Skating 800 Miles for Mental Health: Molly-Anne’s Story of Sobriety and Survival
How do you stay centered on a challenging journey?
This is Molly-Anne. In September, in the middle of the pandemic, she skated solo 800 miles on a longboard down the Eastern Seaboard from Maine to New Jersey in just 20 days. A graduate of Berkeley and nearly two years sober, life was at its most chaotic internally and externally. She got sober on December 6th, 2018 and her story is one of the many that goes untold—a story of absolute survival. And sometimes survival means riding 800 miles just to prove to yourself that you still exist.
In this episode, we jump right into what it means to suffer. We openly talk about depression and anxiety, especially during the pandemic. However, there’s so much more out there that we don’t speak about. Suffering is happening all around us. Unfortunately, not enough people talk about their deep sorrows and deep feelings of dread. Thus, leaving so many people feeling entirely alone and dehumanized.
Later, we talk about breaking the chain of abuse within a family. Sadly, Molly-Anne cannot fully know what happened in her family; she doesn’t have many memories from her life. If you don’t recognize abuse in your life, then you will perpetuate the cycle. That’s why people say, “hurt people will hurt people.” Tune in as we speak all about Molly-Anne’s 800-mile longboard trip.
In This Episode:
- About Molly-Anne [ 2:15 ]
- What people misunderstand about suffering [ 12:55 ]
- How abuse can cycle throughout generations [ 27:10 ]
- All about Molly-Anne’s 800 miles solo skate [ 29:30 ]
- The importance of staying centered on a harrowing journey [ 52:25]
- Molly-Anne explains why we need to see people for who they are [ 62:05 ]
Quotes:
- “Skating became a way to handle what was being thrown at me.”
- “Everybody is trapped in a cycle of decay.”
- “I got sober right after my grandpa died.”
- “My journey was mentally challenging.”
- “When you go on an adventure, you take it all with you.”
Links Mentioned:
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- See my latest blog post: The Story Behind my “Forgive” tattoo