0:00:03.579,0:00:05.850
A few months ago I became famous,

0:00:05.850,0:00:08.339
for stripping down half nude,

0:00:08.339,0:00:12.522
as a fat 40-year-old mom[br]at a farmer's market downtown Boise.

0:00:13.915,0:00:16.666
(Cheers) (Applause)

0:00:20.609,0:00:23.276
A video of the event quickly went viral,

0:00:23.482,0:00:26.042
showing me in a black bikini,[br]

0:00:26.042,0:00:27.355
blind-folded,

0:00:27.355,0:00:31.013
with a handful of washable markers[br]from my daughter's art kit,

0:00:31.037,0:00:33.838
and a chalk board sign[br]at my feet that read:

0:00:33.887,0:00:37.595
"If you've ever struggled[br]with a self-esteem issue like me,

0:00:37.595,0:00:41.587
and believe all bodies are valuable,[br]draw a heart on my body."

0:00:42.362,0:00:44.648
It was a feminist art performance piece,

0:00:44.648,0:00:47.956
Just one in a series I've done[br]over the past seven years,

0:00:47.956,0:00:50.203
as a body-positive activist,

0:00:50.203,0:00:52.721
calling for radical self-acceptance.

0:00:53.509,0:00:56.999
I wrote a blog post about it[br]after that hour in the market,

0:00:56.999,0:00:59.872
titled: "A stand for self-love."

0:01:00.282,0:01:01.612
And hence forth,

0:01:01.612,0:01:04.241
media, celebrities,[br]and writers around the world

0:01:04.241,0:01:06.829
glommed on to those words like I did,

0:01:07.067,0:01:11.395
referring to my acts that day[br]as "The stand for self-love,"

0:01:12.261,0:01:13.411
or,

0:01:13.689,0:01:16.022
as I affectionately refer to it now,

0:01:16.056,0:01:17.743
the shortened version,

0:01:17.743,0:01:18.989
"The Stand."

0:01:20.801,0:01:25.567
This of course wasn't the first time[br]I stood up for myself or for something,

0:01:25.758,0:01:28.425
I've stood up a lot of times in my life.

0:01:28.738,0:01:32.605
The theologian Mary Daly says,[br]"Courage requires couraging,"

0:01:32.770,0:01:36.693
much like learning to ski requires, [br]well, skiing a lot,

0:01:36.915,0:01:39.376
and piano playing requires practice.

0:01:39.661,0:01:43.549
And just as many times,[br]like I'm sure you can all relate to,

0:01:43.667,0:01:48.467
I've gotten shoved back into my seat,[br]knocked down flat on the floor,

0:01:48.668,0:01:51.735
crawled, and slowly pulled myself[br]to standing again.

0:01:51.957,0:01:54.061
Each time, a bit taller,

0:01:54.489,0:01:55.769
wiser,

0:01:55.773,0:01:56.983
louder,

0:01:56.992,0:01:58.222
braver.

0:01:58.865,0:02:01.865
We all have a story[br]that can lead to a stand,

0:02:01.950,0:02:04.219
and I'm going to share bits of mine.

0:02:04.244,0:02:07.871
How I've stood up several times[br]over the course of my life

0:02:07.902,0:02:10.574
paving the way to "The Stand" for me.

0:02:12.700,0:02:16.008
Like that time as a young teenager,[br]when I wrote a letter to the editor

0:02:16.008,0:02:17.615
of my local newspaper,

0:02:17.915,0:02:19.387
because there was an outcry

0:02:19.387,0:02:22.190
to abolish the only chapter[br]on sex education

0:02:22.215,0:02:24.346
from our health class curriculum,

0:02:24.950,0:02:26.580
and I got called a slut.

0:02:27.763,0:02:30.229
I curled up in my bedroom and cried.

0:02:30.266,0:02:32.066
But crawled back to school,

0:02:32.263,0:02:33.424
wiser.

0:02:34.027,0:02:35.194
And in my 20s,

0:02:35.219,0:02:38.596
when a boyfriend turned to me one day[br]and screamed in my face,

0:02:38.961,0:02:41.895
"I'm so tired of hearing[br]about your feminist garbage,

0:02:41.919,0:02:44.244
will you just shut up?!"

0:02:45.799,0:02:48.487
And I broke up with him, that same day.

0:02:49.128,0:02:50.528
Louder!

