ted talk homework for life

Homework for Life ~ Matthew Dicks

“As you begin to take stock of your days, find those [story] moments — see them and record them — time will begin to slow down for you. The pace of your life will relax.” ~ Matthew Dicks, Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling

Matthew Dicks assigns his workshop students “Homework for Life.” He is a 50-time Moth StorySLAM and 6-time GrandSLAM Champion, which is a big deal in the world of personal narrative style of storytelling. If anyone can help you how find new stories to tell, he has a track record of winning stories.

Homework for Life

Each day, you must write the date and a couple word or sentence summary of a 5-second story moment for the day. You do not need to write the whole story. It does not have to be a huge moment, just something that you might write a story about that day. It’s a challenge at first to train you mind to see the frame of story, but then it gets easier. If you like, you can start to record any past moments that get triggered in memory. Most importantly, you must write at least one entry everyday to make it a habit.

How do you come up with new stories?

Storytellers struggle to keep coming up with new material. I’ve worked with many different processes, and I continue to explore new ones. This daily practice can change how you see the world (even if you just try it for awhile). I’m one of those people that used to say: I have nothing to write about. My life is just so boring. Why would anyone want to hear about my life? Nothing interesting happened today. I have no more stories. (In fact, some days, I still have this dialogue running in my head.)

Homework for Life is a great way to collect the moments of your life. The stories of the small moments of life are the ones that audiences connect to most easily. These small moments often contain our biggest transformations. These are the aha! moments, the sudden realization moments, the moments that touch our heart, moments of connection, moments where we fall apart, moments where we pull ourselves back together, ….

“I cannot tell you what a blessing this is. I don’t lose a day anymore.” ~ Matthew Dix, Storyworthy

Listen to his engaging story about being a storyteller in his TEDx Talk.

Watch Matthew Dicks, Homework for Life

Check out the book by Matthew Dicks, Storyworthy

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How To Make Your Life Storyworthy

Three activities + templates to find more meaning and expand your memory.

What makes a life ‘storyworthy’?

Is it the life-altering, exciting, tragic or heroic moments? Is it about making significant changes or achieving outsized success, fame, money?

According to Matthew Dicks , it doesn’t need to be. He’s a bestselling author, columnist, playwright, and 53-time Moth StorySLAM champion and 7-time GrandSLAM champion — so he knows a thing or two about what makes a good story.

Matthew says it’s about the little, everyday moments. The ones that are so easy to miss, dismiss, and forget.

They happen to all of us, all the time. The problem is we fail to notice them or recognize their importance, and when we do see them, we don’t record them. They get lost in the busyness of life.

Making your life storyworthy means paying attention to what is happening in your day to day, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.

In this post, I’m sharing three exercises from Matthew’s book, Storyworthy , designed to help you spot and collect your moments. To make it easy to get started, I’ve created some ready to use templates for you.

Before we get to the details, you might need a bit more convincing about why this is important. Why should you spend your precious time recording small, seemingly meaningless moments from your life? Who cares?

According to Matthew, one of the best life skills you can acquire is knowing how to recognise these stories and effectively share them in the most compelling way.

This is not just valuable for people like him who do this for a living. Matthew has seen time and time again how paying attention to your stories leads to a more enjoyable  existence. You’ll start to see how the meaningful moments you experience every day contribute to your life and the lives of those around you.

You’ll start to know and understand yourself better. You’ll avoid living life on autopilot, unable to recall what you did yesterday, last week or last year.

Here’s how he puts it in the book:

Finding new stories both fills in and fills out my life. They bring breadth and meaning to my life. Recalling a forgotten moment from your life or suddenly seeing it as more than what you once thought can expand the boundaries of your perceived life, while filling in gaps and connecting disparate memories into a more complete picture. Stories will both fill in the holes in the mental map of your life and help you to see how expansive that map truly is. It’s priceless.

Make it your mission to find, see, remember, and identify stories, and you will begin to see your life in a new and more compelling light.

Let’s jump into the exercises.

