Stop Taking Things So Seriously: A Hilarious Story About Wedgies, Wardrobe Failures, Art Museums, & Having More Fun

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Speaker 1 Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast. Let's do this.

Speaker 1 I am so excited for today. I came running up the stairs above the garage here in our studio in Vermont.
And boy, oh boy, do I have a story to tell.

Speaker 1 Not only you, but I'm sitting here with my friends and colleagues, Amy and Jesse. Hello.
Hello. Okay.

Speaker 1 So I think we're going to call this a jump on a mic kind of episode because this is going to be super random, but I promise you there's a point to it.

Speaker 1 I have a freaking hilarious story to tell you guys. I can't wait.
It involves a wardrobe failure. Yes.
That is super embarrassing and really, really funny.

Speaker 1 Are you ready for it? Yes.

Speaker 1 Okay. So.
First of all, I have a question for everybody.

Speaker 1 Is there any better feeling than taking your your bra off at the end of the day?

Speaker 1 No, period.

Speaker 1 That's a let-loose feeling. Yes.
How would you describe that? Like you literally reach back, unhook. Yeah.

Speaker 1 It's like, do you ever get like the itchy, like, ooh, you just want to rub underneath? Like, you just want to just a little shake, shake them loose. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Well, mine sort of fall like pancakes flat against. Gravity doesn't help, but yes.
Yes. It's a good feeling.
It's like, it just is like a giant.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And you know what I wonder?

Speaker 1 Do dudes have a like, do they have like a let loose moment?

Speaker 1 They might always be loose.

Speaker 1 It's a serious question. Is there a moment for a guy that feels as freeing as unhooking your bra?

Speaker 1 I think like you think about a guy in the traditional sense coming home from work, walk through the door, first thing he does, loosen up his tie.

Speaker 1 That is not, I don't think. What about a belt? A belt?

Speaker 1 I would say if the belt is quite tight and it's holding a lot in,

Speaker 1 that would probably be like, oh, God.

Speaker 1 I just heard my husband pull in.

Speaker 1 There he is. I have to ask Chris about this.
I'm going to call him right now and tell him to come up here. Let's hope he has his cell phone on him because normally he doesn't.

Speaker 1 Did you wear shapewear at your your wedding, Jesse? I did not wear shapewear.

Speaker 1 Isn't that when everybody does? It's your wedding night. You got to have some quick, easy access after that.
Nice wrap.

Speaker 1 We can't be scrambling to get that off. Oh, it's one thing to get the dress right, but then like that's going to be super glued after a night.
No way. That's true.

Speaker 1 It's like this beige sausage casing that you're going to roll. There was boob tape, but that's fine.
Here he comes.

Speaker 1 Hey, baby. Hi.
Okay, so we got a question for you. What's up? There is almost no better feeling for for a woman than

Speaker 1 to

Speaker 1 take her bra

Speaker 1 off at the end of the day. What is the equivalent for a dude?

Speaker 1 Of removing a piece of apparel? Just freedom. Like you just are like, oh.

Speaker 1 Well, I didn't play a lot of football, but I would imagine removing a jock strap would be a little bit like that. What about your bike shorts? So you've been out for a 70-mile ride.

Speaker 1 You're You're wearing a pair of padded bike shorts. You're my crotch is like on fire.

Speaker 1 Yes, when you roll that off like a pair of pantios, what does that feel like? My balls hurt and all deal. Yes.
Yeah, that feels pretty good. Really? Yeah.

Speaker 1 You know, the amount of sort of abuse that my nuts are taking in the saddle on a bike ride is very different than your breasts over the course of a day, right?

Speaker 1 Well, I don't know. That's why I'm asking you.
What do you think she does day

Speaker 1 i i don't know with her breasts

Speaker 1 well there's some feeling associated with removing the brazier that yeah well i just figured your your your balls your doodle dads that you call them sometimes that they just kind of drop a little and that feels very freeing um

Speaker 1 Yeah, like I said, no different than, well, I guess for you wearing spanks, there's nothing dropping.

Speaker 1 Right. It's just, but yeah, that's a good feeling.
I would love to know for you listening, is there something that we're missing here

Speaker 1 that you feel is that moment of it's just like, oh,

Speaker 1 at the end of the day, I, I, you guys are so

Speaker 1 creative and very sort of interesting in your insights about these things. And so I guarantee you we're missing a couple.
So I can't wait to hear what you write in about.

Speaker 1 But the reason why I'm telling you this story is because yesterday, I experienced

Speaker 1 a moment of body freedom

Speaker 1 that was, I would say,

Speaker 1 maybe 25 times more liberating than taking a bra off at the end of the day. 25 times.
Whoa.