0:02:50.558,0:02:52.779
(Whistles) (Applause)

0:02:54.176,0:02:57.985
And in my 30s, when I landed [br]the dream job of my career,

0:02:58.049,0:03:02.793
only to fight for fair treatment,[br]equal pay, appropriate family leave,

0:03:02.841,0:03:04.867
and time to breastfeed my baby,

0:03:04.867,0:03:07.780
and I'm deemed "difficult to work with."

0:03:07.904,0:03:09.054
Self-righteous.

0:03:10.249,0:03:11.536
I lost that job,

0:03:11.536,0:03:13.912
and it knocked me flat on my back.

0:03:14.368,0:03:16.937
But I slowly pulled myself[br]to standing again.

0:03:17.209,0:03:18.429
Braver.

0:03:18.929,0:03:21.555
I forged my own [br]new career path as a writer,

0:03:21.555,0:03:24.935
and continued questioning[br]archaic ideals of the past,

0:03:24.975,0:03:26.975
and began making my own rules.

0:03:29.022,0:03:30.212
Seven years ago,

0:03:30.284,0:03:34.812
I literally googled the words:[br]"Why am I fat and happy?"

0:03:35.585,0:03:38.850
Because, I personally knew no one else

0:03:38.850,0:03:42.723
who was not buying [br]into our consumerist culture's crap,

0:03:42.876,0:03:45.773
and thought one, "Am I crazy?"

0:03:46.424,0:03:47.574
Or two,

0:03:47.723,0:03:50.231
"If not, there's got to be[br]someone else out there

0:03:50.239,0:03:52.306
that feels this way too, right?"

0:03:52.541,0:03:55.104
And after scrolling [br]through pages and pages of ads

0:03:55.133,0:03:57.067
for the diet industry complex,

0:03:57.092,0:04:01.392
and news articles telling me[br]I was unhappy because I was fat,

0:04:01.709,0:04:04.309
I finally found what I was looking for.

0:04:04.633,0:04:09.418
Two blogs that forever changed my life [br]and catapulted me into ideas,

0:04:09.582,0:04:12.497
about health at every size,[br]and body positivity,

0:04:12.506,0:04:13.772
and fat acceptance.

0:04:14.502,0:04:18.101
I read every book, and news article,[br]and scientific study.

0:04:18.118,0:04:21.601
I followed Fat Fierce Feminist[br]on Facebook and Twitter.

0:04:21.658,0:04:25.970
For three years, I immersed myself[br]in the education,

0:04:26.050,0:04:29.133
and it started showing up,[br]more and more,

0:04:29.574,0:04:30.724
in my art,

0:04:31.360,0:04:32.510
in my writing,

0:04:33.249,0:04:34.582
on my Facebook wall,

0:04:35.169,0:04:36.969
and coming out of my mouth.

0:04:38.447,0:04:41.518
Four years ago, I did my first[br]public performance piece

0:04:41.582,0:04:45.571
on how to be fat, fit,[br]and fabulous, here in Boise

0:04:45.571,0:04:48.306
and earned my place as a radical feminist,

0:04:48.309,0:04:51.060
with ideas about all bodies[br]being good bodies,

0:04:51.093,0:04:54.826
and that there is in fact[br]no wrong way to have a body.

0:04:55.407,0:04:56.557
It went pretty well.

0:04:57.237,0:04:58.904
But my second performance

0:04:59.800,0:05:00.950
did not.

0:05:01.769,0:05:04.769
At an event to an audience[br]similar to this,

0:05:04.956,0:05:08.157
I proposed a public art[br]social activism project

0:05:08.189,0:05:10.189
for International No Diet Day.

0:05:10.800,0:05:12.948
And for the first time in my life,

0:05:13.004,0:05:15.654
earned myself a vile internet troll.

0:05:16.583,0:05:19.916
A man who was anonymously[br]writing hateful things

0:05:20.191,0:05:24.389
about me and my body on Twitter,[br]while I was on stage.

0:05:26.228,0:05:29.519
The social media bigotry continued[br]onto my Facebook wall,

0:05:29.560,0:05:33.593
this time by both men and women[br]I actually knew in real life,

0:05:33.983,0:05:35.716
and coupled with the fact,

0:05:35.935,0:05:37.602
that unbeknownst to all of them,

0:05:38.157,0:05:41.357
I was also suffering[br]from my first miscarriage.

0:05:41.419,0:05:42.569
At home,

0:05:42.705,0:05:43.855
alone,

0:05:44.286,0:05:45.436
I shut down.

0:05:45.556,0:05:48.356
Both physically and literally I shut down.