Homework for Life

Matthew decided that at the end of every day, he’d reflect on his day and ask himself one simple question:

If I had to tell a story from today — a five-minute story onstage about something that took place over the course of this day — what would it be?

Just a sentence or two that captures the moment from the day. Just enough to remember the moment and recall it clearly at a later date.

It’s rarely a great story. Most of the time, it’s not even a good story. But it’s a story. Something that made that day different from the rest.

The key is to do this every day and to keep it short. By telling yourself it’s just one or two sentences a day, you’ll be more likely to stick with it.

It will take you less than five minutes a day, and soon, you will start noticing a few things:

• Time slows down. You don’t feel like every day feels the same anymore.
• You start seeing the storyworthy moments as they’re happening. You develop an eye for them.
• You start to think of recovered memories: forgotten moments from your past that have returned to your mind through this process. Just add those to your list as they come up.

As you sharpen your storytelling lens, you’ll begin to see your life is filled with stories. Moments of real meaning that you have never noticed before. You’ll start appreciating your life and the people in it more. Your life matters, your stories matter.

What you do with these stories is up to you. Matthew uses them to craft stories to use on stage. He goes hunting for the best stories, looking for patterns and connections. For you, it could be simply about recording the smallest moments, so they don’t get lost. Or about showing yourself your life is more diverse and meaningful than previously believed.

If you want to learn more about the story behind this exercise, I recommend listening to Matthew’s Tedx Talk on Homework for Life.

Crash & Burn

This is an exercise in stream-of-consciousness writing, similar to long-form journaling that I’ve written about before.

The difference is that here you are literally writing down whatever words enter your mind; it does not need to make any sense.

It’s the best way to resurrect old and forgotten memories that have been lost to you. Surprising, significant associations between the past and present will come up, making your life brighter and sharper with every new memory discovered. According to Matthew, the reason for this is simple:

We are the sum of our experiences, the culmination of everything that has come before. The more we know about our past, the better we know ourselves.

Just set a ten-minute timer and start writing. You can begin any way you want, but a tip would be to write about an object in your room.

To give you an idea, here’s an example from the book. There are just three rules to keep in mind.

Don’t get attached to any one idea

The goal is to let unexpected ideas intersect and overrun current ones. So it doesn’t matter how intriguing your idea may be; you need to move to the next one the moment it pops into your head.

Don’t judge any thought or idea that appears in your mind

Don’t allow your mind to stop you from doing this exercise. No matter how silly, nonsensical, absurd or embarrassing it may be — if you’re thinking it, you need to write it down. Ignore grammar, punctuation or capitalization.

Don’t allow your fingers to stop moving

You must continue writing words even when your mind is blank. Have a category at the ready in case you get stuck. Matthew uses colors. When he has no other thought in his mind, he begins listing colors on the page until one of them triggers a thought or memory. This can be anything, as long as your list is long and familiar to you (for example countries, animals, cheeses).

At the end of a session, you can go through and see which stories and memories are worth thinking and writing more deeply about. It’s pretty amazing what the mind can come up with if you just let it run wild.

First Last Best Worst

Lastly, a story-finding exercise you can do by yourself but is even better with others. The idea is to use prompts to trigger memories. For each prompt, you fill in the first word or words that come to mind.

First, Last, Best Worst —  Kiss; Breakup; Holiday; etc.

Just like with the previous exercises, you will find yourself filling in and filling out your life, making connections you had never thought about before and expanding your memory beyond what you thought possible.

Get Started with These Templates

The hardest part is getting started.

To help, I’ve created a Google Sheets template and Notion template for each exercise. All you need to do is make a copy, save it, and get started.

I recommend starting with Homework For Life and doing this every day for 30 days. Make it a habit. There must be five minutes you can spare, somewhere in your day (even if it’s while brushing your teeth before going to bed).

After that, keep going and see if you can add a Crash & Burn session 2–3 per week. This style of stream-of-consciousness writing is incredible, and you’ll be amazed by the things you come up with if you allow yourself the space.