Speaker 1 Body freedom. Yes.
It also involves a major wardrobe failure. Ooh.

Speaker 1 So let me tell you the story. Okay.
And as I tell you the story, I would love for you to think about

Speaker 1 some wardrobe failure that maybe you've had. Oh.
Because these seem to happen to me all the time. I don't know what it is.

Speaker 1 So here's, here's what happened. So my daughters have recently introduced me to shapewear.

Speaker 1 I'm a huge fan of Sarah Blakely,

Speaker 1 the founder of Spanks. I love her story, but I've never been, sorry, Sarah, a huge fan of shapewear.

Speaker 1 And one of the reasons why is because when Spanks first came out, and this is not like a slam on Spanks, but when they first came out and I bought a high-waisted pair of bike shorts, they give me gas.

Speaker 1 I don't know if that's like a new, I don't know if that's me,

Speaker 1 but I felt like the compression was so compressed or maybe I bought the wrong size that I felt gassy and crampy all day wearing shapewear. So I thought, okay, I'm getting gas.
I have cramps.

Speaker 1 It's sort of like the same thing as when you wear really high-waisted pants and you sit down and it's like a tourniquet on your stomach. Yes.
Yes. Cuts at the wrong spot.

Speaker 1 So I probably just bought the wrong style and wore it with the wrong thing. Yeah.
So

Speaker 1 I have not worn shapewear. Do you guys wear shapewear?

Speaker 1 I did.

Speaker 1 I have. Yeah.
And then we moved to Vermont.

Speaker 1 You don't need it up here. That's true.
Yeah. You really don't.
Let everything go. No.
Yeah. Just let it all hang out.
No, I still have it.

Speaker 1 I can almost guarantee you that if I were to bring it in and show it to you and you were to take the waistband and just kind of like flex it a little bit, it would probably disintegrate because I just

Speaker 1 never wear it. Yeah.
So here's what happened. My daughter Kendall was up and I asked her if she would help me go through my closet because I am trying to get rid of clothes that don't fit.

Speaker 1 And so I was trying on clothes and my daughter came to this conclusion that the reason why I hate my clothes is because I have no shapewear. And I have saggy bras.

Speaker 1 So she's saying shapewear is essential. Yes.
To

Speaker 1 enjoy the way you look at these clothes. Yes.
And so she pulled up the internet and she went to pulled up the internet. Yeah.
She went to Skim's, which is Kim Kardashian's line.

Speaker 1 And, you know, if anybody other than Sarah Blakely is going to make shapewear, Kim Kardashian seems like the perfect person to do that.

Speaker 1 And we ordered a bunch of stuff. So it arrives.
It comes in this box. I pull this stuff out.
I kid you not.

Speaker 1 It looks like Barbie clothing. That's how small it is.
I pull it out. I'm like, this is not going to fit me.
Did you order the children's size? She's like, Mom, this is perfect.

Speaker 1 This is exactly how it looks. I'm like, are you kidding me? I can't fit my body in this.
And so she coaches me through getting it on.

Speaker 1 And basically, you stretch it, like, you know, to kind of loosen it up a little bit.

Speaker 1 Yeah, or at least I had to.

Speaker 1 And then, you know, I stepped into it and you sort of like yank it up on your body. And it's a lot like pulling sausage casing up over your body, very thin, stretches out.
I put it on.

Speaker 1 She ordered me the thong,

Speaker 1 okay, which I probably would not have done, but I got to give props to Kim Kardashing because the thong was not a string. It actually was like a landing strip.

Speaker 1 There was enough there so it was not going to go right up my rear end. And so I put it on and I looked in the mirror and I'm like, dang,

Speaker 1 this looks pretty damn good.

Speaker 1 Not going to lie. What did you think about those skims that I bought? The bodysuits? They look good.
It looks kind of of uncomfortable to me. I mean, it looks kind of

Speaker 1 a little tight.

Speaker 1 I'm not sure I would go with that.

Speaker 1 So here's the mistake I made. I tried it on.
I'm like, this is great. And then I took it off and went on with my life.

Speaker 1 I didn't walk around in it. Oh.
I didn't sit down in it. I didn't test it for real life.
You have to test drive your underwear.

Speaker 1 That is true, actually. You do.
Yeah. Well, I did not know this.
Yeah. So, I mean, I didn't either either.
Fast forward to my wardrobe failed. Here's the story.

Speaker 1 And, Chris, you've heard this horror show before. So, if you want to blaze, right now is a great time to bounce.
But first, I just want to thank you for coming up. So, thank you, honey.

Speaker 1 You're welcome. We love you.