0:05:48.628,0:05:51.691
Closing all my social media[br]accounts for the summer,

0:05:51.715,0:05:54.605
taking a much needed break[br]to heal my mind,

0:05:54.606,0:05:55.856
my heart,

0:05:55.942,0:05:57.823
and my body at home.

0:05:58.680,0:06:01.974
I had felt so strong, so brave[br]in my body positivity,

0:06:01.998,0:06:03.966
and it had all failed me.

0:06:04.276,0:06:07.209
Both the body[br]I had worked so hard to love,

0:06:07.377,0:06:10.747
and the activism[br]I had felt so strongly about.

0:06:12.690,0:06:13.840
I rose up though.

0:06:13.992,0:06:15.142
Taller.

0:06:15.166,0:06:20.285
And rejoined social media and started[br]"The Boise Rad Fat Collective."

0:06:21.190,0:06:22.499
A private Facebook group,

0:06:22.531,0:06:25.470
that began with a few like-minded[br]friends and acquaintances

0:06:25.495,0:06:27.202
who wanted a safe space

0:06:27.219,0:06:29.739
to share body-positive links[br]and news articles,

0:06:29.764,0:06:32.367
in both a kind and scholarly way.

0:06:33.121,0:06:34.455
It was in this group,

0:06:34.537,0:06:38.933
where I first posted the video of Jae West[br]and The Liberators International,

0:06:39.005,0:06:41.997
a group of Australians[br]who stage public social experiments

0:06:42.005,0:06:45.005
geared around[br]participatory acts of kindness.

0:06:45.805,0:06:47.338
The video featured Jae,

0:06:47.480,0:06:51.281
in her bra and undies[br]in Piccadilly Circus in London,

0:06:51.718,0:06:54.051
with a sign, blindfold, and markers.

0:06:55.623,0:06:56.890
It was heart-warming.

0:06:56.901,0:07:00.845
And I thought about it hard[br]with all my body positive feminist theory,

0:07:00.893,0:07:03.377
and socially acceptable[br]standards of beauty,

0:07:03.417,0:07:04.567
and questioned,

0:07:05.464,0:07:08.793
"How might this experiment[br]be perceived differently

0:07:08.913,0:07:12.444
if the woman was say,[br]twice Jae's size,

0:07:12.770,0:07:15.555
like around 226 pounds?

0:07:16.485,0:07:17.685
And twice her age,

0:07:18.295,0:07:21.056
like say 40 and a mom,

0:07:21.398,0:07:24.516
and in a much more[br]conservative place like Boise, Idaho?

0:07:24.556,0:07:26.334
(Laughter)

0:07:26.358,0:07:27.508
Well,

0:07:28.201,0:07:29.668
I decided to find out,

0:07:29.852,0:07:33.145
and asked photographer Melanie Folwell[br]to document the stand

0:07:33.162,0:07:35.225
and picked a date about two weeks out

0:07:35.257,0:07:37.653
at the busiest[br]pedestrian spot in the city,

0:07:37.694,0:07:40.607
the capital city public market at noon.

0:07:43.139,0:07:45.751
To say I was terrified[br]would be an understatement.

0:07:45.775,0:07:47.975
I woke up that morning and puked.

0:07:48.259,0:07:50.075
I kept the whole thing "hush hush,"

0:07:50.084,0:07:54.083
as I didn't want to stuff the crowd[br]with friends and body-positive people,

0:07:54.092,0:07:56.759
but wanted to let it organically evolve.

0:07:56.838,0:07:59.933
Even if that meant people[br]yelled mean things at me,

0:08:00.061,0:08:05.416
the police asked me to leave or worse,[br]no one shared in my message of self-love.

0:08:06.439,0:08:08.128
Psyching myself up right before

0:08:08.128,0:08:10.497
stepping into the crowd[br]and taking off my dress,

0:08:10.497,0:08:13.761
I suddenly felt the need to set[br]parameters for success.

0:08:14.655,0:08:16.353
My goal that day was,

0:08:17.091,0:08:19.824
if five people stop [br]and draw a heart on me,

0:08:20.678,0:08:24.551
if I get five people to dig deep[br]and think hard about their bodies,

0:08:24.559,0:08:26.240
and loving them and hating them

0:08:26.240,0:08:27.924
then it's a success.

0:08:28.190,0:08:29.340
Just five.

0:08:30.640,0:08:31.657
Well,

0:08:31.682,0:08:33.215
as you may know by now,

0:08:33.482,0:08:36.090
I touched a lot more[br]than five people that day.

