Tedx Bras d'Or

A few weeks ago a whole lovely Saturday was spent listening to ideas. Big ideas. New ideas. Inspiring ideas. Ideas that are changing the way we do things. For the better. Right now. Today.

In some ways it feels like ideas have been made into the problem child of the twenty-first century. They're unruly. They're all over the place. They're fond of upheaval. And so they've been tossed aside as being too cerebral or not leading to efficient and immediate and measurable change. But a world that shuns ideas is surely a grey and sterile place where old answers are continually applied to new questions and few problems are ever really solved. Ideas are the source of innovation and action. Especially impassioned action. The kind that accomplishes huge things with almost no money because it is fueled entirely by someone's belief in their idea.

The videos from this event haven't yet been released .Fortunately though, we were able to watch a few clips from other larger Ted Talks. These were two of my favourites. 

The first is by Temple Grandin. A few years ago there was a movie made about her life. I'm sure it is a fantastic enough movie, though I can't imagine it being nearly as moving as these twenty minutes. Temple is an animal rights activist and animal behaviour consultant who has changed the way that slaughter houses and the livestock industry operate. She is also autistic. In this talk she offers some pretty amazing insights into the autistic mind, types of autism and why all of these minds have so much to offer.

.

This second video keeps creeping back into my head. I'll be driving somewhere or just about to fall asleep and find myself thinking of Robert Hammond. How this completely average person woke up one day with an idea and then made it happen. I bet it felt impossible. I bet almost everyone told him it was impossible. I bet that there were days and nights and weeks where it felt like it was finally time to give up. But he didn't. And so this completely average person built a park in the sky. Just like that.

For hundreds (like seven hundred) more great ideas check out Ted Talks. And watch for a Tedx event near you!