last year and planning for my next hike soon.
just saw tiny beautiful things and wow
Inspiring! THANK YOU!
great book and great story...totaly inspiring.
This a really moving piece of inspirational talk. I was really close to my late mom too and had felt that deep void in my heart when she died. I've seen the movie version of her book, "Wild", too. Thank you for sharing your radical sincerity with us, Cheryl.
Yup. Great Story!
Happy birthday
Nu inteleg de ce această frumoasă poveste adevărată de călătorie nu o găsesc pe canale speciale pentru filme. Succes
Dear Cheryl, what if I had the best parents in the world? So kind & generous but I wasn't that good child? Actually I was frustrated & busy with how my mom was so influenced by my younger sis ! No matter how much she tried to tell me she loves me yet I couldn't believe it ! I saw how she always sympathized with my sister, &I wished she could bring us together instead of the way she was dealing with both of us ! That way kept us apart 😢 Now after many years passed on her death, I ONLY have this feeling of regret ! Why I was overwhelmed with that feeling that I couldn't enjoy my mom, my childhood &my sister? I wish I can go back in time &make things better ! Make it up for my mom, for my relationship with my family& my sister! (although I know I'm much better at heart than sis..&also kinder than how I see myself & how I present myself to almost everyone ) Not only that, but the worst part is how I couldn't show my live to my dad when he got old & was really in need for that ! How can I EVER forgive myself??
@ashleyjones9480
Жыл бұрын
Your love shines here. You are forgiven. Be at peace. :)
un beso Cheryl
Correction. That should be Sal Paradise.
What a thrilling, courageous, gritty story of a woman moving house.
1st 3rd of the book was a bit tough for me, but the last 2/3's roared to its conclusion like an out of control freight train. Courageous girl.
@sarahaharper
5 жыл бұрын
Joseph Hofmann SAME?
I'm a backpacker, a guy, read the book and enjoyed it. That said, it's definitely geared towards women of a certain age. I REALLY appreciated what she said about others suffering more on the trail and hiking farther. That was spoken like a real hiker. If you want to learn about a woman who takes it to another level run a search for Heather "Anish" Anderson aka "The Ghost. She broke the unsupported speed record last year, for a man or woman, hiking the entire 2,650 miles in two months. She was alone. That's tough on a whole other level.
@selynasteriska
5 жыл бұрын
To be honest I think what she did had little to do with the hike itself. She also just said it. It was the most courageous thing SHE had done for herself. She could have gone for a hike or travel Africa for what it mattered. The reasons behind the hike and how she approchead it are what make her story interesting to me.
Does anyone on her know if there's a script of this talk? I need it for quoting, and it's hard to do it from the video subtitles.
@danielboonelight5344
5 жыл бұрын
i'm pretty sure you can handle a few minutes of dictation work yourself. but let us know if you need someone to hold your hand.
Jack Kerouac's character in On The Road, Johnny Paradise reminds me of Cheryl Strayed. Her hedonistic pursuits along the trail remind me more of an adolescent male than a model for feminism.
@Gleada
8 жыл бұрын
+dematson isn't that sort of the whole point of feminism?? to show that women do not belong in our preconceived gendered box but we deserve to be seen as human the same as a male. Suffering the same struggles of the human condition and being of equal worth.
@MidsierramusingBlogspot
8 жыл бұрын
+Alexandra Dobson That's great if you think most adolescent males are a role model for anyone.
So it's a book about walking. We must say the same thing to you that we said to Frodo-- just let the Eagles fly you there. Sheesh!
@hawkeyelockhart4507
9 жыл бұрын
Go see the film bonehead.
@tauntonlake
4 жыл бұрын
It's not just a book about walking. Someone in the book told her she was on a pilgrimage, and that's exactly it was. If you have no concept of the headspace she was in while on that hike, you are NEVER going to get it. I have so much respect for what she did. You are either going to "get it" or you aren't. Go back to reading your comic books and Harry Potter, and then drive out to Taco Bell for a chalupa. Maybe someday you'll get it. But I doubt it.
@bellysmentalhealth4236
2 жыл бұрын
@@tauntonlake shut up
cool, write about your emotions all day, but i still feel like you can do more. don't settle with making yourself happy when the world is so huge
קבלו יונה
What really bothers me is not that they put ads, it is that they set the volume that loud. I can't take it anymore. Unsuscribed
I want to what she weighed at the start and at the end?
@redloveballoon
3 жыл бұрын
are you ok?
I'm in the midst of reading Wild and I'm glad I stopped reading to watch this Ted talk of her. In reading Wild, I found myself not being very sympathetic to Cheryl, nor liking her very much. The overwhelming loss of her mother to cancer somehow just didn't endear me to her, especially because she was so promiscuous and not giving a shit about herself. I realize that's why she hiked the PCT, to put back together the core that was torn from her when her mother died but somehow, I just was not caring sufficiently about her plight. Lots of people have lost their parents to cancer. Her life tragedy was not that unique. She comes across well in this presentation though and now I feel more sympathetic to her life story. I would still file Wild under the "self-help" section of your local bookstore. I also don't think I'm her target demographic, hence my lackluster appreciation for her story. Not sure if I'll finish the book but for those who love to read about the lives of others and how they overcame their own challenges, then you will probably be attracted to Strayed's "radical" sincerity.
Cheryl is lucky to be alive today. She could have been kidnapped or killed by a serial killer out there.
@JB-pl1iu
9 жыл бұрын
Roy Long She could be killed or kidnapped anywhere. Cant stand people that live their life in fear. We ALL have to die at some point.
@veramann
9 жыл бұрын
Bain 1998 She could have gone hiking like that it w/ someone. Anyone can live his or live to the fullest, but it has to be done wisely. Otherwise, it's tragic to die too soon or too young.
@JB-pl1iu
9 жыл бұрын
Roy Long Do you have any idea how many people hike the PCT alone each year? TONS! Same goes for The Appalachian Trail.
@veramann
9 жыл бұрын
Bain 1998 Hiking alone is riskier than hiking w/ someone. A bigfoot might be scaring a lonely hiker out there in the woods. LOL
@Gleada
8 жыл бұрын
+Roy Long You should really read her book! she talks a lot about why it was so important for her to go alone and how she faced her fears of being alone in the face of danger. :)
she's a liar....
@synewparadigm
5 жыл бұрын
Why?