0:08:36.506,0:08:37.746
In fact,

0:08:37.889,0:08:42.578
our video has been viewed[br]over 130 million times.

0:08:43.305,0:08:45.496
(Cheers) (Applause)

0:08:51.653,0:08:54.375
And the messages in my in-box[br]were in the thousands,

0:08:54.400,0:08:56.249
and from all corners of the world,

0:08:56.264,0:09:00.664
saying, "Thank you for standing[br]for me, and with courage."

0:09:02.137,0:09:03.699
I wasn't wearing much that day,

0:09:03.699,0:09:06.199
but what I was wearing,[br]is important to note.

0:09:06.637,0:09:08.037
I decided on a bikini,

0:09:08.891,0:09:10.491
instead of a bra and panties,

0:09:10.491,0:09:14.448
as I thought that might be more palatable[br]to a conservative city like Boise.

0:09:15.006,0:09:16.475
By stripping off my clothes,

0:09:16.508,0:09:19.317
I was stripping away [br]negative body image, and saying,

0:09:19.342,0:09:22.584
"I'm at peace with my body[br]and I have been for many years,

0:09:22.894,0:09:24.894
and I think you should be too."

0:09:26.280,0:09:27.359
Plus,

0:09:27.367,0:09:31.367
logistically, it gave the participants[br]more skin to write on.

0:09:31.392,0:09:32.580
(Laughter)

0:09:33.106,0:09:35.516
I wore the blindfold for many reasons.

0:09:35.516,0:09:37.486
To make myself more anonymous,

0:09:37.526,0:09:41.161
so the viewer could look at me,[br]and see in my body their body,

0:09:41.177,0:09:42.327
and every body.

0:09:43.281,0:09:45.817
It made me vulnerable, obviously.

0:09:46.176,0:09:50.041
And it represented years of mistreatment[br]of the fat body and media,

0:09:50.057,0:09:53.890
as people who were often depicted[br]with a black bar across their faces,

0:09:53.914,0:09:58.079
or their heads entirely cut off,[br]in news articles and magazine stories,

0:09:58.079,0:10:01.337
as if they are nothing more[br]than a body to be reviled.

0:10:03.438,0:10:06.547
In addition to what I was wearing,[br]or not wearing,

0:10:06.579,0:10:10.166
you can see other things in the photos[br]and the video from that day.

0:10:10.270,0:10:13.403
Like sweat, pouring down[br]my rolls of back-fat,

0:10:13.867,0:10:15.994
cellulite, stretchmarks,

0:10:16.201,0:10:18.454
sagging breasts,[br]that have nursed three babies,

0:10:18.471,0:10:19.937
and a wonky halter top.

0:10:20.534,0:10:23.334
But I know you can see more than that too.

0:10:23.514,0:10:25.180
You can see the humanity,

0:10:25.395,0:10:26.545
the kindness,

0:10:26.792,0:10:28.267
the acceptance.

0:10:28.831,0:10:32.965
Immediately upon stepping into that crowd,[br]people began swarming around me,

0:10:32.980,0:10:36.456
and feeling that first marker slip [br]from my hands was such a relief,

0:10:36.964,0:10:41.042
such a rush of emotion,[br]so intense, that I began crying.

0:10:42.035,0:10:45.280
But to my surprise,[br]so did that first woman,

0:10:45.701,0:10:47.814
who not only drew a heart on my body,

0:10:47.830,0:10:50.364
but I could also feel wrote a word,

0:10:50.767,0:10:52.100
and she spoke to me.

0:10:53.164,0:10:57.230
She said, "This is so brave,[br]you are so powerful, thank you."

0:10:58.320,0:11:01.174
And this continued, over and over,[br]by men and women

0:11:01.174,0:11:05.571
this whispering of stories [br]of pain and joy, love and suffering.

0:11:06.431,0:11:09.175
And they told me what the crowd[br]around me was doing.

0:11:10.017,0:11:12.617
"You can't see any of this," they said,

0:11:13.739,0:11:16.945
"but you are touching people [br]in ways unimaginable.

0:11:17.191,0:11:19.590
Even if they are stopping to glare at you,

0:11:19.614,0:11:24.331
they are reading your sign and [br]taking to heart their own self-loathing."

0:11:25.136,0:11:28.772
One father knelt down near me[br]with his two young sons,

0:11:28.772,0:11:30.082
read them my sign,

0:11:30.913,0:11:34.214
and said, "This is what[br]a beautiful woman looks like."

