The word I wanted to say is ... |Molly Barker | TEDxCharlotte
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0:10 - 0:13And so the other thing,
that was about the age of 11 or 12, -
0:13 - 0:15I discovered what running meant to me.
-
0:15 - 0:19And it isn't about the physicalness of it,
or what it does for our bodies, -
0:19 - 0:21or the cardiovascular functioning.
-
0:21 - 0:23What it did was give me
sanctuary and solitude -
0:23 - 0:26and a place to connect with light divine.
-
0:26 - 0:29It's where I find clarity,
and I still find it there. -
0:30 - 0:33So the other thing that happened
about the age of 15 -
0:33 - 0:35was I come from a long lineage,
-
0:35 - 0:38like if we had my whole chart
up here of my family, -
0:38 - 0:41you'd see a lot
of very thin athletic people. -
0:41 - 0:45You'd also see
a lot of really good drinkers. -
0:45 - 0:48And so at age 15, I took my first drink.
-
0:48 - 0:52That was at my friend Beth's house,
and after several, you know, of those, -
0:52 - 0:54I called this guy named Robbie.
-
0:54 - 0:56And he went
to like the heathen public school, -
0:56 - 0:59and I told Robbie that I loved him.
-
0:59 - 1:00(Laughter)
-
1:02 - 1:04And Robbie didn't know who I was
-
1:04 - 1:07(Laughter)
-
1:07 - 1:10but by the end of the conversation
with him, he did know who I was, -
1:10 - 1:12and so did all of his buddies.
-
1:13 - 1:15And there was something
incredibly powerful about that. -
1:17 - 1:21It's like those cultural
messages that said, -
1:21 - 1:25"A quick fix and a quick way
to feeling good about yourself will work." -
1:25 - 1:29And what I didn't realize at the time
was that it was part of the plan, -
1:29 - 1:33it was part of the lie,
part of the way to dim, you know, -
1:33 - 1:37dim the miraculous spirit
that was me, and you, and all of us. -
1:37 - 1:40And so these two worlds
began to build momentum. -
1:40 - 1:44And step by step, the running improved,
and I began to get competitive at it, -
1:44 - 1:48because you can't just run because,
you have to run for a reason. -
1:48 - 1:51You have to run to compete,
you have to run to achieve. -
1:51 - 1:53You can't just run because.
-
1:53 - 1:55And so too did the drinking,
-
1:55 - 1:59in the dark nights,
and in a lot of really dark spaces. -
1:59 - 2:03And so, on July 6, 1993,
I was 32 years old, I hit bottom. -
2:04 - 2:06The running was no longer working,
-
2:06 - 2:09and I could not find solitude
or sanctuary in that space; -
2:09 - 2:10I couldn't find it anywhere.
-
2:10 - 2:16And so I called my big sister Emily,
and I told her I had two choices. -
2:16 - 2:20I was either going to move to California,
which is like the "geographic cure", -
2:20 - 2:22or I was going to kill myself.
-
2:22 - 2:24And I asked my sister Emily,
-
2:29 - 2:32"Which one should I pick?"
-
2:33 - 2:35And she paused,
-
2:35 - 2:40and then she gave me the greatest advice
of anything I've ever received, -
2:40 - 2:43and I'd heard it before,
but it really worked. -
2:43 - 2:46And she said,
"Molly, this too shall pass." -
2:47 - 2:50And so I hung up the phone,
and I sort of fell to the side, -
2:50 - 2:52and I went to sleep.
-
2:52 - 2:54The next day was July 7, 1993,
-
2:55 - 2:58and I decided later on in the day,
I called in sick to the job -
2:58 - 3:01that I was holding at the time,
and I decided to go for a run. -
3:01 - 3:04And there was this huge thunderstorm
brewing off in the distance, -
3:04 - 3:10massive clouds, electricity, and lighting,
and all sorts of just ions in the air. -
3:10 - 3:13And so I put on my running clothes,
and I remembering thinking, -
3:13 - 3:16"It's too dangerous. Don't go, don't go!"
