Board Thread:Survivor: Socotra (Season 15)/@comment-26703314-20160225025358

First of all, congrats to both of you. You've earned it. And thank you to the hosts for putting up with all of our messiness, especially mine. You guys rock. So just a warning, this is gonna be a little long and a little dramatic. But I think that works well for the kind of season this was.

I planned to vote for Yuki and be done with it, because ultimately she is the one I want to win more. But as you guys have seen, I'm always willing to hear what someone has to say. So I've decided that my vote is open to either of you. We'll get to that soon.

This game wasn't easy for anyone. Not only did you two have to work hard to get to the end, most of us jurors had to fight to make it as far as we did. And in this game, when you have to fight, it gets ugly. Everyone here has said or done something terrible to another player.

And that's what I'm going to ask about. In my mind, the worst trait for a person to have is self-satisfaction. An absolute belief that they have no more room to grow or any need to self-critique. You see it all the time in these games. People with a firm belief in their absolute rightness at all times.

No one here was right about everything all the time. No one here came out of this game without something that could teach them something about themselves. Maybe some of you don't think you have and that's your business. I personally think we all need to look at what we said and did in this game.

We're always accountable for what we do. Hold yourself to that standard because we are all, in the end, good people.

In confessionals you always hear "I did this" or "this made me feel X way". You almost never hear about how the person made someone else feel, and if you do there's often a tone of dismissiveness towards it. I've been guilty of this myself. Because it's all just a game after all, right?

Then what about your feelings? What about the things that have hurt you or angered you? It's so easy to dismiss things as just a game when it's not effecting you. And again, I'm no saint when it comes to this either. But everyone here has felt like a victim at some point, only to go on to victimize someone else and not care.

Actions have consequences. For everyone. One person's 'just a game' is another person's emotional breakdown. When you lose the ability to empathize and understand, you become what I've talked about. Someone with a blind belief in their superiority and the notion that only they matter.

If you're shaking your head or laughing at my dramatics that's fine. I don't care. Ignore what I've said and go on about your day. But if you've taken the time to read this and have truly thought about what I've said, you will have gained something. Even if it's something small, it's worth it. Self awareness is a powerful thing.

If you're hurt in a game, you often probably brush it off or mock yourself because you're being so dumb, right? But you're not. This game is about people. And people are their emotions. You can throw in all the twists in the world and it'll always be about that.

So after all this you might be wondering if there's even a question, and no there isn't. I don't have a question for either of you. I have a request. Not just for the finalists, for everyone here.

Think about this game. Think about everything you've said and done and how you've treated everyone. Think about how others felt about this experience. All the way from the beginning. And even though this speech has mostly discussed the bad stuff, that's not all I want you to think about. We all had good times too. So truly think about all of it.

And then say something. To anyone. Me, the jurors, the finalists, the hosts, whoever. Be human, be real, be honest. Learn something from this experience because everything should be a learning experience. And what's the point of all this craziness if we can't learn from it?

That's what I'll be basing my vote off of. Thank you for taking the time to read this if you have.  