From feeling invisible to facing her darkness with courage and honesty, today’s Stranger now Friend, musician, mother, and humorist Emily shares a journey that inspires and invites all of us toward gentler, more hopeful tomorrows. Transcript Emily If you watch Scrooged, which is weird because it’s kind of a doinkey, weird, kind of grotesque movie, but we all have the duty to have that redemption arc. We don’t have time to be hating anything. Don’t have time to be writing off the boomers, or the Gen Zs, or the you know, the kids screaming in Target. We all got to learn and build together. It’s the same world. We’re on one planet together. Everyone’s just got to get to work. We stopped doing that? I feel like we’re all avoiding that redemption arc and wasting time. But, you know, let’s start loving ourselves a little bit better. Intro We all carry unique histories and unseen experiences that, if embraced, can bridge divides and spark connection. Welcome to Sidewalk Ghosts with Richard Redstone, short, openhearted stories that reveal the wisdom and vulnerability of both familiar faces and unexpected voices. Stories that ask us to listen a little closer and look beyond the surface of what we first see and feel. To simply pause for a moment and confirm just how much our influence has upon this world we share. Emily Well, I was like, hospitalized for self-abuse. So this is something I had to learn really hard, and it’s, just fake it. And I kind of had to realize, like, my hating myself is hurting other people, so I have to stop it. And just, like, white knuckle it. And then pretty soon, you will have some confidence, you will have some self-love. You’re going to be using all of your energy to do that hard, a holy task that you’ll realize, why would I put anybody else through this? And I think that’s what kind of turned for me when I was really, really hard on myself. I was really hard on people too. It’s like everyone’s so judgmental. Everyone’s so, you know, morally reprehensible, everyone’s this, oh, the world is so horrible, blah, blah, blah. When I started actively trying to love myself, the world seemed like a much better place. So I think that’s really, you know, from my perspective, that’s the ticket is you just got to, you got to be nicer to yourself. These people that go on about how horrible the world is, blah, blah, blah, I would take a second with that person and say, how horrible do you think you are? You’re not horrible, and you’re here. So the world’s a good place. Richard There’s a point where self-help stops being private, spills into how we look at the world and everyone around us. And thanks to the courage of today’s stranger-now-friend Emily, who, as she talks about white knuckling through the pain she’s carried, we are beckoned to look at the hardships we may be facing. And, as we do, to allow ourselves a greater amount of kindness, release ourselves from the pressures of the world, and see gateways for better healing when it is needed. Emily I was never a drug user, but in the hospital, you just kind of go to AA, which I was really grateful for because when you go to AA, they’re not really like pulling down charts of the human brain and showing like the effects of narcotics or anything. They’re just talking about, life is hard. And why are you afraid to deal with that? Like, life is hard, and so stop numbing yourself. And so those are really helpful to go to because I wasn’t drinking or anything. I was numbing myself in other ways. And it’s really scary to choose to start living your life. Richard Life is hard, Emily says, a statement she doesn’t dress up, nor apologize for saying out loud. But rather, shows vulnerability as she talks about numbing herself and of her decision to start living her life, even though she was struggling to find her way. Emily I was like a music school dropout, and because, just, all this crazy stuff was happening in school, and like, dangerous stuff. And then I got sick, and I just dropped out, and so was my mental health. This stuff was kind of starting to percolate. My depression. And so I dropped out. I went home and, I like, stopped. I stopped doing any music because I was just like, I don’t deserve to play music because I dropped out of school. I’m not going to be one of those idiots that drops out of music school and then still tries to be a musician. Then I was also, like, not giving myself the one thing that I’ve always had. I’ve been playing piano since I was a baby. That’s who I am. And so I was cutting myself off, thinking I was being really wise and mature by choosing to not waste my time playing music anymore. Richard Depression loves to manipulate our thinking, tells us that by starving our own souls or denying what we love, we’re being responsible, mature, making the right choice. Yet for Emily, music was not just her talent; it was her anchor. And in the fog ...
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14 min