Wild

Chapter 69: Cheryl Strayed on forging fearlessness and fracturing facades

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I am so delighted to close out 2020 with the magical wisdom of the one and only … Cheryl Strayed.

Cheryl is the New York Times bestselling author of Wild, the Oprah’s Book Club pick turned blockbuster film starring Reese Witherspoon, Brave Enough, a collection of raw and unflinchingly brave quotes, and Torch, her award-winning debut novel.

And then there’s my personal favorite! The Dear Sugar Column she wrote for years in The Rumpus literary magazine where she navigated the deep tissue of the human experience through raw and honest advice under the pseudonym Sugar. Since the letters were also written under pseudonym it’s an exquisite portrait of anonymous loving beating hearts of humanity connecting with no names and no faces — just riding the waves of life together. Cheryl’s bestselling book Tiny Beautiful Things is a magnificent compilation from the column that spawned the hit podcasts Dear Sugars and Sugar Calling.

How did Cheryl gain such deep perception of the human experience? 

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Is it through the abuse she discusses suffering as a child and her upbringing in “the boondocks” of Minnesota in a house her family built without electricity or plumbing? Was it through the sudden death of her mother Bobbi while she was in her senior year and the famed walk she took afterwards up the Pacific Crest Trail? Was it the MA in Fine Arts she got from Syracuse where she was mentored by George Saunders? Or is it simply the sum total of her incredible perception on top of the varied experiences she’s had through jobs as waitress, youth advocate, political organizer, activist, and even emergency medical technician? 

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All I know is Cheryl is a singular, lyrical, big-hearted voice who never shies away from the deep questions. In this conversation we discuss things like: How do we deal with grief? How do we live objectively in a subjective world? How should we think about meeting our heroes? What is the power of community and connection? How do we write with vulnerability?

And of course, what are the eminent Cheryl Strayed’s … 3 most formative books?

Let’s go! 

What You'll Learn:

  • What is the double standard when it comes to men and women’s appearances?

  • Why do we not use the term “working dad”?

  • How are books a portal?

  • How can books break down facades?

  • How do we turn grief into beauty?

  • What is objective reality?

  • How should we think about space?

  • How can people work to understand white privilege and complicity?

  • How can community transcend political differences?

  • How can we learn to write with vulnerability?

  • What is your story to tell and what isn’t and why are you telling it?

  • And, of course, what are Cheryl Strayed’s 3 most formative books?

Notable quotes from Cheryl Strayed:

“There is yes in the optimistic sense and there is yes in the recognition sense.” Cheryl Strayed #3bookspodcast

“Men need to wake-up and play a part in making change and women need to work on combating those internalized messages that we’ve received all of our lives, that we’ve been steeped in all of our lives.” Cheryl Strayed #3bookspodcast

“Books are the only place where we actually get to inhabit another person’s mind.” Cheryl Strayed #3bookspodcast

“I’m interested in the emotional terrain, that’s the geography of my intellectual and artistic curiosity.” Cheryl Strayed #3bookspodcast

“Tears are like laughter; they come to us and then they float away.” Cheryl Strayed #3bookspodcast

“I don’t want to know how you are, I want to know how you are really. I don’t want to know who you are, I want to know who you are really.” Cheryl Strayed #3bookspodcast

“I do think that almost always when we are searching for the truth within ourselves that we know what the truth is and we have to be brave enough to hold it, to know it, to accept it.” Cheryl Strayed #3bookspodcast

“When you are forced to relate to people who you don’t have things in common with, it can be a mind expanding experience.” Cheryl Strayed #3bookspodcast

CONNECT WITH Cheryl:

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