Once you start seeing and believing the benefits of these exercises, do an FLBW game now and then with someone important in your life. Sharing your stories with other people will make you feel more connected than ever (this is the one I need to work on the most 🙋‍♀️).

I’ll leave you with the words of Neil Gaiman for final motivation:

“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds… Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.”

PS — Reach out if need help accessing or using the templates. If you don’t have Notion or Google Sheets, you can create an account for free.

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The 10 best TED talks about life

Watch, learn, and live your best life.

If you’re dedicated to success — in your career, relationships, or life in general — you’ve probably devoted much of your time to self-improvement . You’ve read books on leadership , listened to mental health podcasts , and studied theories like The Golden Circle to find meaning and vision in your work. All those efforts are great, but you might be missing out on another key resource. 

TED Talks are short lectures from subject matter experts in every industry, from business to education to design. The best TED talks about life have several million views. No wonder, since they offer wisdom, convincing research, and advice you can use to make positive changes in your health, career, relationships — even your mindset. Check out the videos below — they just might change your life.

The TED organization aims to spread ideas through short yet powerful lectures. And thanks to TED posting their videos online, their talks have reached millions worldwide. Whether you want to change your career late in life , find purpose at work , or forge better friendships, these 10 talks will help.

1. Do schools kill creativity?, by Sir Ken Robinson

These days, everyone from Google to the US Chamber of Commerce is discussing how important creativity is in the workplace. Creativity is the number one soft skill employees look for , but nearly 75% of adults believe they aren’t living up to their creative potential. 

If you asked the late Sir Ken Robinson what’s driving this creativity desert, he’d tell you one word: education. Ken, who’s the former Professor of Arts Education (and later Professor Emeritus) at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, expressed this belief in his famous TED talk, “Do schools kill creativity?”

In this talk, Ken discusses the “hierarchy of subjects” in the modern school system, which emphasizes math, reading, and science while dismissing creativity and the arts. He suggests that this system fails to “teach the whole child” and, in doing so, squanders many creative and intelligent thinkers.

This is an interesting watch if you want to understand the value of creativity better, and it might inspire you to bring your Whole Self to work .

2. What makes a good life?, by Robert Waldinger

Some say money and career success make life happy and meaningful , while others feel it’s about joyful experiences. But if you ask Robert Waldinger, he’d tell you the key to a good life is healthy relationships . 

Robert teaches psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and is the Harvard Study of Adult Development director. In this talk, he discusses “ the longest study on human happiness ” where researchers followed over 2,000 people since 1938, learning everything they could about what makes a person’s life “great.” Robert presents the study’s findings, and the results indicate that the Beatles were right: “Love is all you need.” If you want to find more happiness , this talk will help you gain some valuable insight.

3. The magic of not giving a f***, by Sarah Knight

Sarah’s talk is funny and profane yet incredibly profound. If you often attend events or engage in activities you’d rather not, this video might inspire you to say “f*** it” and reclaim your energy , cash, and mental health. 

4. What adults can learn from kids, by Adora Svitak

TED talks are all about giving unique and innovative thinkers a platform to share their expertise, and Adora Svitak certainly fits the bill. She gave her 2010 talk at just 12 years old, discussing the “childish” behavior adults should re-incorporate into their lives.

Adora talks about optimism , boldness, and wild creativity — all traits common among children, less so in adults. She advocates for reciprocal learning between adults and kids and encourages adults to have higher expectations for the children in their lives. Adora’s advice extends to your personal development , too: raising your expectations and being boldly optimistic can help you achieve your dreams.

5. How do you define yourself?, by Lizzie Velasquez

Your self-esteem impacts your life, from your personal relationships to your job performance and productivity . But what happens when you decide to change the way you define yourself? That’s what happened to Lizzie Velasquez.

Lizzie lives with marfanoid–progeroid–lipodystrophy syndrome, which affects her ability to accumulate body fat along with other symptoms. Her condition made her the focus of bullying throughout her childhood, including a cruel online joke calling her “the world’s ugliest woman.” But after years of lamenting her condition, Lizzie realized that she didn’t have to define herself by society’s standards. 