-
3:16 - 3:19And in among all the noises,
of all the shoulds, and oughts, -
3:19 - 3:23and "You're not good enough,
or pretty enough, or thin enough, -
3:23 - 3:24or whatever enough,"
-
3:24 - 3:26came this one little voice.
-
3:26 - 3:29And this voice said,
"If you need to go, go." -
3:30 - 3:32So I remember descending those stairs,
-
3:32 - 3:36and about five miles into
what ended up being a 6-mile run, -
3:36 - 3:37something happened.
-
3:37 - 3:42And you know, for me to try to frame it
in words does it a disservice. -
3:42 - 3:44But there was something that happened,
-
3:44 - 3:47it was like the way the sweat
came out of my pores -
3:47 - 3:49and trickled down my chest
and down my back, -
3:49 - 3:52and the weight of my ponytail
as it tugged behind me. -
3:52 - 3:53And there was this spot
-
3:53 - 3:56at the intersection
of Kennelworth and East Boulevard, -
3:57 - 4:01where I just felt nothing.
-
4:01 - 4:05It was as if there was no story,
there was no should, there was no ought, -
4:05 - 4:07there was nothing.
-
4:07 - 4:10It was as if I was just invisible,
but in the most glorious way. -
4:11 - 4:12The story disappeared,
-
4:12 - 4:16the whatever I should be
was no longer there; and I just was. -
4:16 - 4:20And so, I burst into tears,
and I walked home. -
4:20 - 4:23And I knew
that once I had experienced that, -
4:23 - 4:24I couldn't go back,
-
4:24 - 4:27I couldn't go back
to living the way that I had lived. -
4:27 - 4:31That, you know, something had changed,
and I couldn't articulate what it was, -
4:31 - 4:34but I knew that it had changed,
and I didn't know what to do. -
4:34 - 4:37So I just let it sit,
and let it marinate for awhile. -
4:37 - 4:40And then I got married,
and then I had a child, -
4:40 - 4:42and when I gave birth to my son,
-
4:42 - 4:46it was like, the purpose,
what I was here for, -
4:46 - 4:50began to reveal itself in the quiet times
as I would nurse him. -
4:50 - 4:53And so "Girls on the Run",
this thing that I wanted to do, -
4:53 - 4:57something to help girls feel and know
that they are safe to be themselves, -
4:57 - 5:01no matter what our culture,
or no matter what their context is, -
5:01 - 5:02no matter how they see it,
-
5:02 - 5:06they are safe, and beautiful,
and whole just the way they are. -
5:06 - 5:07And so I wrote out this curriculum,
-
5:07 - 5:10and I went to the school
where I had my spell, -
5:10 - 5:13and I'll never forget going to meet
with the after-school coordinator, -
5:13 - 5:17and said, "Alright, I'd like to do
this thing called 'Girls on the Run'." -
5:17 - 5:20And his response, and he's
a good friend of mine still, he said, -
5:20 - 5:22"Aww, that sounds cute."
-
5:22 - 5:23(Laughter)
-
5:24 - 5:26And I can remember thinking, "Cute?!
-
5:26 - 5:31This is going to be a species-level,
transformational shift -
5:31 - 5:34in the way girls and women
perceive themselves! -
5:34 - 5:39Like, were going to obliterate sexism
and eliminate the objectification of women -
5:39 - 5:41from across the globe!"
-
5:41 - 5:44You know, I mean I really had
that thought in my head, -
5:44 - 5:48and yet, I couldn't have said it then,
I still have-- I enjoy saying it now. -
5:48 - 5:49(Laughter)
-
5:49 - 5:52But I couldn't said it then,
and so what do you do? -
5:52 - 5:55You go right back to default mode
which felt a lot safer, -
5:55 - 5:57so I probably did
a little something like this, -
5:57 - 5:59"Well it is. Can we do it?"
-
5:59 - 6:01(Laughter)
-
6:02 - 6:03He said yes.
