This 4th-grade girl is learning how to ski jump — or, well, wanting to learn how to ski jump, as this is her very first time — and you can feel her nerves in this video.

Ashley opens up about the anxiety with which she’s struggled since adolescence. She recounts the story of her very first panic attack and offers practical advice for fellow panic sufferers.

If Angie’s name sounds familiar to you, there’s good reason. In early 2010, Angie made the news when she live-tweeted her abortion after an IUD implant failed to protect her from pregnancy. Unlike most women who elect to abort, Angie found herself in the national spotlight because of her decision to go public.

The more I researched, the more my fear transformed into fascination. By high school, I was hiking on what I’d affectionately termed “power line trails” that run up and down the hills near my parents’ house. High-voltage lines ran from a substation at the bottom of the hill up to the hilltop, and then down into the next valley over. The rocky gravel beneath the power lines, once used to truck the lines and their supporting pylons up to the top of the hill, made for an ideal walking path. While hiking, I could look up at the lines, count the insulators, and throw out voltage guesses. And at the top of the hill? A gorgeous view of the valley as my reward.

Night after night, for days and weeks on end, I had the same nightmare. The scene and the characters usually differed, but the story was always the same: I heard a buzz, I knew a power line was going to fall, and I had to get myself (or friends, or family) the hell out of the way.
And you know how dream-physics works, right? Whenever you try to run, you run in slow motion.

After a few minutes, I looked up at a nearby telephone pole and saw a blue light sparking. Yay! A streetlight was coming back on! Power was being restored! Right? Then, the loud & crackling buzz began.

The security guard advised the father-daughter duo that not only would Safeway be pressing charges, but that little Savannah would have to sign a form acknowledging that she is no longer permitted to shop at any Safeway grocery store.

Sure, vomiting is unpleasant. I don’t know a single soul who looks forward to getting the stomach virus, but most of my friends and family members can puke, if needed, with a staggeringly positive attitude and a calm demeanor. Why can’t I? Why am I so afraid of it?

I should have known that math teachers don’t have a high tolerance for lumberjack humor — or creativity in general. Precision is valued; humor…is not.

The parade of “success” quotes made me anxious — and made me want to sneak into the classroom early in the morning to erase the board and write up some witty quote about failure.