Speaker 1 Ladies and gentlemen, Christopher Robinson. Thanks for representing.
Yes. Awesome.
For the men out there. Thank you for.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 Are you two ready for this? Ready for me to go back to the story? Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God. Okay.

Speaker 1 So I was in Boston because I was invited by a friend to go to this fundraiser at the Institute of Contemporary Art that was celebrating

Speaker 1 women artists. And I was so excited to go.
I thought, okay,

Speaker 1 this is going to be a cool group of people

Speaker 1 and a really cool group of women. So I got to, I got to put on like a really cool, I'm into art outfit.
Oh, I'm into art. Yes.

Speaker 1 So I pull out a pair of black pants that I have not worn in probably eight years.

Speaker 1 And they're

Speaker 1 now's the day. Now's the day.
And they're very like stretchy fabric. And they were the kind of pants that I wore when I had to go into corporate settings.
So really nicely tailored.

Speaker 1 You can see everything in the rear end. So I'm like, this would be a great moment to wear my bodysuit.
Okay. Right.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 And I've also pulled out a sweater that is a ribbed sweater. So it's tight.
Right.

Speaker 1 And sweater is

Speaker 1 the boldest colors. So I'm going for like the pop art look.
Right. I've got on black pants.
I got on black heeled boots. And I've got on this tight ribbed sweater that is bold stripes.

Speaker 1 I look like human caution tape. It is white and then it is yellow and then it is brown and then it is black.
I'm like a bumblebee kind of. Love it.
Yes. That's a good artist.

Speaker 1 You're making a statement. Yes.
Yeah. I looked great.
Yeah. Yeah.
And the shape weird pulled it all in. I'm like, this is great.
I look like I support art. I look really cool, but not pretentious.

Speaker 1 I got like the pop thing going. Wow.
The color is all springy. Yes.
And so I get in the car. Things are really good.

Speaker 1 I'm listening to great music. Things are really good.
I get downtown to Boston. Things are really good.
I find a parking space in a parking garage a couple blocks away from the ICA.

Speaker 1 Things are really good.

Speaker 1 I get out of the car

Speaker 1 and going from sitting to standing up sort of

Speaker 1 made the bodysuit go from really good to not so great

Speaker 1 because that thong started to turn into a wedgie. Oh, now

Speaker 1 I get out of the car and I try to reach back and pull it down a little while. I'm in the parking garage, right?

Speaker 1 And I can't do it.

Speaker 1 That's a two-hand job. Yes, Yes, but I don't know that, right? And plus, the thing is starting in about five minutes.
So I gotta, I gotta go.

Speaker 1 So I stick my hand down the back of my pants and try to just like move it down a little bit. And that works.
That works.

Speaker 1 Well, I am embarrassed to tell you what I did next, but I'm not telling you until after a break. Oh, my God.
So no. Don't go anywhere.
This is worth sticking around for. We'll be right back.

Speaker 1 When our daughter Kendall moved into her first apartment, she called and she's like, mom, I need help. I have no furniture.
I have no clue where to start.

Speaker 1 I live across the country from you, like a five-hour plane ride. What do I do? So we jumped on FaceTime and started scrolling through Ashley.com together.

Speaker 1 We found so many styles that we loved and boom, beautiful couch, great price point. And now I don't need to worry about her.
I also added an end table, a coffee table, a lamp.

Speaker 1 I mean, if you love the look, you should love the whole look, right?

Speaker 1 Together on Ashley.com, we could build the perfect space and I could give her the support I wanted to when she moved into her place.

Speaker 1 She ended up falling in love with the clean lines and soft fabric of the sofa from the Alyssa Court Collection. I just feel so grateful.
Big shout out to Ashley.com.

Speaker 1 You took what was a stressful situation into a really incredible experience together. Visit your local Ashley store or head to Ashley.com to find your style.

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Speaker 1 Okay, welcome back. It's your friend Mel.
I'm I'm here with Amy and Jesse. And I was just telling you how I was wearing this new compression wear bodysuit for the very first time.

Speaker 1 And it was looking and it was feeling great, right, guys?

Speaker 1 And I was driving into Boston and things were really good. But as soon as I stood up, I have this giant, painful wedgie in this public parking garage.

Speaker 1 And as Jesse says, in order to unlock that kind of bodysuit wedgie, that is a quote two-hand job. You got to, oh, yeah.
Yeah, just yank that sucker out. You can keep both hands there.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 So, being a newbie to this sort of situation, I did not know that. And so, we are at the part of my story where I am sticking my hand down the back of my pants and I am just

Speaker 1 trying to push the thong part down to move it down a little.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 what do you think

Speaker 1 I did next?