In this talk, Lizzie uses humor and positivity to share the bright sides of her life. She also reminds you that you’re in control of your life, so you get to define beauty, success, and everything else.

6. How to make stress your friend, by Kelly McGonigal

Research shows that around 62% of American workers experience high stress levels . This is a problem, as science also tells us that stress affects the body in harmful ways, like depleting your immune system, promoting premature aging, and increasing your risk of heart attack or stroke. Many people seek effective stress relief methods, but Kelly McGonigal’s might be one of the most unique.

In Kelly’s TED talk, “How to make stress your friend,” the health psychologist and Stanford University lecturer argues that stress isn’t always bad . It can help your body prepare to meet a challenge — and it’s sometimes your beliefs about stress that actually wreak havoc on your health. If you’ve struggled with stress lately, this talk might literally save your life.

7. The simple cure for loneliness, by Baya Voce

It’s no secret that people in the US are suffering from a loneliness epidemic . Some credit this to our lack of social interactions, which have diminished over the years thanks to increased social media use, single-person households, and, more recently, pandemic-related lockdowns and remote work mandates. 

Relationship coach Baya Voce has studied the importance of human connection for years, so she knows how loneliness can harm your physical and mental health . She also has a simple cure: maintaining a ritual, or what she calls an “anchor of connection.” In this TED talk, Baya shares how these “anchors” have impacted her life, demonstrating how you can use similar rituals to stave off loneliness . 

8. I was almost a school shooter, by Aaron Stark

While many TED talks come from industry experts, academics, and innovators, one of the most inspiring sessions is mental health advocate Aaron Stark’s story about the power of friendship . 

Aaron suffered a painful, abusive childhood that led him down a dark path toward violence in his teen years. As he recounts in his talk, he planned to commit a mass shooting at his high school in 1996 until a friend acknowledged his pain and showed him there was light in the darkness. This emotional talk illustrates why friendship is so important, and watching it will inspire you to be a better friend to everyone you meet.

9. Your body language may shape who you are, by Amy Cuddy

You probably already know that body language affects how people perceive you. Straight posture, eye contact , and a firm handshake go a long way toward making a good impression . And according to social psychologist Amy Cuddy, it can even change your self-perception.

In her talk, Amy discusses the results of a study on “ power poses .” This research indicates that just two minutes of confident, dominant body language can change your hormones , “tricking” your brain into feeling more powerful. This talk is a must-watch if you’re struggling with imposter syndrome or low self-esteem. 

10. Grit: the power of passion and perseverance, by Angela Lee Duckworth

Career success is all about pursuing your long-term goals , whether that’s getting promoted , starting a business , or becoming an industry leader. But achieving these goals is challenging, which is why you need to develop grit . 

Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth discusses how she saw grit lead middle school students, West Point cadets, and people from many other walks of life to success. Her research suggests that grit is more important than IQ or talent when achieving long-term goals. She closes her talk by encouraging listeners to develop a growth mindset , which can help people at any age and in any profession succeed. 

Whether you’re looking for more work-life balance , trying to boost your confidence , or searching for the key to a happy life, the inspiring talks listed here can help you make real progress in your personal development . 

These talks challenge how you see the world, giving you a broader perspective on your life and your dreams. And if you implement advice from these speakers, you’re sure to see positive change — after all, there’s a reason these are the best TED talks about life.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

15 inspiring TED Talks that just might change your life

Can dreams help you solve problems 6 ways to try, how to talk to your boss about mental health, let’s sit down and chat, all about the 3 types of memory and how they form, our 12 favorite ted talks about procrastination management, holistic wellness is a real thing. here's why you need it., unlocking performance potential: insights from tomorrowmind, social learning theory: bandura’s hypothesis (+ examples), how to stop negative self-talk: 9 tips to calm your inner voice, similar articles, the best self-improvement podcasts to inspire your journey, how to build rapport: 6 tactics to build strong relationships, feel inspired by the 12 best ted talks on leadership, what is grit 5 ways to develop it without burning out, 8 research-backed strategies to make stress work for you, resiliency: building unbreakable strength in uncertain times, power poses: how to feel more confident with body language, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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In addition to telling stories,  Matt  delivers keynote speeches, commencement and convocation addresses, inspirational talks, and more. His performances on the TEDx stage are an example of the kinds of speeches that he delivers on a regular basis. 

