Sofranie Trencia

Transcript

So, honey, let's see the second group. I'm standing center stage looking up at 30 ft of white aerial silk disappearing to the light. My heart is pounding so loud. I'm sure the other artists can hear it echoing through the arena. Tonight is the biggest circus festival in the world. The Olympics of circus. The entire industry is here. The producers, agents, directors, all looking for the next star. And now all their eyes are on me. And all I can think is if I don't win a medal here, I will prove what I've always secretly believed about myself.

That I'm not good enough to win a medal. So, I'm standing in front of the aerial silk and my costume is so tight, so tiny. I feel naked. I'm starving myself, purging, trying to disappear. And I hate my body. And I hate myself. But I'm about to do one of the hardest drop ever created on aerial silk. A drop that I invented in my head a couple of days before the festival. I could not rehearse it. No one has tested it.

I don't even know if it can be done. But you see in my mind, it always has to be bigger. It has to be harder. Has to be more impressive just to try to believe that I belong here. So, I take the grip of the silk and I start to climb hand over hand all the way up 30 ft in the air. Every movement is choreographed, but my mind is chaos. What if I fail? What if I fall? I reach the top.

I hook my ankles. I breathe and I drop. I backflip into a somersault with a twist. Would you like to know what happens next? You too? So, let's find out. All right. So, I'm in the middle of it. I see a knot that's going to catch around my ankles, but and but the knot instead of closing it opens and suddenly I fall 30 ft headfirst. Audience screams. It echoes in the arena. I reach for the silk, but it's too fast. It's too late.

I can't catch it. A second later, my body slam into the wooden stage. My shoulder explodes with pain. The arena goes silent and I'm lying there stunned. I wiggle my toes. I move my fingers. I'm alive. No broken bones. No visible injury. At that moment, I realize I'm at a crossroads. I can let fear and pain decide who I become or I decide who I become. If I let, you know, the circus silk, the aerial silk now, the 30-ft drop will follow me for the rest of my life.

It will turn from a place of freedom and beauty into a cage of fear. So, I stand up. I walk back to the silk. Everything in me saying, "Stop." But somewhere deeper, there is another voice. The voice of my will. And I'm back at the bottom of the silk and now I'm not just afraid of failing. I'm afraid of falling again. So, let me ask you, what do you think I should do? Oh, yeah. I take the second grip and I start the second climb.

I reach the top. I hook my ankles. I breathe and I drop. I backflip into a salto with a twist. And this time the knot closes perfectly. The audience gasps and explodes in applause. I finished the act. Later, the judges call my name. I walk up to the podium. And I And that day I walked away not as a fraud or impostor, but as a bronze medalist on the biggest stage in the world. But here's what really shocked me. You see, doing the act and winning this medal was not my breakthrough.

My breakthrough happened on the second grip. When fear came to claim my future, I said, "No." And I climbed anyway. So let me ask you one question. Where is the silk in your life right now? The thing you've been avoiding because you're afraid of the fall. And next time when you stand in front of it, will you let fear write your story or will you take the second grip? Thank you.

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.

Transcript

Have you ever felt fear gripping your gut so tightly that you can't artist. All my life is hanging by this hook. We're in Paris in 2001 at the festival, the Olympics of circus. It is electrifying and I want to impress the judges. I want to win so bad. So I create this dangerous double drop on aerial silk. But on the first day of rehearsals, I fall 30 feet headirst. I claw for the silk, but it's too fast, too late. Terror seizes me.

Will I die? Will I be paralyzed? Is it the end? I hear the gasps and the screams of all the other artists around the room because we all share the same nightmare, the fear of falling. And this fear is very real because every year one aerialist die on stage and several paralyzed each year. Then bam, the crushing impact. I feel the coldness of the floor, the searing pain in my shoulder. Ouch. Stand. I realize two things. First of all, I'm still breathing.

And secondly, no serious injuries, no broken bones. How could this be? So an urge comes to me. I stand up. I must go back up now. So at this moment, I make the most insane choice of my life. I stand up. I walk back. My will to succeed pushes me through the fear. I climb those 30 feets and execute the exact same drop. Now I know what you're thinking. Oh, this woman is crazy. Completely not. But I know one truth. If I let fear win, it will be the end of my career.

No way. Never. The very next day, I performed this drop again during the competition. And you know what? I win a bronze medal. Thank you. Now, why am I telling you this story? Because we've all felt this fear, haven't we? Yesh. We maybe not falling from 30 feet. I understand. But their fear of failure, their fear of rejection, the fear of not being enough, right? Yeah. And in these moments, in this moment, it's so important to understand that when we face fear, we unleash an unstoppable force within.

All right? So now, no matter the risk, I want to give you a gift. So let's close our eyes together all together and place a hand on our heart and let's take a long deep breath. We are so much more than our fears. We are so much more than our falls. We are so much more than our limitations. The truth is we are powerful. We are resilient. We are limitless. Let's open our eyes now. Let's ask ourselves what is the reward that we want?

What do we really want? Do you know? Yes. Because when we really know what we want and we pass through the fear, we unleash an unstoppable force within and we are able to write our own stories and achieve a life that exceeds our wildest dream. I am Sufani and my mission is life is to empower us all because when we fear our face with courage you unleash an unstoppable force within that ex really transforms our life. So dare to live the life you were meant to live.

Thank you.

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.