Speaker 1 Did you wash your hands? No, I smelled it.

Speaker 1 I knew you were going to say that.

Speaker 1 No.

Speaker 1 It did not smell bad. And I'm like, okay.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 I smelled your hand. Yes.
Let me tell you something. What? Yes.

Speaker 1 But why?

Speaker 1 Why are we doing this? Why are we smelling this?

Speaker 1 Because I am about to walk into an event where I'm going to see my friends. Yeah.
And I don't want to give them a hug if I have poop hands. Yeah.

Speaker 1 But not like actual poop, but I don't want my hand to smell like that. Yeah.
I can't say I've ever smelled someone's hand, though. I know, but I just felt like it smelled bad.

Speaker 1 Like there's something like not cool. Really?

Speaker 1 I have outnumbered all of you.

Speaker 1 What if somebody, what if somebody that I don't know is standing next to one of my friends and I hug my friend and I keep my hand off of my friend, but then somebody goes, it's nice to meet you and they extend your hand.

Speaker 1 Well, it's on you for not putting some hand sanitizer on those. I don't have hand sanitizer in my car.

Speaker 1 So I just wanted to clear, like I wanted to have a clear conscience walking into this place. It's like checking your breath.
Yes.

Speaker 1 Check your, like, just do that.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 It's incredible. It is related.
I think it's actually a very conscientious thing to do for others. It is true.
It is true. Okay.
It's conscientious. I'll start doing it.

Speaker 1 But also a lot of people wouldn't admit that. So props to you for just telling all the details of the story.
You know, getting into it. That's what I'm here for.
Yes. Okay.

Speaker 1 So I'm like, okay, I'm good. I have five minutes to get two city blocks to an event that's about to begin.
Yeah. And so I start to walk.
And I'm, as I'm, what's it called? Forward ambulation.

Speaker 1 That's what the neuroscientists call it. I'm forward ambulating as I walk.
And as I'm walking, and I'm walking like I'm late because I'm about to be late.

Speaker 1 I'm realizing as I'm walking, this freaking bodysuit is starting to slowly inch up.

Speaker 1 And the

Speaker 1 bodysuit is starting to give me a simultaneous wedgie in the front and the back, which basically means I had both a camel toe and a piece of floss that was starting to go up and up and up like a hammock from the front to the back.

Speaker 1 And so now I can't stride stride it out because I'm going to split myself in half. And so now I'm shuffling as fast as I possibly can because I don't want a big stride.

Speaker 1 And I shuffle into the ICA and there is my friend. And I walk right up to her and I give her a big hug and I whisper in her ear, I've got a giant wedgie

Speaker 1 in my body suit. I've got to find it.
But where's the bathroom? She's like, oh my God, oh my God, that's the worst feeling. She's like, it points to the thing and she goes, I'll save you a seat.
Okay.

Speaker 1 And so I'm like, oh my God, I love you. Don't you love friends like that?

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 so I shuffled to the bathroom. This thing is so far up me that I drop my pants to the floor.
And to your point, Jesse, this is a two hand weaver.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Yes.
I have to grab both sides. Front and back.
Oh, I didn't start there. Oh, you started on your side.
I started on the side. That's interesting.
You know, I think that's a gentleman.

Speaker 1 I needed some slack. Yeah.
I needed to create some slack and some extra. This bodysuit showed showed itself to you as a, as a Barbie outfit.
You got it to expand.

Speaker 1 It was like, it was like the pumpkin turned into a carriage. And then all of the sudden,

Speaker 1 it's snapped back to Barbie suit for you. Yes.
Like at the wrong time. Yes.
You know? Yes. And so right back to the pumpkin.
And

Speaker 1 you haven't even gotten to the dance yet. And you're like, this, this is a difficult situation.
So I did the sides thing. You need the slack.
Yes. I think that was a good strategy.
Yeah. I'm like,

Speaker 1 oh, you pull it down. Pull down.
Yes, because I wanted a couple inches. Yes.
Okay. And plus this thing had basically like rolled up almost like a string, right?

Speaker 1 Because it was so stretched that I have to flatten the landing strip back out so it doesn't do it again. I just want to tell you, my heart is racing for this story.
Like I'm really feeling this.

Speaker 1 Like I'm a little bit starting to sweat. It's very relatable.
Yes. You know, here's the thing.
And I have to give myself props.

Speaker 1 The old me

Speaker 1 would have just been like embarrassed and like, why can't you do that?

Speaker 1 And I just was like, this is the crazy. I was laughing at myself.

