CNN
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It’s not that Steve-O wants to die. He doesn’t want to grow old either.
At least, that’s what he says in the first chapter of his new book, “A Hard Kick in the Nuts: What I Learned from a Lifetime of Terrible Decisions,” talks.
In the chapter, aptly titled “Don’t Be Afraid of Death, Be Afraid of Growing Old,” he admits to being jealous when his “Jackass” co-star Ryan Dunn died in a fiery car crash in 2011 at the 34 years old, just a few months after the release of the third installment of the “Jackass” film franchise.
“My take on death was – and I say this in (the book) and I’ve never said this anywhere else – that at the time Ryan Dunn died we had just released a #1 movie It was barely six months (after) the (release of) a No. 1 box office hit movie. struggled financially, he was on top of the world,” says Steve-O. “He had never gotten to a point where he was in an unworthy place. (He) didn’t have to age, didn’t didn’t have to see his body deteriorate. He came out on top, you know? In my opinion, he came out on top and I felt like a part of me, if not all of me, was jealous of that. .
Now 48, Steve-O has learned the value of aging.
He has matured, he says. He’s been sober for 14 years, and when we spoke he was on a 985-day meditation streak. He does 40 minutes a day.
“I have an unshakeable belief that this causes the universe to conspire in my favor,” he says.
This, from a guy who rose to fame by throwing himself into painful, life-threatening and embarrassing situations. Like the time he hanged himself in front of live alligators carrying raw chicken in a jock strap. Or when he put a hook in his mouth and swam through the shark-infested waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Thinking about it now, he believes he “took fun and laughed at death” because “I was angry about it”.
After being kicked out of college and experiencing early homelessness, Steve-O says he “legitimately thought I was going to fail in life.”
“I expected to die very young, having failed in life. And I was crazy about dying – not only am I going to die young after failing, but everyone is going to die,” he says.
If he can come out the other side of his lowest moments, anyone can, he says. Hence the book.
“It’s a book of wisdom, which I’ve drawn from a lifetime of terrible decisions,” he laughs. “And I say a lot of unflattering things about myself.”
The second chapter is about sex and “goes into extreme graphic detail”, he says.
“I really detail how much control I lost in acting out sexually,” he says. “I got to a point where I was approaching 40 and I was just like, ‘man, the way I’m acting is not the way to be happy.'”
He eventually bought into the idea that his future happiness depended on learning about a healthy relationship.
“By finding a life partner and stability, I really became proactive about getting the job done. That was my mantra. I was doing the work to become the man the love of my life deserves,” he says. , “That’s kind of the wisdom of this chapter.”
He is currently dating an accessories designer from Los Angeles.
The idea at work in the book, he says, is to help, but also to poke fun and ridicule that he is a self-help author.
“What makes it work is that there are probably 90% incredibly shocking true stories about my life and maybe 10% real wisdom to glean and maybe 10% help you,” he said. “It is patently absurd to think that a book of self-help wisdom comes from Steve O.”
Of course, he decided to promote the book the Steve-O way, he says — “while riding down the 405 freeway in Los Angeles at 50 mph on a swing, mounted on a truck.”
As usual, he made it out alive.