nature

From the remote deserts of Kenya to the rugged peaks of Glacier National Park, and a small summer camp in the remotest areas of Colorado, these stories showcase the power of human resilience and the enduring bonds of family and friendship. A family stranded in the desert, a mother and daughter’s grueling hike in bear country, and a summer camp counselor navigating love and theater—each story offers a unique perspective on overcoming adversity and finding hope in unexpected places. Three storytellers share their true personal story on the theme “Never Again”. Their stories were recorded live in-person in front of a packed house on September 18, 2024, at The George and Jane Dennison Theatre in Missoula, MT.

Transcript : "Never Again" Part 2

00;00;00;00 – 00;00;25;10
Marc Moss
Welcome to the Tell Us Something podcast. I’m Marc Moss, founder and executive director of Tell Us Something. We are currently looking for storytellers for the next Tell Us something storytelling event. The theme is hold My beer. If you’d like to pitch your story for conSyderation, please call (406) 203-4683. You have three minutes to leave your pitch. The pitch deadline is December 7th.

00;00;25;12 – 00;00;29;26
Marc Moss
I look forward to hearing from you this week on the podcast.

00;00;29;29 – 00;00;47;13
Jesse Ballard
I distinctly thought about the doll house in the corner, the horse mural on the wall. And so when I started to wake up from that nighttime nap, I was really surprised to look around and see thorn branches instead of that childhood bedroom wall.

00;00;47;15 – 00;01;08;26
Betsy Funk
The flowers are there and they’re up to our knees in color and riotous glory. It’s a misty day, so we aren’t hot. It’s cool. And the mist has made the flowers scream at us. It’s glorious. And I’m hiking with my daughter, who?

00;01;08;29 – 00;01;31;02
Syd Lang
Goodness. For the open mouth piece. Right? Yeah. So I’m throwing up everywhere, and all of a sudden, the crowd of kids just falls completely silent. And. And a kid goes, hey, that’s my grandma’s costume that you’re throwing up in.

00;01;31;05 – 00;01;58;18
Marc Moss
Three storytellers share their true personal story on the theme Never Again. Their stories were recorded live in person in front of a packed house on September 18th, 2024 at the George and Jane Denison Theater in Missoula, Montana. Tell Us Something acknowledges that we gather on the ancestral lands of the Salish, Kootenai, and peoples. These lands have been inhabited for millennia, shaped by the wisdom and stewardship of the First Nation peoples.

00;01;58;20 – 00;02;24;27
Marc Moss
We acknowledge the historical and ongoing trauma inflicted upon indigenous communities, including the forcible removal from their lands, the destruction of their cultures, and the systemic injustices that continue to persist. As we honor the indigenous people who have called this place home. Let us commit to learning from their traditions and values a tangible way to do that. If you live in Missoula, Montana, is to visit the Missoula Public Library on Friday, November 1st.

00;02;24;27 – 00;02;51;27
Marc Moss
Missoula Public Library hosts a First Friday event highlighting native art and culture, showcasing the library’s permanent collection. That event kicks off four weeks of programing celebrating Native American Heritage Month. A tooltip will be installed on the Harrison Children’s Library. They will unveil an exhibit of the Salish Kootenay Seasonal round that gives children a new interactive learning tool. They will also debut a new collection of indigenous books and materials.

00;02;52;00 – 00;03;17;04
Marc Moss
Stop by the library or visit Missoula Public Library Board to learn more. Tell us something. Stories sometimes have adult themes. Storytellers sometimes use adult language. Jessie Ballard and her family are stranded in the Kenyan desert, where they faced danger, dehydration, and exhaustion. Come along with Jessie on a wild, adventure filled with unforgettable memories in a story she calls the best walker.

00;03;17;11 – 00;03;25;21
Marc Moss
Thanks for listening.

00;03;25;23 – 00;03;57;10
Jesse Ballard
I want you to think back to the last time your car broke down, or you were riding in a car that broke down. Think through the steps involved to being rescued. I imagine it was a stressful situation, but pretty simple to get rescued. A phone call to triple A, wave down a passer by. Call a buddy and maybe within a few hours you were safely back at home or in a safe place at least.

00;03;57;13 – 00;04;22;27
Jesse Ballard
Now, I want to take you back in time to late 1980s in a remote area of northern Kenya. Myself, I’m around eight years old. My younger brothers, around six, were with my parents and we had just finished visiting family in a remote area of northern Kenya. We were living in Nairobi, the capital city, at the time we’d finished our visit.

00;04;22;29 – 00;04;47;27
Jesse Ballard
We packed up our double cab white Nissan and we were well on our way back to Nairobi. We happened to hours after our travel. We ended up in this area part of our travel called the chawl B desert. Chawl B is the gabbro word gabbro. Being one of the groups of people that lives in the area for dry and salty.

00;04;48;00 – 00;05;12;02
Jesse Ballard
So I just want you to imagine dry and salty for miles and miles around you. Well, I’ve set up how remote it is, but here we are driving along and another car happens to come by us, and they stop. And it’s Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. Family, friends. Wow. What are the odds of that? So my parents strike up a conversation.

00;05;12;02 – 00;05;35;14
Jesse Ballard
I think my brother and I are just playing in the back seat, and then they wave and off the Andersons go. My dad goes to restart the car. Nothing happens. We all jump out of the car and start waving at the Andersons, who by this point are miles down the road in a dust cloud of dry and salty.

00;05;35;17 – 00;05;58;02
Jesse Ballard
Well, that didn’t work. My dad tried valiantly to get the car started, but it wasn’t going to happen. So he makes the decision. He’s going to be the hero. Dad, and is going to embark out on his own and find help. My mother, sitting in a pickup truck with an eight year old and a six year old, said, not.

00;05;58;05 – 00;05;58;20
Betsy Funk
We are.

00;05;58;20 – 00;06;25;04
Jesse Ballard
All coming with you. So we gathered the supplies, the few supplies we had, which included a jerry can. For those of you not familiar with that phrase. It’s kind of a big plastic or metal container that’s often in the back of a car on Safari with extra gas, or in our case, with extra water. So my mom grabs the jerry can and we start our walk through the child B desert.

00;06;25;07 – 00;06;44;22
Jesse Ballard
At first, my brother and I think this is great. We’re skipping. We’re throwing rocks. We’re having a grand old time. What an adventure we’re on. Eventually, the charm starts to wear off. It’s made extra irritating by my mother banging on the now empty Jerry can.

00;06;44;24 – 00;06;47;08
Betsy Funk
Boom boom boom boom.

00;06;47;10 – 00;07;11;09
Jesse Ballard
Over and over and over and over. Mom! Stop that! That’s annoying. I pause here to have you think of walking a Montana trail, where you might encounter something like a bear. What is it that you do when you’re on a trail where you might encounter a bear? You make noise, right? You’ve got your bear bells. You’re ready with your bear spray.