Speaker 1 I mean, that's

Speaker 1 so important in life to be able to whisper in your friend's ear that you got a wedgie, to be able to laugh at yourself as you're in a bathroom in like what you think is the best art forward outfit that you've ever put on in a brand new bodysuit that you've never tested, like in a real life situation.

Speaker 1 I am yanking it down on the sides to give me a couple extra inches so that I can straighten out the middle and get it repositioned in place.

Speaker 1 Unsnapping it was not an option because what happens when you unsnap a bodysuit? Oh,

Speaker 1 the snaps hit your teeth. It goes up.
Yeah, it basically rolls up like a window shade. And plus this thing, like...

Speaker 1 I was afraid if I unsnap it, it's going to hang out the front and the back. And God knows it's now got stuff on it because I don't have underwear on.
And I'm like, this is a disaster.

Speaker 1 It has been up there. Yeah, you don't know.
Yes.

Speaker 1 And so I get it all positioned. And the problem is, is that now as I'm pulling it down, it's pulling off my boobs.
Oh, no. Like, it's not on your boobs anymore.
No. And so I have a long time.

Speaker 1 I have a long torso. Yes, I have a long torso.

Speaker 1 So I now look like, what is it, the Heineken or the St. Paulie girl only with that shirt on? Yeah.

Speaker 1 And I've got a rib sweater. So you can see the nipples and everything else.
So I'm like yanking this thing

Speaker 1 to try to stretch it out. I finally, you know, it didn't even occur to me.
I could have just taken it off and been nude.

Speaker 1 It didn't even occur to me.

Speaker 1 It wouldn't have occurred to me. Me either.
You don't want to be that personal. You're an artist.

Speaker 1 Yeah. They wouldn't care.
You don't want to be that person. So I

Speaker 1 get it all positioned. I, of course, wash my hands.
Good.

Speaker 1 Yep. Everyone can exhale.
Yep. Yep.
And I go to the luncheon.

Speaker 1 And what's your attitude? Like, I've got this or are you like, oh, I of course fooled a bunch of people because like, I think it's hilarious and I think everybody can relate to it.

Speaker 1 I think everybody can relate. And I think a lot of times people look at you and they're like, wow, you know, she doesn't give a shit.
She's got her act together. What a badass.
I think that's true.

Speaker 1 And then I have to give it to you, Mel. You take it up a notch.

Speaker 1 Not only do you not give a shit,

Speaker 1 but you make. You make fun of yourself.
You know, you let everybody in on the joke. You don't tell people.
I am the joke. Guess what? You are the joke.

Speaker 1 But it's a a relatives. And I think that's an interesting point that you just made about

Speaker 1 the kind of distinction between not giving a shit versus being able to laugh at yourself because they are related, but it's a different thing. And I think both are really important.

Speaker 1 The not giving a shit part is the ability to whisper in your friend's ear

Speaker 1 that you have a wedgie right now.

Speaker 1 And to tell people the disaster just happened in the bathroom. Yeah.
Right.

Speaker 1 And that is one layer that I think is really important. And the second thing, though, which has been very freeing for me is just

Speaker 1 like loosening the grip and being able to laugh at these moments.

Speaker 1 And it's, it's interesting because humor, we've done a lot of research on humor because of speeches that I've given or other projects that we've done for Audible. The research is kind of bananas.

Speaker 1 In fact, why don't we take a break? This is a great time to allow our sponsors to entertain you for a second.

Speaker 1 And let's dig into the research real quick while you guys are listening to a commercial, because I think it's important to explain that humor is actually a really important skill and asset in life.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah. And if I recall correctly, it makes other people think you're intelligent.
They trust you more. It exudes confidence in the workplace.

Speaker 1 And I realize this was not in the workplace. I mean, it was like a professional event.
Yeah, but it was, it was, it was professional. Yeah.

Speaker 1 You know, it wasn't like you were sitting on the couch with your girlfriend. But there's all this research about leadership and teams when it comes to having a sense of humor.

Speaker 1 Now, I would not tell your boss you had a thong-wedgie up your ass. I would not do that.
Yeah. But I think there's a lot here to unpack.
And by the way, I'm not done with the story.

Speaker 1 Oh my God, there's more. There's a lot more.
All right. And I'll tell you all of it when we come back.
Okay.

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Speaker 1 Welcome back. It's your friend Mel, and I'm here with my colleagues and friends, Amy and Jesse, in our studios.

Speaker 1 And we're doing a jump on the mic episode, which basically means I rolled in here hot with a story to tell, and now we're making something of it.

