When Dylan turned 3, her mother handed over custody to her father and began a long journey that would see her struggle with homelessness and mental illness. Yet her love and compassion gave Dylan the wonderful gift of acceptance and inspiration throughout his life. Dylan talks about the struggles many people face accepting themselves and draws inspiration from his own personal struggle with mental illness.

Dylan Stirewalt, a 3rd year film production student, seeks to explore the concept of self-compassion and how people's perception of failure leads them to view themselves as victims of circumstances and not the creators of their own experience . She hopes to inspire others to view compassion not only as an outward practice, but also as something they should show themselves in the face of failure and adversity.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection within a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Please take the opportunity to connect and share this video with your friends and family if you find it useful.