Homework for Life

Tedxberkshires:, live life like you are 100-years old, tedxnatick:.

Speak Less.  Expect More

Tedxthecountryschool:, a life of yes, tedxsomerville:.

Check out the recordings of some of my Moth StorySLAM and GrandSLAM stories below or check out my YouTube channel for the entire collection.

In addition to teaching storytelling through Speak Up at places like The Mount, The CT Historical Society, UConn Law School, Yale University, and Kripalu, I do individual coaching as well - both in person and over Skype. Email me at [email protected] for details.

OTHER STORIES

• Battle with Bunhead: Story Collider
• TEDXBerkshires: Homework For Life
• TEDxSomerville: Say Yes
• TEDxNatick: Live Life Like Your 100 Year Old Self
• TEDxTheCountrySchool: Speak Less. Expect More.
• This American Life: Prologue

Suggestions

Eight TED Talks College Students Should Really Watch

If you need a dose of inspiration or some solid advice, these are the videos for you.

To say that college can be difficult and overwhelming would be an understatement. We’ve all got way too much stress, whether it’s over homework, your social life, your future career or any one of a thousand different obstacles college students can face. But you’re not alone in this. In fact, some experts from TED Talks have found ways to deal with these sorts of quintessential college problems, and they have lots of advice for the wayward student .

For the Anxious and Stressed

If you’re having trouble managing your anxious and stressed brain and you feel like it’s all too much to handle, you should watch “ All it takes is 10 mindful minutes ” by Andy Puddicombe.

Puddicome’s talk is especially relevant to the constantly and consistently busy college student. He asks a difficult question to answer: “When did you last take any time to do nothing?” I certainly can’t remember, and you all probably can’t either. And that’s not good for your brain. Your brain needs maintenance and care just like your car, your hair, your friends and everything else. So Puddicombe explains that all it takes is 10 minutes every day of doing absolutely nothing to take care of your brain and stop being so anxious and burnt out all the time. Really, 10 minutes is not a lot to ask for the organ we ask so much of.

Another TED talk for the perpetually under pressure is Sian Leah Beilock’s “ Why we choke under pressure – and how to avoid it .” Any students in the middle of exams, varsity athletes at big games or seniors in job interviews will relate to Beilock’s stories of choking under pressure. The main reason why we, as flawed human beings, fail to perform at our best while stressed is that our worries cause us to pay too much attention to our actions — actions that are best left on autopilot.

She gives some excellent advice to deal with this: Practice under the same conditions that you have to perform in. For test-takers, practice those complicated math problems under a time constraint. Rehearse a big speech in front of others. Do what it takes to get used to the pressure so that you don’t choke when all eyes are on you. Keep this in mind when preparing for your next big stress-filled event, and you’ll nail it.

If practicing for pressure isn’t enough, try taking a look at this TED talk by Kelly McGonigal, “ How to make stress your friend .” McGonigal, a health psychologist, shares this fascinating study that found a correlation between believing that stress is harmful to your health and an increased risk of dying. It turns out that viewing your response to stress — faster heartbeats, sweating, rapid breathing — is your body preparing for a challenge and getting ready to work. This idea about stress being helpful actually makes you more confident and less anxious. So, test-takers, know that your stress can help you ace that exam — if you let it.

For the Directionless and Unsure

Being a college student means deciding what path you want to take and what career you want to choose. This decision, while it comes easily and naturally to some, can be confusing and time-consuming to others. If you feel that way, you should definitely watch Emilie Wapnick’s TED talk, “ Why some of us don’t have one true calling .” Wapnick talks about how we shouldn’t just commit ourselves to one career because that’s what you’re supposed to do. If you have multiple, fleeting yet intense interests, embrace that and explore your curiosity. It’ll make you happier and more fulfilled, and having a wide range of skills certainly won’t hurt you career-wise.