0:11:34.255,0:11:38.815
And I know he was talking about more[br]than my physical appearance alone.

0:11:39.286,0:11:41.892
This overwhelming sense[br]that I was, in fact,

0:11:41.892,0:11:44.575
a voice of a revolution [br]they'd all been waiting for,

0:11:44.599,0:11:47.749
continued for the next hour [br]I stood in that market.

0:11:47.766,0:11:50.344
I only finally decided [br]to take off my blindfold,

0:11:50.416,0:11:54.017
when people began telling me there was[br]no more available skin to write on

0:11:54.017,0:11:55.917
and my markers had run out of ink.

0:11:57.418,0:12:01.020
Everyone there that day knew [br]something extraordinary was happening.

0:12:01.053,0:12:04.994
And once I saw Melanie's photographs,[br]I knew that was a fact.

0:12:05.138,0:12:09.770
People of all ages, sizes, genders,[br]nationalities, abilities, religions,

0:12:09.770,0:12:12.151
had participated in my project that day,

0:12:12.151,0:12:15.468
and I couldn't wait to share the news[br]with the rest of Boise.

0:12:15.500,0:12:19.033
Because I thought [br]they would be pretty excited too.

0:12:21.282,0:12:24.018
Two days later, [br]I wrote a heartfelt blog-post

0:12:24.066,0:12:26.669
accompanied by some[br]of Melanie's amazing photographs.

0:12:26.987,0:12:28.629
She and I got together one night,

0:12:28.668,0:12:33.201
and sat up until about 2 AM, [br]with some wine and the IMovie app,

0:12:33.421,0:12:34.571
and made a video.

0:12:35.548,0:12:38.524
The photos and video [br]feature unretouched images,

0:12:38.548,0:12:41.428
keeping true to the spirit[br]of the project and my body,

0:12:41.485,0:12:43.218
and all its imperfections.

0:12:44.257,0:12:47.685
We dropped it all out [br]into the Internet universe on a Thursday,

0:12:47.725,0:12:50.598
and immediately my message[br]spread like wildfire.

0:12:50.614,0:12:53.881
All our Facebook friends [br]were sharing my blog post,

0:12:53.932,0:12:56.298
accompanied with [br]more personal status updates

0:12:56.298,0:12:59.813
about their own struggles[br]with self-esteem, and body image.

0:13:00.297,0:13:04.146
Within 24 hours, the local media [br]had picked up the story.

0:13:04.170,0:13:08.001
And within 48 hours,[br]I got my first phone call from USA Today.

0:13:08.266,0:13:11.485
And from there it was a whirlwind[br]of international press.

0:13:11.866,0:13:15.641
From NPR Radio to appearing live on CNN,

0:13:16.030,0:13:18.497
from People Magazine to Cosmopolitan.

0:13:19.094,0:13:23.466
From being featured on both [br]the homepages of Yahoo and MSN,

0:13:24.102,0:13:26.635
to Kevin Bacon and Alanis Morissette

0:13:26.708,0:13:29.774
both tweeting to me [br]and about me on Twitter.

0:13:31.628,0:13:34.850
I set up a Google alert on myself[br]and it couldn't even keep up

0:13:34.890,0:13:38.087
with the stories that were being written[br]aboutmy stand for self-love,

0:13:38.087,0:13:41.321
all over the world in languages[br]I didn't even recognize.

0:13:42.255,0:13:44.789
Spiraling so quickly [br]into international fame

0:13:44.789,0:13:47.009
for something so beautiful and raw,

0:13:47.009,0:13:49.962
was staggering,[br]in the best possible way.

0:13:51.294,0:13:53.703
I've been overwhelmed [br]with the tears and support

0:13:53.703,0:13:55.380
that have been shared with me.

0:13:55.405,0:13:58.064
I don't think I have stopped crying[br]for months now.

0:13:58.648,0:14:01.161
But that's the thing [br]about vulnerability, right?

0:14:01.804,0:14:03.109
When you open up,

0:14:03.109,0:14:05.217
and you start to live [br]with your full heart,

0:14:05.537,0:14:07.251
there is no going back.

0:14:09.323,0:14:10.451
My stand for self-love[br]

0:14:10.451,0:14:13.521
hasn't come without its difficult[br]and dark moments, however.

0:14:14.483,0:14:19.013
The internet is a place where people[br]feel free to spew unkind untruths.

