This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life
Writing, laughter, and Oprah Projects, by Erica J. Schmidt
Hello Everyone! Welcome to my website! Here you can find my unnamed blog and wholehearted 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, check out the pod on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Get in touch to subscribe to my newsletter. If you love dogs, you’ll love my merch! And to further support my work, click on THE DONATE BUTTON below. Infinite thanks for listening, reading, and cheering me on through this Strange and Beautiful Life.
Meanwhile, maybe you are wondering what an Oprah Project is.
Oprah Project: Your massive, ambitious brilliant idea that will land you in a lime-green chair across from Oprah amidst her emerald-green forest which is really just Oprah’s backyard.
In my writing, I love to invent these kinds of terms. For example, Mammoth Complex, the Star of My Life’s Most Beautiful Blogging Fairy Tale, and Performative Crying in Alleys. To avoid confusion, I’ve created a glossary. This will set you up for the blog and other Oprah Projects.
Thanks a bunch for stopping by! Can’t wait to see you in the neighbourhood. Your life is a beautiful miracle.
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