Another important TED talk for the career-confused among us is “ How to find work you love ” by Scott Dinsmore. Around 80% of people don’t enjoy their work, and, for college students, now is the right time to try to become part of the 20% who do. The problem is that so many people are just doing the work they do because they’re supposed to and because someone told them to. In keeping with the message from Wapnick’s talk, Dinsmore says to ask yourself what matters to you and what impact you can make, and then do that. And by discovering what inspires you and what works for you, you can motivate others to do the same instead of monotonously living life as they’re supposed to.

There’s something else you need, though, if you want to take your ambition and make it a reality. Angela Lee Duckworth explains it perfectly in her talk “ Grit: the power of passion and perseverance .” Your education, as it turns out, is not based solely on your IQ or your standardized test scores. Instead, the most important piece of the equation in getting where you want to go in life is hard work and perseverance. Those who have grit and are willing to work hard to achieve long-term goals are the ones who were successful in life, not those who are super smart or very socially adept. So, college students, don’t give up when it gets hard, because the end results will be worth it.

For the Passionate But Insecure

For a lot of college students, it’s hard to figure out how to actually make a difference and do something with all their passion and energy. Natalie Warne talks about this in “ Being young and making an impact .” Warne talks about the “Anonymous Extraordinaries,” people who work not for recognition or fame, but because they believe in what they’re doing and want to make a difference in their own lives and others. And it’s not about what you’re doing, it’s about having passion for what you’re doing. Warne tells an incredible story in her TED talk , but the point she really drives home is that caring about fame and popularity and what other people think about you is not what is going to change the world or fulfill you. It’s finding what you love and chasing after it.

Keeping that in mind, the question is how to go about chasing those dreams? Julian Treasure helps answer this question in his TED talk “ How to speak so that people want to listen .” Treasure gives a lot of helpful tips for speaking meaningfully, including his “seven deadly sins of speaking.” He warns against gossip, judging, negativity and complaining, to name a few. We all do this, and it makes it really hard for others to listen and to have a thoughtful conversation. There’s also a lot we have to do if we want to speak powerfully and actually make a difference. We have to be honest, we have to be authentic, we have to have integrity and be trustworthy, and we have to wish people well. If you’re wishing someone well, it’s impossible to judge them and gossip about them. He also shares a lot of valuable advice about how to say these things, not just what to say. So, watch this TED talk, public speakers and job interviewees, if you want to say meaningful words in an impactful way.

For Everyone

Honestly, whether you need a pep talk or just something interesting to watch, there are so many TED talks that can do that and more. These experts from around the world have definitely got ideas worth spreading, and not just for college students. So go take a look at these talks or the others on their website . It’s worth your time, I promise.

• college stress

Charlotte Susser, University of Chicago

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What are the challenges involved in defining and interpreting the Second Amendment? What should be an individual’s right to bear arms? Learn about the evolution of gun laws in the United States, both historically and legally, through educator Diane Wolk-Rogers from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Wolk-Rogers offers three ways Americans can move forward to create more safety and responsibility around guns.

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After her TED Talk, this North Jersey woman soared to fame. What's happened since?

Comedian, author and actress Maysoon Zayid soared to fame with a TED Talk 10 years ago that delivered an irresistible blend of hilarity, poignance and candor.

The New Jersey native gave a one-of-a-kind performance, throwing daggers at Hollywood for excluding the disabled, joking about how she shakes like Shakira due to cerebral palsy, and dishing on her dream to act on General Hospital. She shared her father’s “yes, you can can” mantra.

Viewed 12 million times, translated into 42 languages, the Arab American, Muslim comedian became a sensation in the most watched TED Talk of 2014. Her performance opened career doors and sparked national conversations about disability and prejudice.

