Section Four: Story Spinners. Patty Chang Anker, HCHS '88 "Warning: Leaving Comfort Zone. Things Could Get Exciting."
Patty Chang Anker is the author of SOME NERVE: Lessons Learned While Becoming Brave and the blogger behind Facing Forty Upside Down, for which she was named a Good Housekeeping Blogger We Love and voted a "Top 25 Funny Mom" at Circle of Moms. Anker is currently blogging on the issue of anxiety for Psychology Today.com and her work has appeared in O magazine and Marie Claire. After a lifetime of living nowhere near the edge (hello, fear of failure!), she realized her comfort zone had shrunk to the size of her tush on the bench from which she cheered her children. When she started saying yes to things that scared her she discovered what it feels like to be truly alive. Some Nerve is the result of four years of facing her fears and inspiring others to face theirs. For the sake of the TEDx talk she thankfully does not have a fear of public speaking. But she does still have a fear of clowns.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)