Lessons from TedXToronto 2015

I had the opportunity to attend Thursday’s TedxToronto talk at the Royal Conservatory of Music. It was an amazing day full of powerful insights and sharing from the speakers. Here’s what I took away from the day and the speakers.

• Let go of the story of me and embrace the idea of me. Our story is static, an idea evolves – Andrew Peek
• “If you want to change the world, you’ll have to be crazy enough to believe you can do it and creative enough to pull it off.” – Brian Cugelman
• Nina Arsenault made me think about privilege; what it means, what it looks like and how do we recognize when we possess it?
• Zahra Ebrahim challenged the mindset of fixing things that break, suggesting we should ask “what else is possible?” instead.
• Is it possible that striving for perfection and life purpose set’s us up for failure? Jordan Axani asks us to question “what am I defined by that isn’t truly me?”
• Valerie Scott reminded us that we should all be given the same rights as employees regardless of the type of work that we do.
• Talli Osborne encouraged us to embrace the things that make us different instead of hiding in the crowd.
• Tarek Ibrahim is developing a personal flight machine by rethinking what’s possible, encouraging us to continually ask “what if?”
• Natalie Panek reminded us that we all have a role to play in the sustainability of the galaxy as well as our planet.
• Reverend Dr. Brent Hawkes C.M. shared his thoughts on sexuality and spirituality and the struggle for some as they are asked to choose one over the other. He asked us to consider that both can exist in the same space.
• Molly Shoichet is combining engineering and medicine to take a personalized approach to curing illnesses.
• Nina Mazar shared her research in behavioral science which shows that situational circumstances affect behaviour. Explaining why we sometimes do things that are out of character
• J Paul Nadeau illustrated through his personal experiences as an international peace keeper and hostage negotiator that we have a duty to show our humanity to others. By treating everyone with dignity and respect regardless of who they are or where they are coming from, we empower others to do the same.

It was a full day, and it left me feeling very optimistic. There are some amazing people doing some powerful things in our own backyard that can have a strong impact globally. I’m grateful to the organizers of TEDxToronto for putting it all together and giving them a platform to share their accomplishments and achievements.