00;07;11;12 – 00;07;34;18
Jesse Ballard
My mother knew that we might encounter lions or some other wildlife, and the boom boom boom was out of protection for us. But of course, I was childlike, blissfully ignorant to that, and just annoyed at the incessant bang bang bang. So we’re walking and walking and walking and eventually the sun starts to go down and we are exhausted.

00;07;34;18 – 00;08;00;27
Jesse Ballard
So tired. My dad managed to grab some thorn branches and build an enclosure for us to rest in. I don’t my dad and my mom were doing much resting, but I was so tired and I felt so safe in that enclosure that I conked out. I fell fast asleep even though I was only eight. I have this distinct memory of feeling like I was back in my childhood bedroom.

00;08;00;27 – 00;08;30;00
Jesse Ballard
Even though I was in the middle of the desert in a thorn bush enclosure. I distinctly thought about the doll house in the corner, the horse mural on the wall. And so when I started to wake up from that nighttime nap, I was really surprised to look around and see thorn branches instead of that childhood bedroom wall. So as I was waking up, I start to hear the sound of cowbells in the distance.

00;08;30;00 – 00;08;54;14
Jesse Ballard
Digging, deep digging. So we are all listening, and we know that if there’s cowbells, there’s humans, there’s civilization. So we get up and we follow the sound of the cowbells. And that leads us to this. Now abandoned old tented camp. But it wasn’t totally abandoned. There was a caretaker there watching over the property, and he welcomed us in.

00;08;54;15 – 00;09;24;04
Jesse Ballard
He pulled out some cots for us to lay on, and again, we just fell fast asleep. Sleep through the night and as the as we’re there, he’s also giving us cup after cup of tea or chai so that we could get hydrated. And as we’re waking up, I remember this what’s probably an old wives tale to test if you’re dehydrated or not, where if you lift the skin on the back of your hand, if it sticks together, supposedly you’re dehydrated.

00;09;24;07 – 00;09;48;15
Jesse Ballard
And I thought, oh, I’ve been walking in a desert. I mean, I’m dehydrated. And sure enough, when I lifted that skin, it stuck together. So keep that tea coming, get rehydrated. But as I’m waking up that next day, I hear another strange sound. It’s little kids yelling and I can hear that thunk, thunk thunk of rocks being thrown up into this tree near my bed.

00;09;48;18 – 00;10;13;19
Jesse Ballard
And I look up and there’s a giant snake up in the tree. I was pretty scared, but these kids just kept at it and kept checking the rocks, and eventually that snake slithered away. So big sigh of relief there. So now we had to figure out how in the world we were going to get home. Well, this old camp happened to have an old ham radio.

00;10;13;21 – 00;10;40;00
Jesse Ballard
The problem was it had a dead battery. So these two Samburu Lascaris guards, who were part of the the staff at the camp, decided they were going to book it back to our car and get the battery out of the car that we could hook up to the radio and call for help. They did that trip so quick for my brother, and I felt like hundreds and hundreds of miles, but they were back real fast.

00;10;40;03 – 00;11;14;11
Jesse Ballard
So we hooked up the radio and my dad gets on there and we hear this crackling over the radio and another familiar voice. It’s our neighbor from back in Nairobi, placing the order for her tented camp. A dozen eggs and a bag of flour. What are the odds that it would be Mrs. Cotter on the radio? But eventually my dad got through to friends who were wonderful and volunteered to drive up and help get the car and get my dad and the family back home.

00;11;14;13 – 00;11;46;10
Jesse Ballard
Well, my parents decided that another long drive was not the best thing for it and seen little me and my brother. So they managed to make a connection with a local pilot who had a little Cessna plane, likely something like an hour story earlier, and he flew into this remote area. No landing strip, just a bumpy road, but bumpy fields that he landed in, and myself and my brother and my mom loaded into this tiny little plane, which for me was so exciting.

00;11;46;10 – 00;12;11;11
Jesse Ballard
We were going to fly in this cool little plane and get home. My brother was prone to car sickness, which also translates to air sickness. So he’s in that plane just trying to hold it together, and my mom’s doing her best to distract him from wanting to vomit by pointing out things that were flying by. So we’re flying along, and my mom sees this waterfall in the distance.

00;12;11;12 – 00;12;37;04
Jesse Ballard
Look, man, look at that cool waterfall. Our daredevil pilot decides you want to see the waterfall? Let’s go. Hangs a really sharp right. Pulls the plane right up against the waterfall, which did not help the air sickness at all. Eventually we make it back home. My dad makes it back home and we are safely under the roof in our own house.

00;12;37;07 – 00;13;07;23
Jesse Ballard
And I’m back in my bed with my dollhouse in the corner. The horse mural on the wall. I’m sure my parents were in their room going. Never again. But for me, I had a trophy proudly up on my bookshelf, given to me by my parents. A little trophy that on the bottom, red nest Walker. You get.

00;13;07;26 – 00;13;31;04
Marc Moss
Thanks, Jesse. Jesse is a perinatal care coordinator who moonlights as an actor and a birth doula. She lives in Missoula with her husband, two kids, and two cats. In our next story, Betsy Funk hikes with her adult daughter Kelsey, in Glacier National Park on what would become a grueling hike for her daughter. Kelsey’s determination and love for the outdoors pushed them through tears and exhaustion.

00;13;31;07 – 00;13;42;19
Marc Moss
Betsy calls her story Glacier calls. Thanks for listening.

00;13;42;21 – 00;14;07;12
Betsy Funk
I’m from Glacier country. And for those of you who know Glacier Country, you know that the park calls to us and often that means we’re compelled to go visit her. This is happening this one week, and I was feeling it, needing to go back to Glacier. Back to hike. So I made the decision to go. One day I called a friend.

00;14;07;14 – 00;14;23;00
Betsy Funk
I said, let’s go hiking. She said, yeah, I’m up for it. Let’s go. I said, well, have to start early because we want to get back in time. She had a baby and we wanted to make sure the baby got back in time to get some rest. She says, yeah, no problem. I got this. And so I went and picked her up.

00;14;23;03 – 00;14;49;29
Betsy Funk
We loaded up the baby backpack, the snacks, all the Kutama of going to Glacier. Of course, we got our layers and our bear spray and headed up to Glacier to our favorite hike. Now, my friend is my daughter, and she, she has her son, and she’s excited about going on this hike because she’s been doing this with me since I was carrying her in the backpack up the hike.