-
6:03 - 6:06And so, 13 girls arrived
the following month. -
6:06 - 6:09And I'll tell you right now,
that if you are at all ever questioning -
6:09 - 6:13what it is that you're supposed to do
or where you're supposed to land, -
6:13 - 6:16I felt like this, when those girls came.
-
6:16 - 6:18That's exactly the way that it felt.
-
6:18 - 6:22And if you ever question or wonder
what it is you're supposed to do, -
6:22 - 6:23if it makes you go like that,
-
6:23 - 6:26you're probably supposed to do it.
-
6:26 - 6:29And so, the program has since grown,
-
6:29 - 6:3213 little girls
pulled 13 other little girls, -
6:32 - 6:36and then we had 26,
and then there were 75, -
6:36 - 6:40and it's just been an amazing thing
for me to realize that so many of us, -
6:40 - 6:44whether we're third grade, or 70,
or male, or female, -
6:44 - 6:48or old, or young,
or left-brained, or right-brained, -
6:48 - 6:51we just want to know that we are loved.
-
6:53 - 6:57And so the program is now
in 174 cities across North America. -
6:57 - 6:59And there were--
-
6:59 - 7:00(Applause)
-
7:05 - 7:07Last year, we served,
-
7:07 - 7:10we reached the quarter million mark
in the number of girls served. -
7:10 - 7:14And at this point, I'm feeling very called
to expand to other nations, -
7:14 - 7:17and we have 40 or so
that have expressed an interest, -
7:17 - 7:21not quite sure what to do with that yet,
from a business standpoint. -
7:22 - 7:26But what I'd like to do
just to launch and to get you thinking -
7:26 - 7:29is to share with you
one story about a very special girl. -
7:29 - 7:31And her name is Shakira.
-
7:31 - 7:33And so I was coaching
a group of little girls, -
7:33 - 7:38this was several years ago,
and we limit it to 15 girls in a group. -
7:38 - 7:41And at this point I had 14,
and we start the day, the first activity -
7:41 - 7:44where you say your name
and an adjective that describes you. -
7:44 - 7:47And so I'm always like "Miraculous Molly",
and we go around the circle, -
7:47 - 7:49and we got around to this one little girl
-
7:49 - 7:52who just shook her head
and looked to the ground. -
7:52 - 7:55And one of the other girls goes,
"Oh that's just Shakira, she never talks." -
7:55 - 7:58And I was like, "Alright girl,
I'm just glad you're here. -
7:58 - 8:01You just keep coming back girl,
just keep coming back." -
8:01 - 8:05And so, the next lesson she comes,
and she doesn't speak, -
8:05 - 8:07and the third lesson she comes,
and she doesn't speak, -
8:07 - 8:10and the fourth lesson she comes,
and she doesn't speak. -
8:10 - 8:14So I went to the school counselor,
and I said, "Can you please help me? -
8:14 - 8:16I don't know
how to reach this little girl." -
8:16 - 8:18And she said to me, "Well Molly...
-
8:26 - 8:29if you look closely
about her calves and her thighs, -
8:29 - 8:32you'll see the scars
from the cigarette burns." -
8:32 - 8:35And this little girl had been cast away
in closets for long points of time. -
8:35 - 8:39So she had to wear glasses
that would dim in the sunlight. -
8:39 - 8:44And I realized at that moment
that I was privileged actually, -
8:44 - 8:46to have her in my life.
-
8:46 - 8:48And so, over the course
of the next 12 weeks, -
8:48 - 8:50I began to see something emerged,
-
8:50 - 8:52like the light that had dimmed
within this child, -
8:52 - 8:56and the story that she'd been told
her entire nine years of life, -
8:56 - 8:59"You're not worthy,
you're not smart enough," -
8:59 - 9:02or "You're not worth it,
or you're voiceless," -
9:02 - 9:05was beginning to unravel and disappear.
