TEDxCharlotte

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of experiencing TEDxCharlotte. For more information or to enjoy the videos of yesterdays talks, go to http://www.tedxcharlotte.com/ . Everyone keeps asking me what a TED event is, this is straight from the website:

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where three exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
Follow TED on Twitter (twitter.com/TEDTalks), or on Facebook, (facebook.com/TED).

I was able to witness the transformative journeys people in Charlotte are taking to change their world and communities. Watching Molly Barker, founder of Girls on the Run, cheer when a fourth grader was freed from her 'cuppy bra,' the incredible experience and new passion in life for drumming for a cure, and the brilliance of Loan Tran and her motivation to the audience to not sit passively as a by-stander, but to get up and do something. All these speakers and there were so many more, had a common theme. That theme embraced the beauty of dreaming, but shoved us dreamers into action.

We all have the power to change the world. Maybe all in a different way, but all in all, change. Do something, fight about it, drum about it, travel and see how privileged our lives are. There was a moment, when I wanted to sell everything I owned and move to India and teach orphans. I still want to do that, but one step at a time. One action at a time. The day motivated me to move, to act, to care. That appears to me to have been a successful day.

Not to mention, I found a new love. Drumming. I was able to sit amongst strangers and beat on a drum. I have never done it before, but it brought out such strong connective emotions in me, I have to drum again. I simply have to. It was pure transcendence. I was able to fully connect with strangers without opening my mouth. I could feel the collective heartbeat rising and falling with emotion. It was beautiful.