00;14;50;02 – 00;15;11;01
Betsy Funk
She did it with me when she was a teenager and says, I will go no farther. And she also did it with me and kicked my ass up the switchbacks. So we know it’s her favorite. She has, she has a real passion for this part of the park, as do I. So we get to the trailhead. It’s about eight in the morning.

00;15;11;01 – 00;15;31;29
Betsy Funk
We decide we’re going to start early. This particular trail takes on a slow day, about six hours to do. It’s not extraordinary hard, but it is touted as one of the most beautiful hikes in the park. So as we’re unloading her son and I’m unloading her and we’re getting things ready to go, I look over at her and I say, Kelsey, how are you doing?

00;15;32;04 – 00;16;05;16
Betsy Funk
I’m good mom. I said, so you sure about this? Yes, mom, I got this. I said, great. Okay. You’re sure of it? Let’s go. So the trail drops off. the going to the sun Road, and it goes for about a mile into the subalpine forest. And as you step on that trail, the sounds of the road drop away and you’re surrounded by the moistness of bear grass and ferns.

00;16;05;19 – 00;16;31;17
Betsy Funk
A soft foot underneath. And it gradually hikes uphill into these beautiful mountains. That compelled us to go and call us. So as we’re hiking, I’m realizing this is taking Kelsey a little longer than I thought it would. Now she’s carrying her son, and, And that’s okay. So I turn around and say, you sure you’re up to this?

00;16;31;17 – 00;17;02;17
Betsy Funk
She says, oh, I got this, mom, so I’m fine about I don’t know, I want to make a guess, but a mile to a mile and a half in on the trail, it’s becoming pretty apparent to me that this is going to be a long day. She’s taking a while, and I guess this is where I tell you that my daughter is in six plus years of living with and gradually dying from, glioblastoma multiforme, which is brain cancer.

00;17;02;20 – 00;17;38;27
Betsy Funk
It’s terminal. She’s been through two brain surgeries, five and a half years of chemotherapy and a full term pregnancy. she’s a fighter, and she wants to do this hike. She loves this hike. But when you look at her, you realize that cancer, it doesn’t take you all at once. Cancer takes you. Bit by bit, one piece at a time.

00;17;39;00 – 00;18;04;17
Betsy Funk
And I’ve been watching for over six years. My daughter die in front of my eyes, one piece at a time. So we’re hiking along the trail and I’m starting to be concerned. It’s taking her a while. She’s gained a lot of weight with all the treatment. She’s slow, she’s tired. And I ask her, else we can stop at the why?

00;18;04;18 – 00;18;34;04
Betsy Funk
It’s okay. We’ve been here. It’s wonderful. She says, no, mom, I got this. So we get to the why where she knows the next thing she’s going to see are these glorious meadows filled with arnica, an Indian paintbrush, mountain aster. And she has a degree in horticulture. So she she says she’s jazzed. She wants to see this. So we get to the line and I say, okay, we’ve got a choice.

00;18;34;06 – 00;18;55;18
Betsy Funk
We could stop here, go back, have lunch. It’s great. We’ve seen wonderful things. We could go on up to get an idea, or we could head over, say, pass. And she says, mom, Syde pass. That’s the only option. I got this. So we head up. The meadows are there. They’re up to our knees in color and riotous glory.

00;18;55;21 – 00;19;29;00
Betsy Funk
It’s a misty day. So we are as hot. It’s cool. And the mist has made the flowers scream at us. It’s glorious. And I’m hiking with my daughter. So from there we open up and we go through some beautiful waterfalls and creeks and we get to the switchbacks. Now these switchbacks are no fake. Go. They’re real switchbacks. They go and they go, and then there’s little summit and then you go some more.

00;19;29;03 – 00;19;53;05
Betsy Funk
at this point, we’ve been on the trail twice as long as it would take anybody else to be on the trail. I said it was a misty day, so there were very few people on the trail, and those people had long since passed us where I thought we’d be done. At about two in the afternoon, it was becoming pretty apparent that we might be down after dark.

00;19;53;07 – 00;20;18;15
Betsy Funk
We go to start the switchbacks, and it’s even more apparent that Kelsey is weakening. She’s struggling about every ten meters. She has to stop. Let’s feed the baby mom. Let’s take a rest. Kelsey. We can go back any time I got this, mom. It’s okay. I got this on these switchbacks. She finally allowed me to take the baby.

00;20;18;17 – 00;20;44;07
Betsy Funk
I carried them on my back. Now you’re wondering, what’s he doing? Well, he was just hanging out. He was cool. He was wrapped up all snuggly warm, and I just kept handing food back there. He was good. So we’re hiking up the switchbacks, waiting for calcium, checking in. How are you doing? I’m okay. I got it, mom. Take the next switchback.

00;20;44;07 – 00;21;11;21
Betsy Funk
How are you to him? Mom, I’ve got this. Okay. We eventually make it to the top. Along our way, we pick up a couple of heart stones. And as is tradition in my family, we put the heart stones on this enormous cairn that stands at the top of the pass. And we put them there to honor those who come before us and to guide those who come after us.

00;21;11;23 – 00;21;34;24
Betsy Funk
And we hold each other and we celebrate and we embrace and we feed the baby more food. and then I ask for calcium. If we go back, it’s shorter. We know where we’ve been and we’re okay. It’s an extra mile, a mile and a half to go down the other Syde. Mom, I didn’t come here to quit.

00;21;34;26 – 00;22;03;17
Betsy Funk
I’ve got this. So I take a deep breath. I say, I’ll take the baby. She’s my baby, I said. Okay, she was a stubborn one. so she carried the baby as we drop down this trail. If you’ve never been there, you walk through hanging gardens of monkey flowers and orchids all scream and riotous color in the high alpine saying, come have sex with me, please.

00;22;03;20 – 00;22;31;25
Betsy Funk
The beautiful. And she is relishing in it. She’s in rapture. She’s loving this at the same time. Her legs are shaking. She’s worn through one pair of leggings because she’s large and her legs have chafed. She’s bleeding. I give her another pair of leggings. She’s begun to walk through them. She falls. She breaks up, holds. I ask if I can take a photo.

00;22;31;27 – 00;23;00;27
Betsy Funk
She says, nope, I got this mom. So we continue down, shaky knowing it’s getting late. There’s nobody on the trail at this point. The clouds are settling, it’s getting scary and it’s bare. 30 if anybody knows what bare 30 is. Well, basically the rule is stay 100 yards away from a bear right? Oh, I have someone with me who’s having trouble walking on the trail.

00;23;01;00 – 00;23;25;03
Betsy Funk
And when we see the full size, the grizzly bear ten feet off the trail and I ask her, can you bushwhack? She says, mom, I don’t think I can. I don’t think I can hold myself up. We can’t walk on the trail. I take a breath and I say, okay, so there is this full sized grizzly ten feet off the trail.