-
9:05 - 9:06And at the end of the program,
-
9:06 - 9:09she was participating,
but still not speaking. -
9:09 - 9:13So on the very last day of the program,
I put the girls into a circle, and I said, -
9:13 - 9:16"Alright ladies, let's just say one word
to describe our experience," -
9:16 - 9:20hoping that this might be the day
I would hear something from her. -
9:20 - 9:22The first little girl said, "Fantastic!"
-
9:22 - 9:23Somebody said, "Awesome."
-
9:23 - 9:27I do remember one 8-year old goes,
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," -
9:27 - 9:28because when you're eight
-
9:28 - 9:32that's like the most official,
longest word in the English language. -
9:32 - 9:35And then I got around to Shakira,
and she just looked around the circle, -
9:35 - 9:38and then she shook her head
and looked to the ground. -
9:38 - 9:41So the following day, we have our banquet,
where all the kids come together, -
9:41 - 9:46and we celebrate, and honor them
for their presence over the 12 weeks. -
9:46 - 9:49And I had called every one
of the girls up, and I called Shakira up, -
9:49 - 9:53and we give funny awards
like the "Sweat Goddess" award, -
9:53 - 9:55or the "Runs with a Red Face" award.
-
9:55 - 9:59Then I had called Shakira up,
all 14 or 13 of her teammates behind her, -
9:59 - 10:00and I call her up.
-
10:00 - 10:04And I say, "Alright girl, I give you
the 'Grand Communicator' award'. -
10:06 - 10:09Because of how you communicate,
you know, that little sparkle in your eye, -
10:09 - 10:13and you know, you communicate in ways
that are so much richer than many adults." -
10:14 - 10:17And that little girl pulled
out of her pocket a card, -
10:17 - 10:18and she handed me that card.
-
10:18 - 10:20And I read it.
-
10:20 - 10:24And I will tell you,
that in a room of 60 people, -
10:24 - 10:28I felt great solitude
and a great connection to my divine, -
10:28 - 10:30like I did on that July-7th run,
-
10:30 - 10:32and I handed that card back to her.
-
10:32 - 10:34And I said, "Will you read this to me?"
-
10:34 - 10:37And that little 9-year-old took that card,
-
10:37 - 10:40and she began to shake, and shake,
and when you're really thin, -
10:40 - 10:43and you haven't been nourished
for a long time, you do like this. -
10:44 - 10:46And then she read it out loud.
-
10:47 - 10:50And what she said was,
"Dear Molly, the word I wanted to say -
10:50 - 10:54on the last day
of 'Girls on the Run' was love. -
10:54 - 10:56Your friend, Shakira."
-
10:56 - 11:02And so my question to you, and I just
really, really ask you this question, -
11:02 - 11:04what do you want to say?
-
11:04 - 11:07What stories do you tell yourself
-
11:07 - 11:11that limit you from saying what it is
you need to say to the world?" -
11:11 - 11:16And I say, if Shakira can do it,
you can do it. -
11:16 - 11:21And if it includes bright, red boots,
you better go get you some. -
11:21 - 11:22(Laughter)
-
11:22 - 11:23That's it.
-
11:23 - 11:25(Applause)
- Title:
- The word I wanted to say is ... |Molly Barker | TEDxCharlotte
- Description:
-
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Girl's on the Run founder Molly Barker shares personal anecdotes and the story of one special girl in part two of her highly motivational talk.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 11:37
Denise RQ approved English subtitles for The word I wanted to say is ... |Molly Barker | TEDxCharlotte | ||
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Denise RQ edited English subtitles for The word I wanted to say is ... |Molly Barker | TEDxCharlotte | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for The word I wanted to say is ... |Molly Barker | TEDxCharlotte | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for The word I wanted to say is ... |Molly Barker | TEDxCharlotte | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for The word I wanted to say is ... |Molly Barker | TEDxCharlotte | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for The word I wanted to say is ... |Molly Barker | TEDxCharlotte | ||
Denise RQ edited English subtitles for The word I wanted to say is ... |Molly Barker | TEDxCharlotte |