SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Every week, a guest draws a card from NPR's Wild Card deck and answers a big question about their life. Dan Harris is the host of the "10% Happier" podcast and author of the book of the same name. He says his mission is to use research to help people make incremental changes that will improve their lives. He tells Wild Card host Rachel Martin, much of the podcast draws from his attempts to understand and address his own anxieties.
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RACHEL MARTIN: What's a moment with a stranger that made you feel loved?
DAN HARRIS: I have lots of challenges, you know? And one of them is that I have really intense claustrophobia.
MARTIN: Really?
HARRIS: And it's gotten worse over the years, and I still - I struggle on elevators and airplanes. It's a real challenge for me. And there's a studio in New York City where I often record podcasts when I'm not recording from my home studio. And one day I showed up at the studio, and I was in the middle of this - I was at - in a particularly bad place with my claustrophobia. And it was the first time I'd been there, and I saw - I looked at the elevators, and I - they looked really small and scary...
MARTIN: Yeah.
HARRIS: ...To me. And I kind of was panicking, and I had a suitcase and all this stuff with me. And the security guard looked at me, and I said, hey, can I just - can I walk up? And he's like, it's 16 flights, dude.
MARTIN: Oh, my God.
HARRIS: You've got all this stuff. And he said - he got up from his desk, put his blazer on and said, I'm going to ride with you. He somehow knew what was going on with me. His name is Bari, B-A-R-I. And I see him all the time 'cause I go to the...
MARTIN: Yeah.
HARRIS: ...Studio, and he rode - he said, I'll hold your hand if you want. And I didn't need him to hold my hand, but he just talked to me about where he's from...
MARTIN: Wow.
HARRIS: ... And where his family lives, and we made it to the 16th floor. And even though I'm slightly more stable in my claustrophobia, having done a lot of what's called exposure therapy, every time I go to the studio, Bari rides the elevator with me.
MARTIN: Oh, come on. This is a beautiful story. That's a beautiful story. I love that he just saw that and didn't make a big deal out of it. He was just like, this is what we're doing. I'm just going to ride up with you.
HARRIS: I got you, buddy.
MARTIN: Yeah.
HARRIS: I got you.
DETROW: That's Dan Harris of the "10% Happier" podcast. You can watch the full conversation on YouTube or by searching for it at NPR Wild Card. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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