00;23;25;03 – 00;23;53;11
Betsy Funk
The trail goes on a switchback above the bear and below the bear. So we’re going to cut across a little field to try to avoid doing it twice. Right. So I tell Kelso, right here it is. Kelso, I’ve got the bear spray and I’m standing with the bear spray, and I go, you walk behind me and she goes, mom, I said, just walk behind me because I’m looking at that bear.

00;23;53;11 – 00;24;26;20
Betsy Funk
And I say right to his face, she’s not going to die today. Not today. And she makes it. She gets the other Syde. I start to back up, still holding the bear spray. The bear shakes his head and huff 70, walks over to a pine chain just below the bear. We made it. We continue down the trail and it’s clear Kelsey is truly struggling.

00;24;26;22 – 00;24;49;08
Betsy Funk
a ranger has been sent in to help us, although what could he do but help her up? Because at this point, I’m giving the baby her modality of getting down this trail, bleeding and shaky and very unstable is to sit on every step, slide on her ass, and have us help her up. And then she walks away to the next one.

00;24;49;08 – 00;25;17;02
Betsy Funk
Sets and slides. It’s getting later and later, and I’m thinking, we need to call somebody in. And I ask him, should we call for help? She says, mom, I gotta do this. I got this. We make it to the bottom. It’s glorious. I’m relieved. I’m crying. The baby’s asleep. and there’s a at the bottom of this trail.

00;25;17;02 – 00;25;42;06
Betsy Funk
There’s this beautiful path that goes down on the river. And I go and put my feet in. Because I’m an old woman and my feet hurt. And she goes and puts her feet and she’s. Oh, this doesn’t this won’t do, mom. And she goes because she’s bleeding and she sits right in the creek and she goes, you know, mom.

00;25;42;08 – 00;26;02;12
Betsy Funk
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do that again. And I looked right at her and I said, you know what else you got? This. Thank you.

00;26;02;14 – 00;26;24;04
Marc Moss
Thanks, Betsy. Betsy Font lives in the Flathead Valley, where, surrounded by mountains, she raised her family. She believes stories are the result of the mischief wonder and magic of life and of a willingness to be witness to all of it. To see photos of Kelsey and Betsy on their hike visit. Tell us something, doc. Work coming up after the break.

00;26;24;06 – 00;26;40;28
Syd Lang
Thank goodness for the open mouth piece, right? Yeah, so I’m throwing up everywhere, and all of a sudden the crowd of kids just falls completely silent.

00;26;41;01 – 00;26;42;13
Syd Lang
And a kid goes.

00;26;42;16 – 00;26;43;18
Betsy Funk
Hey.

00;26;43;21 – 00;26;47;23
Syd Lang
That’s my grandma’s costume that you’re throwing up in.

00;26;47;26 – 00;27;08;22
Marc Moss
Remember that the next tell us the main event is January 13th. You can learn about how to pitch your story and get tickets at Tell Us something.org. Thank you to our story sponsors who help us to pay our storytellers the Good Food Store. For more than 50 years, The Good Food Store has been Missoula’s homegrown independent source for natural, organic and locally sourced food.

00;27;08;24 – 00;27;43;14
Marc Moss
Learn more at Good Food store.com. And thanks to story sponsor ParkSyde Credit Union, whose mission it is to be the best place for people of western Montana to get a loan. Learn more at ParkSyde fcu.org. Thanks to our accessibility sponsor SBS solar, allowing us to provide American Sign Language interpretation at the live event. SBF solar stands at the forefront of the solar energy revolution, with over 30 years of industry experience specializing in custom solar design and installation for both reSydential and commercial applications.

00;27;43;20 – 00;28;10;17
Marc Moss
SBA solar is committed to promoting energy independence and environmental sustainability. Learn more at SBS linc.com. And thanks to our workshop sponsor, White Tide Designs, helping us to feed our storytellers at the group workshop. White Tie Designs is a woman led art and design studio that produces colorful spaces and stunning artwork that fosters positivity and empowers individuals to be their best selves.

00;28;10;19 – 00;28;34;26
Marc Moss
Learn more at Wide Tide designs.com. Thanks to our media sponsors, Mizzou Events Dot net, where you find all the good things that are happening. All of our Missoula and Missoula Broadcasting Company. Learn more about them and listen online at Missoula Broadcasting company.com. Thanks to our in-kind sponsors. Float Missoula. Learn more at float msl.com and choice of Tyler. Learn about Joyce at Joyce of tile.com.

00;28;34;29 – 00;28;58;14
Marc Moss
All right, let’s get back to the stories. You are listening to the Tell Us Something podcast. I’m Marc Moss closing out this episode of the Tell Us Something podcast. Syd Lange is a summer camp counselor at a small, long running camp in Colorado. Listen as she meets a special individual one summer and watch their friendship blossom amidst laughter, shared stories, and a whole lot of fun.

00;28;58;16 – 00;29;08;17
Marc Moss
Syd calls her story lovesick. Thanks for listening.

00;29;08;19 – 00;29;39;15
Syd Lang
I’m standing in the middle of a large dining room, and I’m in a bit of a pickle. The problem is, there is a cute girl sitting in the corner and I am in fluorescent, Colorado. well, actually, not in fluorescent. Fluorescent, as of the last census, had 149 people who lived there. It’s technically an unincorporated community, and I’m in Florissant, but not really forest.

00;29;39;15 – 00;30;02;20
Syd Lang
And I’m actually 30 minutes up a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. And I’m in this dining hall, and I see this girl and she’s sitting in the corner, and I want to go sit by her. She’s got this wild mullet that I later learned. She’s cut herself with a river knife on the Grand Canyon, and she’s got these vibrant eyes, and I want to sit next to her.

00;30;02;20 – 00;30;32;15
Syd Lang
But I’m a little bit nervous, and I’m nervous because on the drive out from Montana to Colorado, I’ve lost my voice somewhere. Wyoming’s long takes a long time to drive through there. I’m sure somewhere my voice has taken a stop and not come with me. I get to Colorado and I, I have laryngitis. And so here I am, standing in this room trying to meet a staff of seven people, small staff, and I can’t speak.

00;30;32;15 – 00;30;36;07
Syd Lang
And so I’m introducing myself, scratching through words. And I’m saying I am sad.

00;30;36;07 – 00;30;37;12
Betsy Funk
And I, I don’t.

00;30;37;12 – 00;30;57;00
Syd Lang
Normally sound like this, and I don’t know what to tell you. And I’m so happy to be here. And, it’s my fourth time coming to work at this outdoor education center. And we do summer camp, and we also do, teaching students. And so I spend the next week during staff training trying to get to know this girl.

