Art Critic Jerry Saltz’s Reckoning with Trauma and Anxiety

The Anxious Achiever

Morra Aarons-Mele

Business, Careers, Management, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2020

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Early on in the pandemic, Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic Jerry Saltz wrote a piece about his unusual eating habits that grabbed the attention of many with anxiety, depression, or just Covid-related sadness. In the essay, Saltz recounts a lifetime of using food to cope with trauma and anxiety – until art helped him find a new path forward. In this conversation, he tells host Morra Aarons-Mele how his pursuit of work and paring life down to basics helped him manage trauma and anxiety and find a life he loves.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Season 3 of The Anxious Achiever, the show where we look at stories from leaders who've dealt with anxiety, depression, or other mental health challenges, how they fell down, how they pick themselves up, and how they hope workplaces can change in the future.
0:18.5	I'm your host, Mora Erin Smealy.
0:27.9	Thank you. can change in the future. I'm your host, Mora Erin's Mealy. It's October 2020, and I'm speaking to you in a changed world.
0:32.9	Certainly a world where anxiety is part of our everyday vernacular.
0:37.3	I was pumping gas yesterday and on the
0:39.6	little TV screen at the gas pump was a perky news anchor giving me tips for handling anxiety
0:45.4	when it wakes you up in the middle of the night, just, you know, while you're pumping gas in a
0:49.6	suburban gas station on the way to your kid's soccer practice. And I thought, what a perfect example
0:56.3	of where we are now. More anxious than ever. Marinating in uncertainty. Anxiety normalized so much
1:04.8	there's segments on it at the gas station. Part of me feels like the world has just caught up to my brain and actually compared to most people
1:14.3	I think I'm sleeping better. I find my anxiety has taken the form of relentless performance,
1:21.3	24-7 overwork and a need to try to control the small things. Never have my to-do lists been so detailed.
1:30.0	Before we dive into today's show, I'd love to know, how are you coping? What forms has your
1:35.4	anxiety taken during these times? Let me know on Twitter at Mora AM or send me an email.
1:42.5	So what can you expect from season three?
1:46.1	This season, I'm seeking out people who can inspire us with their messy, anxious, depressed, but still joyous
1:53.5	truth.
1:54.7	People who have lived with demons in their brains forever and who can perhaps now show us a path towards more peace and fulfillment.
2:03.7	Because this new reality isn't all that new to them. The other common thread, they love
2:10.2	their work and are driven by an internal motivation to succeed. So what's the secret?
2:16.8	Well, it doesn't always come from a place of optimum efficiency.
2:19.9	It doesn't begin at birth, and it doesn't come from a fancy university degree. It comes from love
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Morra Aarons-Mele, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Morra Aarons-Mele and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.