0:14:20.149,0:14:23.155
I have been accused of being lazy, ugly,

0:14:23.711,0:14:28.837
stupid, uneducated,[br]a bad mother, and a Californian.

0:14:29.420,0:14:31.598
(Laughter)

0:14:32.035,0:14:34.884
Apparently an insult[br]some people like to throw around.

0:14:34.939,0:14:36.590
(Laughter)

0:14:37.273,0:14:38.455
I have thick skin,

0:14:38.622,0:14:40.857
and I know that ignorant [br]and mean comments

0:14:40.857,0:14:44.354
almost always have more to do [br]with the writer's personal problems,

0:14:44.378,0:14:46.354
than the person they are directed at.

0:14:46.815,0:14:48.449
There have been times though,

0:14:48.497,0:14:51.418
when I've wanted to shove[br]my heart back safely under wraps

0:14:51.466,0:14:54.433
where it used to belong,[br]because it's scary out here,

0:14:54.918,0:14:58.251
this "wholehearted living,"[br]as Brene Brown calls it.

0:14:59.055,0:15:03.042
But while I may trip up a bit,[br]I don't fall much anymore.

0:15:03.485,0:15:05.885
And I leave my heart right out here.

0:15:07.390,0:15:08.723
It's age old wisdom,

0:15:08.794,0:15:12.434
summoning the bravery to stand[br]back up after falling down,

0:15:12.612,0:15:14.479
from that old cowboy saying,

0:15:14.509,0:15:17.096
"Always get back on the horse [br]that threw you,"

0:15:17.438,0:15:20.105
to the contemporary work of Brene Brown.

0:15:20.839,0:15:22.883
I took a stand in August for self-love,

0:15:22.883,0:15:24.362
and I can't think of anything

0:15:24.362,0:15:27.352
more important [br]to stand up for than myself.

0:15:27.842,0:15:31.436
Boise proved that day it was ready [br]for a body positive revolution,

0:15:31.436,0:15:34.420
and hundreds of thousands [br]around the world followed suit.

0:15:35.010,0:15:36.516
"We've been waiting for you,"

0:15:37.095,0:15:40.039
I heard, "but we need[br]some help standing up".

0:15:41.923,0:15:44.317
Well, I'm honored to stand by your side.

0:15:45.063,0:15:48.309
Take my hand if you need[br]and I'll pull you up.

0:15:49.778,0:15:52.842
In a society that profits [br]from your self doubt,

0:15:52.853,0:15:55.393
liking yourself is a rebellious act.

0:15:55.731,0:15:58.096
The artist and wordsmith [br]Caroline Caldwell says,

0:15:58.096,0:16:00.406
and I couldn't agree more,

0:16:00.996,0:16:04.963
"We can't truly love one another[br]until we love ourselves."

0:16:05.700,0:16:08.500
The personal revolution is the first step.

0:16:09.470,0:16:12.914
When a handful of us[br]or a few hundred of us,

0:16:13.478,0:16:15.530
or a few millions of us love ourselves,

0:16:15.554,0:16:18.154
that's when the real revolution begins.

0:16:19.488,0:16:21.822
We are often our own biggest bully.

0:16:22.465,0:16:24.853
Our biggest obstacle is our self.

0:16:25.952,0:16:28.679
Life is much too short[br]to go on hating yourself

0:16:28.679,0:16:30.325
or your body[br]one minute longer.

0:16:30.865,0:16:32.593
But you have to do the hard work.

0:16:33.175,0:16:36.777
You have to dig deep, and learn,[br]and flail, and educate yourself,

0:16:36.777,0:16:38.501
and fall down and get back up.

0:16:39.802,0:16:42.202
It's not easy, but it's so worth it.

0:16:43.850,0:16:46.228
My story shows that people are good,

0:16:46.260,0:16:50.392
and kind, and ready,[br]and willing to engage in new ideas.

0:16:51.083,0:16:52.350
What is your story?

0:16:53.361,0:16:54.828
What do you stand for?

0:16:56.266,0:16:57.466
Write that letter.

0:16:58.273,0:17:00.154
Leave that toxic job.

0:17:00.901,0:17:04.968
Quit that unhealthy relationship,[br]strip off that self-doubt.

0:17:05.885,0:17:07.885
Be rebellious and take a risk.

0:17:08.063,0:17:09.213
Stand up.

0:17:10.944,0:17:12.182
Thank you.

0:17:12.222,0:17:14.920
(Cheers) (Applause)