00;30;57;01 – 00;31;14;19
Syd Lang
It’s not going well. I’m not really getting to know anyone because no one can hear me. And so at the end of training, we decide that we’re going to go all together as a staff. We’re going to go into town. The big town. And so we get in two separate cars, and I manage to weasel my way into the car with her.

00;31;14;19 – 00;31;32;03
Syd Lang
And I’m thinking, oh, good, here we go. Now it’s my time to rock. And so we get in the cars, you know, five, seven person staff team, right? Five people and one car, two people and the other. Here we go. So we get in the old 2001 Subaru Outback, and she rolls down all the windows because it’s August in Colorado.

00;31;32;03 – 00;31;52;12
Syd Lang
It’s still pretty hot. She turns on the radio and she’s singing the whole drive, and my little scratchy laryngitis voice is no competition for the windows or the music. And so I’m silent. The whole two hour car ride. We get to town and she has this great idea. We should go to karaoke.

00;31;52;14 – 00;31;54;16
Betsy Funk
Like, oh, awesome.

00;31;54;18 – 00;32;23;15
Syd Lang
This is perfect. So I get to karaoke and Big Green Tractor, my typical karaoke songs. Not sounding as good as it usually does, and I’m up there and I’m scratching through the lyrics and I finally, as the night goes on, I get a chance to sit outSyde with her and we’re talking about how we both have worked at this camp, but we’ve worked there opposing seasons, and so we have never we’ve never met before.

00;32;23;18 – 00;32;26;03
Syd Lang
And she goes, oh, I’ve heard of you, though.

00;32;26;06 – 00;32;26;11
Betsy Funk
Like.

00;32;26;13 – 00;32;48;25
Syd Lang
Oh God, this can’t be good. And she goes, yeah, you’re Patient zero, aren’t you? Yep. So, so let’s go back to 2019. It was my second summer at camp, and I’m coming as the climbing director this summer. And my goal is to get students excited to sign up for my climbing program, because the more they sign up, the more I get to climb.

00;32;48;25 – 00;33;17;02
Syd Lang
And that’s the dream job to a 19 year old. And so here I am. I’m dressed in front of all of the kids. It’s 150. Kids are sitting in an outdoor auditorium, and I’m putting on an opening night performance, and it’s this zany, wild experience and I’m dressed head to toe in a giraffe costume. And luckily, there is a break in the giraffe costume from the top of my head to the bottom of my chin.

00;33;17;02 – 00;33;33;27
Syd Lang
It’s got this like big giraffe muzzle, you might call it these big ears. And I’m in a belay system, which is a climbing term. If you don’t know, I’m wearing a harness and another person is also wearing a harness, and we’re kind of mocking what climbing might be like. And I have no control over if I’m moving forwards or backwards.

00;33;33;27 – 00;33;53;20
Syd Lang
I’m tied into a rope and my player is deciding how much slack I get. And so here I am, and I’m like dancing in front of everyone. I’m so excited. I’m the giraffe and I’m going to climb with you all summer. Come sign up, and all of the sudden I turned to the left and I just start spewing vomit just out of nowhere.

00;33;53;20 – 00;34;10;18
Syd Lang
Thank goodness for the open mouthpiece, right? Yeah. So I’m throwing up everywhere, and all of a sudden the crowd of kids just falls completely silent.

00;34;10;20 – 00;34;12;03
Syd Lang
And a kid goes.

00;34;12;05 – 00;34;13;06
Betsy Funk
Hey.

00;34;13;09 – 00;34;36;14
Syd Lang
That’s my grandma’s costume that you’re throwing up in. And so I’m standing in front of everybody spewing vomit and also spewing the norovirus, which took over the entire camp all summer. looking back, it was pretty awesome. You know, kids in the dining hall, they’re standing up and three kids are vomiting at once. And all these interactions, it was a real stand by me moment.

00;34;36;15 – 00;34;56;21
Syd Lang
We had a barf tally on the Syde. Yeah. Totally awesome. So I coined the name patient zero, and I’m sitting here and I’m like, really going into this story, like telling her maybe more than I should. And I look over after talking about this and I’m expecting her face to be like, oh. And she looks at me with just this, like excited astonishment.

00;34;56;22 – 00;35;14;03
Syd Lang
She goes, well, hey, that’s cool. Have you heard of my character early? Like, oh, okay, we’re going to do this. Here we go. And so she starts telling me about this character named Earl, which is a bird, and the bird dance to every event. And Earl kind of sounded like this. So she’s going into Earl.

00;35;14;03 – 00;35;39;11
Syd Lang
And then I start talking about granny. And granny was my other claim to fame at this establishment. Granny is an old character. She’s an old woman character. And I’m working outdoor ed season at this time. And so fifth and sixth grade students from the surrounding area in Colorado, they come up and they spend a week with myself and the other field instructors, and we we replace part of their curriculum from the class.

00;35;39;11 – 00;36;01;16
Syd Lang
So we’re teaching it. And also acting it out. It’s really an odd place. And so I am working I’m teaching the, the homesteading curriculum, and I’m granny dressed head to toe in a bonnet. And granny, I just fell in love with granny. So I spent two months being granny and granny sounded like this. Hey, kids. Well, come.

00;36;01;16 – 00;36;01;23
Betsy Funk
On.

00;36;01;23 – 00;36;07;08
Syd Lang
Down. Here we go. We’re going to churn some butter.

00;36;07;10 – 00;36;29;20
Syd Lang
And granny had a really rough season because granny had giardia. And if you don’t know what giardia is, it is a parasite you get from drinking unclean water. And she already really stays until you take care of it. So the idea, Judy, a granny, is running around teaching these kids in her bonnet and her and her homesteading dress.

00;36;29;27 – 00;36;45;19
Syd Lang
She keeps going, Granny’s got dysentery. Where is the chamber pot? So at this point, everybody has heard about patient Zero and also granny with giardia.

00;36;45;21 – 00;37;08;21
Syd Lang
And I’m swapping stories with this girl. Her name is Sophia, and we’re going back and forth, back and forth and just doubling over in laughter outSyde of this karaoke bar. And we decide that what we need to do is bring Earl and granny together. And there’s a perfect opportunity for that. We have, in this outdoor ed season, what’s called the hoedown.

00;37;08;24 – 00;37;29;29
Syd Lang
And I can guarantee you, you have never been to anything like the High Trails Hoedown. It is magical and wild. All the students are packed into a small auditorium. The teachers are. They are wide eyed, confused, or like, this is what you do. What? And all the staff comes in, were dancing around in different costumes and we put on a performance.

00;37;29;29 – 00;37;51;14
Syd Lang
And every night the performance looks different because we don’t play in it and it goes on for like two hours. These kids dancing at the hoedown and granny and Earl come out and they just steal the show. And for the next two months, granny and Earl steal the show every single week, granny and Earl.

