Do you remember what you thought and felt as a teen? We tend remember our past in wide swaths, or generalized impressions, punctuated by intense memories, that adrenaline burned into crystalline vision.
If you kept a journal of this time, you can just open the book and relive these, sometimes mortifying, moments. If you didn’t, you can just attend a Mortified event and have your adolescent memory jogged by others’ mortifying experiences!
Mortified is a worldwide storytelling event where adults tell stories about their lives by sharing their most mortifying childhood artifacts (diaries, letters, lyrics, poems, home movies)… in front of total strangers.
This past November 5th, I had the extreme honor of being chosen to bare my soul, in pubescent prose, to a room full of friends and strangers - though, after the raw reveal of reading my childhood diary pages, those supportive strangers felt like just friends I hadn’t met yet.
One of the surprising and delightful things I learned in preparing for this evening, was that while I confronted mortification head-on, I instead felt respect. Yes, amusement, but also lots of self-compassion and gratitude for that 80’s teen. In fact, I am delighted, and somewhat dejected, to report I like her better now, than I ever did then.
So, maybe Mortified’s a misnomer for me now. Mortified is definitely the way I’d describe how I would’ve felt if I had to read my journal in front of strangers 30 years ago. But, from where I sit today, I thank this kid for laying the foundation for who I am today, and helping me survive with a sense of humor and my integrity (mostly) intact.
The event was a blast (literally LOL’d at my cast members’ stories til my stomach hurt) and cathartic too. The connection I felt from the crowd helped heal the loneliness of that disconnected, confused, and often insecure kid, who was unsure how the world would perceive me if I dared to be myself - if I could even figure out who that was.
Mortified has live events every other month in Brooklyn and satellites around the world. They also have a podcast and six-episode miniseries. Go to https://getmortified.com/live/ for an event near you and you have journals or earnest letters from that time and want to feel the love yourself, contact a Mortified producer today!