Speaker 1 But I was just talking about this wardrobe malfunction and

Speaker 1 how having a sense of humor is such an asset in life. Where were we? So here we're, here we are.
And then we got to get to the humor thing because I think that's the big takeaway here. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Laugh, laugh, laugh at yourself. You have to be able to laugh at yourself.
Um, because the second you start laughing at a situation, this is the most ridiculous thing I've gotten myself into.

Speaker 1 Why do you always do this to yourself, Mel? Like, you can go two different ways, right?

Speaker 1 I could either be shuffling toward this museum, beating myself up for buying the wrong size, always getting it wrong, screwing things up, running late, or I can be laughing at myself at how ridiculous this is.

Speaker 1 Of course, I've done this to myself. Of course I would have a thong up my ass the first time I am going to this really nice thing.

Speaker 1 And of course, I'm having a massive wardrobe problem. But so this is not all.
So as I'm sitting at the luncheon, it is slowly starting to itch up again. Oh, no.
While you're sitting this way. Yes.

Speaker 1 And so as we walk back to the parking garage, I'm with a friend, one of my closest friends, Lisa. And she's just like, stop picking at that wedgie.
Stop picking at that wedgie.

Speaker 1 Just unsnap the damn thing. And I'm like, I can't unsnap the thing.
First of all,

Speaker 1 I can't unsnap it because I'm in a public space. Yeah.
And trying to unsnap a bodysuit. in a discreet way is next to impossible.
No. And so my only choice is to try to pick at it.

Speaker 1 And so we get down to the parking garage. Thank God.
We go to her car first so I don't have to walk that far and then she drives me to my car so that I don't have to keep dealing with this.

Speaker 1 I get out of the thing and I open up my car door and step behind it. I mean, I do have some tool.
I'm not going to like drop my pants, you know, and make Lisa watch this. So I literally unsnap it.

Speaker 1 It rolls up like a windowshade.

Speaker 1 Question. Are your pants still down? Are you able to do this with your pants on? Oh, right.
I have to take my pants like down. They're down.
And I have to come squat

Speaker 1 to yank down again. I unspoke.
You get

Speaker 1 full breeze now. Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 If you think taking a bra off or a pair of bike shorts off

Speaker 1 for you gentlemen out there feels liberating,

Speaker 1 try unsnapping a thong body suit that's too small.

Speaker 1 Oh my God. While you ate poached salmon and asparagus.

Speaker 1 I just wanted to stand there for a minute with my legs shoulder width apart. You know, just yes.

Speaker 1 I just, oh,

Speaker 1 it's expansion from all sides. It's not just the bra.

Speaker 1 It's like you, that is the definition of let loose. Yes.
Yeah. Yes.
You let it all loose. And sure enough, I button my pants back up.
I step out from the side of the door. I shut the door.

Speaker 1 Lisa is laughing hysterically because now, of course, I have the front part hanging down in front and the back part like a tail.

Speaker 1 And she's laughing and I'm laughing. And I'm like, you got to take a picture of this.
You got to take a picture of this, dude. Like, this is hilarious.
I got to remember this.

Speaker 1 And so she goes, well, I got to back the car up so I can get a good angle. And I'm like, okay, so she starts backing the car up.
I can't make this up. And she freaking hits a parking pylon.

Speaker 1 So now I'm doubled over laughing with the unsnapped bodysuit hanging out of my pants. And I'm like, what should I do? What should I do? And she's like, just step over there and strike a pose.

Speaker 1 So I kind of put my arm up on my head. I look like this exasperated freedom look.

Speaker 1 She snaps a photo. And when we look at it, we cannot believe it.
I got to show you guys this.

Speaker 1 Holy guacamole.

Speaker 1 I want you to look at the sign that is above me and read it to whatever it is. Read it to everybody.

Speaker 1 Caution, dead end.

Speaker 1 And it's in black and white and yellow. And my sweater is

Speaker 1 a yellow, black, and white striped bumblebee sweater. Yeah.
This looks like some art director.

Speaker 1 It's perfectly curated. Yeah.
The way you did it. Curated the fucking angles.
This is a work of art. It is.
The palette, the pose. Really? Yeah.
With the nude skim word too. Yeah.

Speaker 1 But I love that it's all about humor. It's not like, oh, we created this awesome moment together.
That was a,

Speaker 1 it was just fun through and through. And when you look at that, you think of Lisa, you think of laughing, right?

Speaker 1 I think of women and art.

Speaker 1 I think of poached salmon. Right.
I think of my friend Robin who invited me to this. Yes.
I think about shuffling across the

Speaker 1 harbor in the seaport. Like I just like think of all of it.
And I also just laugh. And I will remember this moment for the rest of my life because of the humor.
Oh, yeah. Right.