00;37;52;24 – 00;38;26;08
Syd Lang
Spend a lot of time together. Granny and Earl also sit in Sofia, fall in love. throughout the entirety of that season, Sophia’s mullet slowly grows out. My voice slowly comes back. Thank goodness. Good old Larry’s kicked it, kicked the curb, and, we moved back to his unit together. And granny and Earl still live in Missoula. We’ve been here for two and a half years, and we have a pretty darn good time.

00;38;26;11 – 00;38;38;07
Syd Lang
and I would say we still know how to throw a pretty dang good hoedown.

00;38;38;09 – 00;39;12;06
Marc Moss
Thanks, Syd. Sydney Lang grew up in Olympia, Washington, and has been living in Grand Old Missoula, Montana on and off for the past seven years. She attended the University of Montana, where she studied communication and climate change. She spends much of her time climbing big rocks and zooming through the trees on her bike. She has been working in the outdoor education world for many years both in Montana and Colorado, said love seat bubble gum, ice cream, practice slack line by the river, play on local trails and cook dinner with friends.

00;39;12;08 – 00;39;35;12
Marc Moss
Thanks for listening to the Tell Us Something podcast. Remember that the next Tell Us Something event is January 13th. The theme is hold my beer. Learn how to pitch your story and get tickets at Tell Us something.org.

 

Jason Forges, Tell Us Something storyteller alumni and Board member sits down with Sierra Tai-Brownlee to talk about his impactful experiences for her podcast "Impactful Experiences with Sierra Tai-Brownlee."

Transcript : Meet the Tell Us Something Board - Jason Forges

Welcome to the tele hunting podcast. I’m Mark Moss. The next, tell us something live storytelling event is September 27th. At the Dennison theater. The theme is letting go eight storytellers. Take the stage to share their two personal stories from memory. Tickets are now on sale. For tell us something live at the Dennison theater, September 27th.

Get your tickets@tellussomething.org. We again, welcome our friends from the deaf C. By providing American sign language interpretation. See you September 27th for letting go stories at the Dennison theater, more information and tickets are available@tellussomething.org. The next six, tell us something podcast episodes are a little different than what you are used to.

You will meet each member of the, tell something board, former board member Sierra, Ty Brownley interviewed the tele something board. For her podcast, impactful experiences. Sierra believes that listening to meaningful stories, changes your ideas and makes you think and feel beyond what you may already accept.

This week. Sierra sits down with board member and tell us something, storytelling, alumni. Jason fors let’s

listen.

Welcome back

to impactful experiences with Sierra brown. I chat with a new guest

each episode and ask them to share one of their impactful experiences. This is your host Sierra, and I wanna thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy today. I’m joined by Jason forges, current program analyst at cognizant and tell us something board member living in Missoula, Montana.

Jason, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. Thank you for having me. Of course. I’m so happy. You’re here. I’d love to really just hop right in and hear a little bit about the experience you’d like to share.

Uh, well, when I’m thinking about experience that I like to share, um, mm-hmm, I realize, uh, the first thing that comes in my mind is I have experiences that I would like to share, but I think it comes off with a, a common theme.

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. But, um, I think overall the common theme is, um, learning how to listen to myself. Okay. I think that’s, uh, something that’s very impactful that I, uh, continue to do, but I started to notice that, uh, uh, along the way, so originally I’m from Florida, I went to school in Delaware. During my time in Delaware, I was playing, uh, basketball at the time, college basketball.

And then, uh, I ended up being a fifth year senior, and I was working at Amazon, uh, at the same time. So during my, uh, times at Amazon, which was, uh, very, uh, Big moment of my life. I was really trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I tried to move up in Amazon. I wasn’t getting, uh, I wasn’t getting the job for whatever reason.

I probably applied like three or four different times, long story short. I found myself thinking, wait, why am I trying to stay in Delaware? I’m not even from here. Yeah. So let me, uh, look for somewhere else to go. Um, I applied to a lot of different places. to figure out where I wanted to go, uh, through the AmeriCorps program.

Okay. Uh, overall, uh, I end up choosing to come to Montana. Mm-hmm now the theme of learning to listen to myself is when I wanted to come to Montana. Oh man. My relatives, friends, family. Uh, I had a opportunity to either, uh, do the AmeriCorps program cause I was offered to serve in Montana or serve in, um, California.

And when I was telling my family members, relatives like, oh yeah, you better pick Cali. I know what you’re doing. You better pick Cali. I’m like, nah, I’m gonna go to Montana. And it was kind of that sort of, uh, man, you crazy, what’s what’s going on with you. Like, what’s wrong with you? Even my mom. She’s like, why are you going all the way over there?

Mm-hmm, a sort of thing. But, um, I think that, that was like one of the pivotal moments is kind of like a, where I. and I’m still learning, but I learned in life is like small situations can have like big impacts. So even me trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I say, okay, you know what? I’m gonna choose Montana because why I want to learn how to listen to myself.

uh, I think I was definitely in a point of time in my life where even playing basketball or even in my personal life, I was doing, uh, what people wanted me to. mm-hmm and then wouldn’t stick up for myself on the things I wanted to do. So then I was left with oh, wow. Okay. Well, I did exactly the way that someone would want me to do it, but I don’t feel happy at the end actually feel terrible.

Mm-hmm so coming to Montana was kind of at that big push of like, oh yeah. Okay. Montana only has, uh, north of 1 million people. I’m in a small town. Mm-hmm town of, uh, a couple thousand. So, let me go there. It’s not gonna be a lot of people and all I can do is focus on myself.

Yeah. Okay. Interesting. And would you say that is kind of one of the experiences that started this theme and was it that decision where you really wanted to go to Montana already, but you just felt this pull to go to California and you chose to go to Montana.

You were listening to yourself?

I think it was, uh, I was trying to, I feel like it was like something within me was just telling me like, Hey, uh, well, what do you really want? I think that’s ultimately what it came down to. Uh, when I thought about California or Montana, I really thought about, well, what do I really want?

And mm-hmm . And when I was really trying to kind of, I was doing it in my mind, but it’s kind of like you do a checklist, like what’s the good, what’s the bad, what’s the. And when I was thinking of California, I was just thinking of fun. Oh, I can go here. I can go there. I’m a city boy at heart from Florida.

So I’m like, oh, what if it’s clubs around da? And I instantly stopped myself and like, wait, how is that helping me? and, uh, yeah, so then it kind of turned back to Montana. I’m like, okay. Uh, not a lot of people. I can really focus on myself and ultimately, um, again, I just graduated. Ultimately, I wanted to understand what I wanted to do in life.