In an interview at Montclair State University a decade later, Zayid shared how that TED Talk changed her life, why it resonated with audiences around the world and how an anti-Palestinian backlash is spurring gig cancellations for the first time in 20 years.

“When I got on that stage,” Zayid said, “it wasn't like 'This is an interesting thing to try. It was like, this is a moment and it's my Hamilton one-shot moment.'

“I made people laugh, and I was very unapologetic I. also talked about some really universal things. I talked about dreams. I talked about parents. I talked about love. I talked about failure. I think when you look at the fact that disability — I call the disability community the Disco, get it, because we're the party — when you talk about us, we intersect with every other community.”

Universal language of comedy

When she was invited to deliver a TED Talk, Zayid was already a successful comedian, media commentator and Daily Beast columnist. She had co-founded the New York Arab American Festival 20 years ago — using comedy to combat bigotry after 9/11 — and it became a launchpad for Arab comics across the country.

The TED Talk rocketed her career. Zayid performed stand-up comedy and gave talks at events around the world. She played a shark attorney on General Hospital and acted alongside Adam Sandler in “Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” She was a Princeton Arts Fellow, a residency for emerging artists with extraordinary potential.

She is especially proud of her new graphic novel, “Shiny Misfits,” whose main character is a girl with cerebral palsy, the same neurological disorder that Zayid faces and that affects her mobility. Both Zayid and her character love to perform on stage. Inspired by her own experiences, the book, published by Scholastic, hits bookstores on April 16.

Some of the biggest laughs land when she hits home with a joke about being from New Jersey, where she was born and raised, and resides today in Cliffside Park.

But she is not a scripted comic, so when she hits the road, she reads the room for jokes.

“Everyone knows what America is,” Zayid said. “Everyone knows what love is. Everyone knows what family is. And most people know what pets are. Cats and dogs get really controversial. If you go too heavy on the cat or too heavy on dogs, you will lose large portions of your audience.

“You get to Singapore, and you do a joke about how you're spending 38 hours on the plane and 36 hours on the ground, and like half of your audience has been on those flights. But what I do is, I go and I look at my audience. So many comedians go, and they look at themselves. I look at my audience. I'm like, what story do they need to hear?”

‘Outlandish’

Along the way, Zayid has shed light on prejudice against the disabled, against Muslims and against Palestinians. Still, progress has been slow, and even regressive, she said. She sees more disabled people on the screen, but it has been mostly disabled white men getting roles, she observed.

“I’m not even kidding,” Zayid said. “When I say to people, who’s your favorite disabled actress? … Yeah, they don’t have an answer because we’re almost non-existent.”

“The only place you see strong disabled representation is in advertisements. We have the buying power of China and we have been left out of the conversation.”

“We are still not telling our stories. We are still not romantic leads. We are still mainly identified as kids with blankets on our legs asking for charity.”

It’s “outlandish,” she said, that shows like "The View," "The Talk" and "Good Morning America" “don’t have an amputee or wheelchair user or, quite obviously, me, the Lost Kardashian who should be paneling all these shows.”

When she was pitching a pilot to Netflix, based on her life, her agent got an email that the representative loved the concept but “hated Maysoon.” Pressed as to why, he said she was too cocky and looked him straight in the eye.

“You're terrified of a confident woman," she said about the rep. "And you're the gatekeeper and you just won.

“He won and there was nothing I could do.”

Losing gigs

While Muslims have made strides in comedy and in acting, current events in the Middle East had a devastating effect, she said.

She faced a slew of cancellations during the New York Arab American Comedy Festival 20th anniversary tour. In the past two decades, they had never once been canceled, not until the Israel-Gaza conflict of the past six months.

In January, a New York City club where they had booked five nights with 20 comics said it had gotten too many threats and could not ensure security.

“This is who we are,” she said. “We are a country where a Palestinian disabled funny girl is getting so many threats from Zionists that I can’t even step onstage.

“We fought so hard after 9/11 against the backlash against Arabs and Muslims, which are not synonymous. It was nothing like this in 2016, when it was a nightmare,” she said, referring to the years of the Trump administration.

