Facebook voyage helps writer overcome her fears
After three decades of near-constant isolation inside her Winnetka, Illinois, home, ArLynn Presser made an unusual New Year’s resolution: to meet all 325 of her Facebook friends in 365 days.
A challenging goal in itself, sacoche louis vuitton Presser had another obstacle to overcome: agoraphobia.
An intense fear of being in places where escaping is difficult meant 51-year-old Presser rarely ventured outside the confines of her home, let alone her hometown, for most of her adult life.
“I had real problems leaving the house, and leaving my community,” she said. “At the beginning of the year, I was terrified of flying and could not get on a plane.”
That all changed on Dec. 31, 2010, when Presser wrote a blog post about her idea to confront and overcome her greatest fear.
“The whole year has been an absolute exercise in insanity,” said Presser in a Dec. 1 interview, fresh off the plane from a three-week whirlwind trip around the world. “This was just one of the hugest undertakings I ever thought of.”
Thirty-nine flights and 13 countries later, Presser has so far met 288 of her Facebook friends. By New Year’s Eve, she expects to have met 292.
Her adventure has taken her all over the globe, and a video blog has captured every handshake and hug.
Presser’s passport has been stamped in Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Dubai, Italy, Germany, England, and Ireland, among others.
Her trek also included a Canadian leg, with a stopover in Montreal to visit Facebook friends number 207 and 208, recent McGill University graduates Joe Winer and Karl Thelen.
Along the way, Presser said she has not only overcome some of her greatest fears and met most of her Facebook friends, but she has also acquired some new skills.
“One of the first people that I saw in January, she taught me how to open up a champagne bottle with a sabre,” she said. “That was kind of fun.”
She climbed a mountain in California, rode in a motorcycle sidecar, took a senior’s Zumba dance class, learned opera singing, and trained to be a bodyguard.
In Montreal, Presser was introduced to the traditional dish of poutine.
But in late November, Presser found herself back in her hometown, a suburb north of Chicago, a rare occurrence as she began winding down her globe-trotting yearlong adventure.
Calling from her cellphone, Presser said she was strolling through the forest near her home, an activity she would have never dreamed of attempting before embarking on her resolution.
Considered a “functional agoraphobic,” Presser said she is able to mask her phobia most of the time. But at other times the anxiety was overwhelming. At its worst, she said she experiences a panic attack that is so debilitating she has to go to the emergency room.
“It’s an absolute conviction that you’re having a heart attack,” she described the sensation. “That you’re going to die, and you’re going to die right now.”
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