And I felt like being alone will allow me the opportunity to not be distracted in the way I was mm-hmm in Delaware or Florida. Okay.

Yeah. Do you think that living in Montana has enabled you to accomplish kind of those, those goals?

Uh, yeah, I think Montana being in Montana, being a, being able to sit with myself alone, uh I think helped me afford a lot of things, which, uh, now I am in Montana and I am doing a lot of things, but, oh man, when I first came to Montana, it was, uh, rough.

So when I talk about finding that little voice inside me, say, oh, this is a great idea. Um, AmeriCorps is definitely a program that you don’t do it for the money and it doesn’t pay a lot of money either. Um, hence the service and I don’t have anything wrong with that, but, um, for my background AmeriCorps, the sector I was in, I was in the education sector and working with low income students and helping them get access to college.

If they chose to go that route for me, it was more about finding your passions and help broaden those passions. But I was. I’m the first one in my family to graduate college. Okay. Yes, yes. Yes. So when it comes to working with the first generation loan students, it’s like, oh yeah, that’s me. So with that being said, um, being able to save up a little money and then come to Montana, that’s all I really had like a little, uh, a little money mm-hmm so even though my, my, my heart or my mind or something in me said, yeah, go this Montana route.

Yeah, it definitely wasn’t a, oh, as soon as I got. It was rainbows and sunshine. I, I had to find a place to live mm-hmm uh, yeah, I, yeah, I’d had to find a place to live. I had to find a car it’s it’s close to wintertime, so I need to get things in order. So I’m like, yeah, that’s tough. I having people, um, hearing about my, my first month experience was rough and hearing people back at home telling me, man, you need to come back home.

What are you doing? Yeah. You need to come back home. But me saying no, but something’s telling me to stay here. I know it’s rough. Something’s telling me to stay here.

Okay. And at this point, how long have you been in Montana?

Ooh. Uh, now it’s like, I think so it’ll be north of four years, I think, close to five years.

And that’s the wow longest place. Uh, I never been in one area more than four years ever until Montana. Oh my gosh. Yeah.

Which is interesting. Okay. And how did you maybe kind of overcome or I guess push through those challenges and what really did keep you here if it was really tough at the beginning, and it seemed as though you could go back, but you still felt the need to stay in

Montana.

Oh, man. BEC, uh, can you repeat the question? Cause I wanna make sure I answer it ly. Yeah.

Yeah. I think the main question is what was motivating you to stay in Montana, especially in that first short period of time when you maybe could have gone back. Um, but you still felt as though you needed to be here.

Mm, uh, focusing on, I think for me was like the feeling, just really trying to tap into the feeling I’m very an, uh, analytical, so I’m very, uh, brand oriented first mm-hmm and not really focusing on my feelings, but, um, this time around, I know I felt like I wanted to do the opposite. That’s the whole purpose of me coming here.

It was like, um, everyone keeps telling me what to do. And I’m always, I’ve always been told, especially for my coach in college. He always tell me, oh, Jason, everyone wants to go left. You wanna go? Right. Mm-hmm so it was just me, uh, living up to that moment, like, okay, everyone’s telling me I need to, uh, leave, but I have a feeling I should be here.

And, um, I remember my car car broke down in the middle of. Uh, oh, no, I was here in Darby, uh, Montana. That’s when I was doing my AmeriCorps service. Yeah, my first year, my second year I was in Missoula, but, um, my second year when I had to travel back and forth Uhhuh, my car broke down. So I had to go through the struggles of couch, surfing, meaning sleeping on my friends couch on the weekdays.

If they would allow me to. Or sometimes I had to sleep in my car, um, drive back home over to the weekend to spend the night to drive. And in doing that, uh, I had my friends here in Montana saying, Jason, why don’t you just move to Missoula at this point? Because man sleeping in your car in the middle of winter, doesn’t sound great.

And yeah, you sleeping on the couch, but that sort of thing. But for me, I’m like, I don’t know. Something’s telling me I need to stay. I’m like, I don’t know. It sounds crazy, but, uh, I’m like, man, I’ve been, I’ve been through worse, but, um, I wanna stick with this because I feel like it’s gonna be impactful for me.

Mm-hmm and at the time too, um, staying in Missoula, I was at the university. So again, I graduat from college and I’m like, okay, well, if I’m on college campus, now I can, um, I thought I wanted to get into consult. So I was, uh, sitting in on some consulting classes trying to figure out. So even though I was going through all that, that sleeping in the car, riding the bus, winter, the car broke down, all that stuff.

What was going through my mind is like, I’m going to make it. It’s no way I’m doing this for no reason. Yeah. Something’s gonna come out of it. So that’s kind of the mentality that I try to stay strong with.

Definitely. How would you describe, or how do you think Montana or being in Montana has changed you?

I would say

it changed me in two ways. Well, I don’t know of two ways, but I think Montana changed me in a way of how I view the world in regards to nature. Mm-hmm man. Uh, I remember my first camping trip was in Florida and it rained and it was like, wow, hogs running around. and I’m like, yeah, camping. I’m not built for it.

Yeah. but then coming to Montana, I’m always, uh, down to experience new things. Uh, something that Montana taught me is how disconnected I was with nature. Mm-hmm , which I never knew it was a disconnect, but as I was talking about focusing on my feelings, right, yeah. Uh, going into nature was that same thing.

It was like, wait, something’s not to say it’s calling me, but I feel at peace. Hmm. I never thought I would. Okay. So I think that’s something that, uh, Montana afforded me. I think Montana also taught me to learn to under the meaning of community, which I’m still trying to figure out, but I think, uh, coming from a big city and have, I don’t know, the way I view community is so different may it’s probably cuz the AmeriCorps experience as well.

Now being in the community in Missoula and like the art community and kind of figure out what’s going on here and figuring out that there’s always ways to tap in. And it’s, uh, small enough that when you tap into a lot of different places, you know, a lot of different people mm-hmm so then allows you to build, uh, relationships in a deeper way.

And I don’t think that’s something that I did when I was back in Florida or even Delaware. I wouldn’t put myself out there like that. Mm.

okay. You mentioned a little earlier that you were, or maybe still are a city person. Do you, would you still consider yourself a city person

now? I would consider myself a human being city person.

Uh, I don’t know. Um, that’s another thing. When it came to Montana, I remember going on this five day camping trip, it was like took eight hours just to get to our camping. and when I came out of it, uh, I realized I didn’t, I wasn’t connected to anything. I didn’t see a building or anything. And when I start seeing buildings, I’m like, oh, wow.

Um, I think it’s a verse from Frank ocean that always stay in my mind that, oh, it stays in my mind. But, uh, he said, I’m living on the idea, a idea from another man’s mind. So I’m like, man, me living in a city is not really there’s someone, something that someone thought. right? Yeah. So I’m like, someone’s creating this.