Zayid does not really want to leave the U.S., but she is finding it harder to stay.

She is a Muslim woman who has spoken up for Palestinian rights. Zayid has spent considerable time in the West Bank visiting family and running drama and comedy workshops for children in refugee camps.

It’s not just the comedy festival, she said. She has gotten blowback from networks, agents, her lawyer, she said, saying anti-Palestinian discrimination had become the norm. Her bookings have slowed. She described it as a "terrifying time" to be Palestinian in the United States.

“I have gigs cancelled all the time now because I criticize Joe Biden," Zayid said. "That’s the America we live in now.”

It’s not just offensive, she said. It’s a financial hardship that is threatening her livelihood and ability to pay for heath care.

Bigger than the bear

Zayid is deeply proud of her TED Talk, but she has regrets.

She kicks herself for not mentioning her comedy inspiration, Richard Pryor, a Black comic and wheelchair user who was open about his disability and used it in jokes.

She spoke about her father and how he pushed her to achieve, and never let her feel different or disadvantaged. She should have zeroed in on her mother too, she said.

“You know, the reason I made it in Hollywood is because there's nothing a producer could ever say to me that would be tougher than what my mom says,” Zayid said.

“I was even on ‘60 Minutes.’ I was like, ‘Mom, I was on '60 Minutes.' What do you think?”

"She said 'Your hair looked terrible' —˜and she was right. The next time, I did it better and I don't think she got her kudos.”

What’s next for Maysoon Zayid?

She will kick off the tour for “Shiny Misfits” with a book party in Paramus on April 16. The audiobook will publish on the same day — the cat character is voiced by rock star musician Dave Matthews.

Zayid has faced all kinds of obstacles since birth. That’s when the doctor who delivered her, later found to be drunk, caused her to lose oxygen, resulting in her cerebral palsy.

She felt ostracized in the acting business but found acceptance in comedy, where misfits were part of the motley ranks. On social media, she faced slurs and threats over her faith, ethnicity and disability. Now, she faces loss of work.

But she is confident — don’t tell that Netflix guy — that she will overcome.

“The more they push me, the harder I get,” she said. “I'm born and raised in Jersey. I’m Palestinian. I hang out in refugee camps. I have cerebral palsy. I fall down all the time. I'm like rubbery.”

“That's just who I who I am. Muhammad Ali is a huge influence of mine and I always love the way he faced racism laughing. He always mocked those who were mocking him.”

As someone born with a neurological disorder, Zayid said she does not fear death.

“The number of stone stairs I've fallen down — and halfway down, I'm like, ‘This is it! I'm done!’”

“I just don't fear death. But I don't want to die stupid. I don't want to choke on a gummy bear and have it be a non-halal gummy bear and the whole thing just be really controversial.”

She likes to go on outdoorsy trips in Sparta, New Jersey, where she gets advice on dealing with bears. She applies those tips to her life.

“They say when you see a bear, you're not supposed to run,” Zayid said. “You're supposed to lift your arms up and be bigger than the bear. That is how I approach every threat. Every racist thing said to me. Everything that should make me fearful. Instead, I'm like, I'm gonna be bigger than the bear.”

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Anne Lamott reflects on life, death, and 'learning to endure the beams of love'

Manoush Zomorodi

Rachel Faulkner White

Sanaz Meshkinpour

Anne Lamott has always been honest about the messiest parts of her life, from addiction to parenthood. Now, in her 20th book, she reflects on the beautiful—and complicated—realities of love.

About Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott photographed by her son Sam Lamott hide caption

Anne Lamott is the author of twenty books, including the bestsellers Bird by Bird and Operating Instructions . Her most recent book is Somehow: Thoughts on Love . Lamott is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and an inductee to the California Hall of Fame. She lives in Northern California with her family. She is also a Sunday School teacher.

This episode of the TED Radio Hour was produced by Rachel Faulkner White and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @ TEDRadioHour and email us at [email protected].

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