This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life
Erica J. Schmidt is a writer and host of the podcast, This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life.
Follow and subscribe for interviews with fabulous folks who may—or may not—have had the chance to transform their lives into spectacular TED talks. For best results, you can find the pod on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
If you’re new to Erica, you might enjoy her interview with her 96-year-old grandmother, or check out the episode, How to Be a Writer with Kyle Stevenson. Erica also has a blog , a glossary, and a brand-new Substack, Strange and Beautiful Life. Thank you for reading and listening.
Love, Erica
On the Blog:
Mammoth Complex
I invented the term Mammoth Complex and it refers to the perceived notion that you are or are on your way to ballooning toward becoming the size of a mammoth, even though, by all accounts, you are a very reasonable and human size.
Mammoth Complex is a three-part essay series about my life in my body.
Intro, Grade Eight: Features a teaser to 12-year-old Erica’s award-winning speech on liposuction, ill-advised tips on how to despair in front of the mirror, playground Hanson talk with the cool kids, and more. Read Here.
Part One, Tiny and Adorable: A formative family trip to the zoo, the official definition of the Mammoth Complex, what it means to be Tiny and Adorable, are eating disorders really just about control, what is the impact of weightist relatives, plus thoughts on mayonnaise, thin privilege, fat days, mayonnaise, and rights to crying in public. Read Here
Part Two, Liposuction 101: Erica’s entire award-winning speech on liposuction from 1998. Read Here
Part Three, Bombshells: Pizza Night and the Bombshell Besties, adult purchases like standing desks and lip injections, our lost youth and cuteness from March of 2020, turkey necks, facial yoga, Botox, wisdom from my twelfth therapist, and jean boycotts. Read Here
These essays may be triggering if you are actively struggling with eating disorder and body image issues. Please take care if you choose to read. And feel free to reach out with thoughts and feelings about your own Mammoth Complex.
Thank you so much for supporting my writing. Love, Erica