So what do I want to create? So, uh, long story short, I consider myself a human being at this point. Not a city boy. I think I can, uh, I’m almost like a chameleon. I feel like I can blend into many spaces. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. Do you hope to stay in Montana? For the future

for the future? I feel like I would like a second home in Montana.

I wouldn’t wanna live in Montana. Okay. Interesting. I’ve been questioning what does home mean to me? And I’m still questioning that I know Montana has taught me a lot when it comes to community because I’ve been to places where I don’t know, like being young and growing up in big cities, like it’s glamor or I’ve been on vacations where.

uh, it can be the most beautiful place, but if you were terrible people, the it’s terrible. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, to learn about, uh, to know that community starts with the people, uh, I learned that a lot in Montana, but something I just don’t feel fully at home. I, I can’t really explain it, but I definitely know that I would love a second home here.

Okay, very cool. Throughout our conversation thus far, you’ve talked a lot about like being in tune with yourself and knowing what you really want. How do you go about doing that? When I think it is quite hard to maybe distinguish that from other feelings or other

pressures, I feel like found finding the foundation of, uh, who I am was a, a big part of.

So being able to sit alone, to think with yourself. I remember I had a friend one time say, oh, I don’t like to be alone. I always have to be around people. But I feel like when you be around people so much, there’s nothing wrong with being around people. But when do you have time to think for yourself? So, um, being alone for a certain amount of time for me, uh, allowed me to really create that foundation of not allowing someone to tell me who I am when they know very little of me.

Mm-hmm . And, um, being able to be alone kind of helped with that, but ultimately I was been trying to learn self care. So, um, journaling is something that I got into poetry. Mm-hmm man, the, uh, the arts man, I, uh, just been deep diving into that. but, uh, I will say the number one thing for me personally is I never knew it, but taking baths, man.

Okay. Self care, self care. Self-care I’m not ashamed. I am not ashamed. So I’ll wake up early in the morning, have a nice bath at light up an Ince, play some jazz music, add some L E D lights, figure out what color, what vibe I’m feeling. And I just sit there and thought I might have a journal if I want a journal down, but I feel like, uh, overall.

Um, just trying to find opportunities to listen to myself. Uh, I’ve been tapping in, in so many different ways. I can throw out yoga. I can throw out a lot of things, but, um, overall, I would just say, uh, I sat with one idea and which was, what does it mean to be human mm-hmm I’m a hu what does it mean to be hu I’m like, wait it’s to create.

Okay. So that’s what I need to do. I need to figure out how I can create in a positive way. Mm-hmm. And, um, in listening to myself and trying out certain things, I start, uh, picking up on like, oh, wow, okay. I, I thought I was going crazy here, but something’s telling me I should go over here. So let me just do it.

And I end up doing it, something positive comes out of it. So then it makes me want to be more in tune with whatever allowed me to think of doing that particular thing. So I know I threw a lot at you. I hope you can catch something.

No, I think that’s all really helpful. And I think it’s, I don’t know something.

Yeah, definitely. I can take and use and hopefully implement and maybe listen myself a little bit more, like talking about maybe things you’re doing. What do you hope to work on in the future? Or like you just said. You feel as though being human is to create, what do you want to create in the future?

I would, I would like to be, I would love to be a part of something that I will not be around to see.

That’s fine with me. Um, I will, will wanna do something impactful. I’m all about people. And, um, I know when it comes to making change, uh, one thing I remember hearing, which always bother me is when someone says change is slow. Uh, huh. And I get the idea, but for me I’m like only if you let it be yeah. in certain ways, but for me, I’m like, uh, I also understand that, um, the changes that I will help hope to see, I guess, in the world, in the states, in the city and the community that I’m in to understand that, um, I D know, I just wanna be a part of something that I.

I won’t, uh, be around to see it until fruition, but to know that I’m a part of it. It’s uh, good enough for me Uhhuh okay. Mm-hmm . Wow.

All right. Well, I think that we’ve talked about quite a lot and I’ll start wrapping things up. But as a final question, I always just like to ask what’s the best piece of life advice you’ve been given.

Mm to get something you never had. You have to do something you never did. Okay. Yes. Yes. I think I saw a speech. It was probably like a Denzel speech, but it, it made me realize I’m like, oh, it’s something I never had. I had to do something I never did. So, um, I realized doing something I never did brings fear.

So now I’m trying to. Build a stronger relationship with fear in terms of like embracing fear, as opposed to, uh, not doing it or not embracing it. I don’t know if that makes sense, but that’s, mm-hmm,

my thought. Well, that does make sense. And I think that’s funny because I spoke with Sarah a couple days ago and her piece of advice was something along the lines of you need.

Have fear in order to be brave. And so I think that’s kind of similar in the sense of you might be fearful, but that’s just an opportunity.

Mm yes, yes, yes. Oh for sure. And sometimes that fear can clutter, uh, clutter, your mind. I think the other day, uh, I was doing a poetry performance. Um, At an imagination brewery and doing that, I remember sitting next to my friend and I just got into the building and it was supposed to be me and my friend Elijah were supposed to perform.

And as soon as I sat down, she said, okay, you guys ready you about to go on right now? Like, What? So I remember looking at my friend Casper, I’m like, I am nervous right now. My heart’s pounded, like I’m nervous, but I said that in a way of, uh, I learned to say that because that’s how I’m feeling. It’s honestly, I don’t wanna like, keep all that energy in.

It’s like, I’m nervous, but I’m about to do this anyways. I’m gonna do it anyways. So, uh, embracing that fear mm-hmm

for sure. Okay. Well, Jason, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I really appreciate

it. Oh yeah. Thank you. Of

course. Well, I think we’ll end things here, but thank you guys for listening and take care.

Thanks Sierra and Jason, Jason for just is a community member that focuses on finding avenues to be open, authentic and artistic Jason’s goal is to create an entity titled appreciate color. That will leverage the arts to promote meaningful perspectives while provoking thought and encouraging actionable steps with himself and others.

You can listen to Jason forges, tell us something story@tellussomething.org Sierra. Ty Brownley is a curious individual with a never ending interest in people and their stories from asking 50 strangers for their best piece of life advice to sitting down, to hear about pivotal stories on her podcast, impactful experiences with Sierra Ty brown.

Sierra is always excited to meet new people and hear what they would like to share. You can find the impactful experiences podcast. Wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to our inkind sponsors. Joyce of tile, gecko designs, float Missoula and Missoula broadcasting company. Thanks for listening to this week’s podcast.

Remember to get your ticket to the next event. September 27th, 2022. Live at the Dennison theater. The theme is letting go more information and tickets are available@tellussomething.org.