Speaker 1 Turning something embarrassing and somewhat painful into something hilarious and relatable shifted everything about it. And by the way,

Speaker 1 we will share the photo with you. If you're watching on YouTube, congratulations because you've already seen it.

Speaker 1 If you are listening to this, just look in the show notes and we will link to this photo. And it kind of brings me full circle to this idea of how do you develop a sense of humor?

Speaker 1 Because just like I had to like unsnap the hold that the bodysuit had, it created so much freedom. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah. When you unsnap the judgment and the seriousness that so many of us have,

Speaker 1 you're missing out on one of the greatest joys in life, which is learning how to laugh at yourself. Like it's one thing to not give a shit about what other people think.

Speaker 1 And we, for those of you interested, we did an incredible podcast about the art of not giving a shit.

Speaker 1 Hugely popular. We'll link it to the show notes, but this is about something else.
It's about

Speaker 1 allowing yourself the freedom to be human and learning how to laugh at yourself. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And Amy, I want to bring you into this because you

Speaker 1 are a stand-up comic. You do improv.

Speaker 1 You actually perform on stages. Yeah, at a

Speaker 1 amateur level. But yeah, it is a skill.

Speaker 1 Becoming someone who looks at the world in a funny way is not just something that you're born with. You can really get funnier and you can develop a sense of humor

Speaker 1 beyond anything that you think that you have right now. And I think it's worthwhile.
Oh, I do too.

Speaker 1 Like, I think when you make fun of yourself, you allow people to bond with you over the shit that's relatable in life. Yeah, I'll do it.
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 If I had to give any advice about it, because I've always been so hard at myself and learning how to laugh at yourself, not in like a condescending, like, ooh, but more like, that's fucking funny.

Speaker 1 Yeah. That's funny.
And it allows other people in. And I think that's the thing that people miss.
Yes. Well, that's the thing that I admire most about you.

Speaker 1 And I think that's the thing that stood out to me the most in this story is that you don't keep it to yourself and just say, oh, gosh, I'm

Speaker 1 what that. This is really funny.
I can't believe this is happening. You do not do things in a whisper.
You know, you do them out loud and let let everybody in.

Speaker 1 I can just imagine all the women at your table and you're saying, like, guys, I just, anybody else have a thong problem right now because I, you know, and then, and then people are not thinking about their own insecurities or judgments.

Speaker 1 Yeah. They're thinking about your stuff and laughing about it.
To share laughter like that, especially with people you don't know or just getting to know, I mean, what a gift that is.

Speaker 1 And it goes like social media. Like you posted it.
Oh, of course.

Speaker 1 People would be like, oh, God, I can only show the

Speaker 1 pretty pictures where I'm all done up. No one's going to know that I've got a massive thought.
I'm not going to talk about it. But Mel's like, no, no.
Here's my art outfit with a wedgie. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Got it hanging out. Yes.
And I also, that's also why I post the ridiculous photos of myself where I'm just in real life kind of hideous because I laugh at myself. Yeah.
It's funny. It's really funny.

Speaker 1 And here's the other thing that I just got:

Speaker 1 that the metaphor

Speaker 1 for not allowing yourself to to laugh and not sharing that with other people is your whole life becomes like you're wearing a bodysuit that's too small.

Speaker 1 It constricts you, it suffocates you, it cuts off your life force and your circulation. And that there's something available to you when you lighten up.

Speaker 1 And we did do a little bit of research very quickly. I will link to the studies, but just the things that I jotted down are really important.
Like, first of all,

Speaker 1 people respect

Speaker 1 leaders that are funny

Speaker 1 more than people who aren't. Yeah.
And the research shows we

Speaker 1 believe that somebody with a sense of humor, I'm not talking about an inappropriate one, an appropriate sense of humor. We believe they're confident.

Speaker 1 We believe they're more powerful. We immediately raise up their status.
We think they're intelligent.

Speaker 1 And they tend to be somebody we like more because there is this like bond that gets created between somebody that cracks jokes, makes fun of themselves, makes fun of a situation that feels relatable and true.

Speaker 1 It's like letting you in on something personal. Yes.

Speaker 1 And here's another thing. When it comes to work, this is really interesting.
98% of executives, according to one study, said they would prefer an employee with a sense of humor. Wow.
And 84%

Speaker 1 of those same leaders believe that people with a sense of humor do better work.

Speaker 1 Those are high numbers. High numbers.
And I think it goes beyond that class clown thing. You know, it's bunny is a power.
It's a, it's a superpower that you can have. Yeah.

Speaker 1 It is, it creates a dynamic that two people or many people join in on that really changes your perspective of the world, which I think is fascinating. And I love it.

