Recently in my English class we started a unit on public speaking. To begin this unit our teacher introduced us 'TED'. I knew this before hand but I had never really payed any attention to it. What is 'TED' you ask? Well, let's ask TED:
" TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference on the West Coast each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer -- TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize. "
What I love about TED is that you can find a speech in any domain you are familiar with and let yourself be convinced by these truly wonderful speeches. As you may have guessed, I am deeply enthusiastic on creativity and consider myself a creative person. Because of this trait I searched up inspiring speeches on creativity. I found two which have truly changed the way I think over a matter or minuets. The way they used their words and how I could use personal experience to connect to them made me feel understood and hopeful. Personally, I don't have the most extraordinary grades and sometimes I feel lost and hopeless. I feel like I have no chance as a successful human being in the future. But because of of Ken Robinson's speech, I felt like there were other people like me, who were experiencing the same thing as me. I obviously knew that I wasn't alone in this world, my friends and family are a huge support, but I honestly felt, well, lost. He also made me realize about how our education "ruins" our creativity which had never struck me before. Through the video I started to realize more and more about how true this was and how my mind has given priority to subjects like maths which should be as equally important as arts. I know that most people who are reading this have no idea what I'm talking about so here's the link to make you a little less confused:
The second video I watched has probably changed my mind forever because unconsciously I have begun to experience everything Elizabeth Gilbert said. If you don't know who Elizabeth Gilbert is, (I didn't know who she was before watching this video honestly) she is the author of the very popular book 'Eat, Pray, Love'. She covers many points in her speech but the one that stuck to me most, was when she told the story of an 80 year old poet and how she explained inspiration. The way she explains it is exactly what I feel. I occasionally get this rush, this excitement, and I need to put it down on paper before it's too late. If it's a phrase, a quote, a drawing, an idea; it will only last seconds and I must put it down. I would have never been able to explain this feeling myself, and I was overjoyed that somebody, somewhere, who is like me, has. So, once more, you're probably going "I haven't the blindest idea of what she is talking about. John (because in my mind you're a woman at her computer married to a wonderful man named John. May you have a happy life together) , I think she's gone mad." So to once more, stop all of this confusion, watch this video and reread the paragraph. It will make more sense after.
So, I hope after watching these you will feel... different, or have a different perspective of things. I would love it if you could comment below so we can have a friendly conversation on this because I feel like I need to talk to people who are like me and understand what I go through. I would also love if you shared other videos that you watched on TED or anywhere else which have changed you in some way. It doesn't have to have anything related to creativity, art, etc. It can be about science, maths, dance, politics, whatever. I would like to make this post a place where people can connect and talk about these things. This post is also getting very mushy feely (had to find a word that rhymed with mushy and meant feelings at the same time...) so I'm going to wrap it up. If you want to visit the TED homepage/website click on any TED word you see in this paragraph or just click on this link: http://www.ted.com/
Once more I hope that one of these speeches will inspire you as they have for me and that you will enjoy them :) Bye!
P.S: Found this picture that I thought might interest some:
P.S: Found this picture that I thought might interest some:
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