Venetia Pristavec
“How are you making the world a better place?”
“I’m trying to make the world a better place by showing up with laughter and vulnerability in as many of my interactions as possible. I love to make strangers chuckle, whether they are next to me on an airplane or if a cop pulls me over. I find that when someone laughs, I get a buzzy jolt in my body knowing that I helped them release some yummy brain chemicals. Of course, it’s two-sided as I get the release as well. Also, for as much as I am funny, I like to talk openly about things that people may be afraid to share. I like talking about sexuality, death, depression, anxiety etc. and share my own stories freely to allow the person I’m talking to a window of opportunity to get something off their own heart or mind if they need to. I’ll say something like, ‘When I used to battle with depression I would take a bath for two hours until the water would turn cold over my body’. Some people may not respond to that, but others may suddenly jump in. ‘You battled depression?’ they say. They then open up about how they may also feel that way, or how they have a partner or friend they struggle to relate with because they don’t understand it. I love when I see they have stepped through that window into something they may not normally share. I feel like I’m able to help open it for them in a disarming way. It’s a nice juxtaposition being in-between funny and vulnerable because it definitely surprises people but creates a sort of lightness in others that I hope ultimately can make the world a bit lighter overall.”
“Where do you derive the greatest pleasure in your life?”
“I derive the greatest pleasure in my life from love. It took me a long time to get to that simple four letter word and receive all it had to offer, but since I did there’s no going back. It’s like a nectar that never dries up if I really see all the different places it’s coming from. When I think about my last breath on earth, which I do quite often to be honest because I’ve been exposed to quite a few death experiences, I just think about the love memories I will have that will flash before me. I think, ‘Oh wow, I hope that last moment extends into some crazy time vortex so there’s enough time for them ALL to go by.’ There are so many. Some of them are obvious but many of them are small. The way my Dad knows when something is wrong by the way I say, ‘hello’ answering the phone. Or how he calls every April Fool’s Day telling me how some weird celebrity perished in some sort of horrific way. How my mom buys like, 5 bags of rippled salt and pepper chips when I visit because she knows they are my favorite. How my Uncle and I have shared the same small joke since I was in first grade and it never gets old. How my cat meows with impatience when I’m on my iPhone instead of petting his sweet, soft fur. Those kinds of things. It just really fills me up anytime I think about it.”