Speaker 1 I love how you could have just had this wedgie and felt really angry with yourself. Thrown the skims out and the trash can and the ended there.
But instead, we all get to laugh at it.

Speaker 1 You're laughing at the table with all the ladies. We're laughing about it now.
And

Speaker 1 it's brightening my day and it's making my mood a little bit better. And it's, you know, it's a gift.
It really is a gift.

Speaker 1 Well, I think that's the invitation to you listening is as you go through your day-to-day,

Speaker 1 something embarrassing or funny is probably going to happen. Just notice it and then notice whether or not you're laughing at yourself or you're laughing at other people.

Speaker 1 It could be as something like, you know what happens to me all the time? I spill on myself all the time.

Speaker 1 Yeah. All the time.
And when I do, I don't change my shirt or my pants. I just make a joke of it.
Why? Because it's funny. Yeah.

Speaker 1 You know, we can all relate to it.

Speaker 1 And so there is an invitation here, whether it's a wardrobe failure or it's something something that you do at work today that's super embarrassing, or it's the fact that you're talking to your kids' teacher and all of a sudden you belch in the middle of the sentence and then you both burst out laughing.

Speaker 1 Or what about the time that I farted at work? And I thought Jesse

Speaker 1 was going to lose her mind.

Speaker 1 She was laughing so hard. We had to stop down work for three minutes, you guys, because she could not get control of herself.
And so you know what I did?

Speaker 1 Next, the second I felt one coming, I actually pushed it out because I knew if I did a second one, she would lose her goddamn mind. And she did.
And so I just feel like

Speaker 1 stop taking yourself so damn seriously. Yeah.
Learning to lighten up and loosen the grip and unsnap the life bodysuit you got on yourself and be a little human. It lets people in.

Speaker 1 It lets up the pressure on you. It makes you more relatable.

Speaker 1 It makes you seem smarter and more confident because you are because it takes a confident person person the ability to look at life and those dumbass situations that happen and turn it into a joke instead of something to ruminate about.

Speaker 1 Yes. All right.
I'm off my soapbox now. Thank you.
Welcome to my TED Talk.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's great. And it lets more love in, which is what we're talking about all the time, you know? And if you feel like,

Speaker 1 oh, I don't have a great sense of humor. I can't make that funny.
You could still laugh at it.

Speaker 1 Laugh at somebody else's joke, you know, like help somebody else kind of get through their day with a smile or a little bit of fun. Or your kids or the people you mentor.

Speaker 1 Or like teaching your kids how to laugh at them. What a gift.
Yes, absolutely. Oh, you spilled all the whole box of Cheerios.
That was hilarious.

Speaker 1 And then you put the chocolate sauce on top of them and now it's all over your, and you rolled in it. You guys are so funny.
Yeah. Like, that's just a great thing.
Amazing.

Speaker 1 You know what else is going to be funny?

Speaker 1 The bloopers on this episode. Yeah.
Epic.

Speaker 1 All righty. Yeah.
In case nobody else tells you,

Speaker 1 I'm going to tell you, I love you and I believe in you and your ability to laugh at yourself. You got this.
We got this.

Speaker 1 Ladies and gentlemen, loosen the tie, take off the bra, pull off the bike shorts, unsnap the bodysuit, let it all hang out, and laugh a little. Yeah, I love you.

Speaker 1 Here we go. And

Speaker 1 here we go. All right.
My mic, Amy. Yeah.
Well, you want to know. Put Amy down.

Speaker 1 It's what my parents would say all the time. Just put her down.
Oh, my God. Just, you know, don't let her feel good.
I'm just kidding. Woo! Oh, I'm so glad you tuned in today because I'm rolling

Speaker 1 in here hot. I thought you were going to say, I'm rolling with my homies.

Speaker 1 But no homie. What the hell does that sound?

Speaker 1 Oh my god. Can you hear that, Andrea? That's a big piece of machinery.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 I'm a huge fan of Sarah Blakely. No, that's not her name.
Yeah. No, that's the famous actress

Speaker 1 Blakely. Blake Lively.
Lively? Blake Lively. Who am I thinking of? Sarah Blakely? Sarah Blakely.
Sarah Blakely. Okay, I immediately had a panic that I was saying her name.
Yeah. Well, she's okay.

Speaker 1 Let's go wash our hands.

Speaker 1 Bodysuits for everybody.

Speaker 1 Oh, and one more thing. And no, this is not a blooper.
This is the legal language. You know what the lawyers write and what I need to read to you.

Speaker 1 This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. I'm just your friend.

Speaker 1 I am not a licensed therapist, and this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Got it? Good.

Speaker 1 I'll see you in the next episode.

Speaker 1 Stitcher.

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