On day 44 of my #100HappyDays journey, I attended a TEDTalks LIVE event in NYC.

The focus of the event was War and Peace and it was hosted by Baratunde Thurston. Since I’m really interested in the impact that we each have on one another and I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately on social psychology, this was a really timely topic for me.

THE TALKS
Each speaker was amazing. At the beginning of the night, Baratunde Thurston said that our minds were going to grow throughout the evening and grow they did. He cautioned us that we were going to experience “hopespiranger”* during the course of the evening, and I can say for sure that I did.

Here are my major takeaways from each talk:

• Sebastian Junger — When we are considering post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) it might not really be as much about the trauma as it is the society the person comes back to.
• Jamila Raqib — Nonviolent actions can lead to conflict resolution, but only if they are a part of a bigger strategy.
• Hector Garcia — Preparing veterans with PTSD to return home needs to be similar to the preparations they went through when leaving for war.
• Rajiv Chandrasekaran — There’s a lot we can learn from our veterans about being good citizens and there’s a lot more we can do to bridge military and civilian life for them.
• Samantha Nutt — When we favor peace over war, a different outcome is possible.

#MOREARTINMYLIFE
Along with the evening’s talks, there were moving musical and dance performances. A surprise guest for the evening was Elvis Costello who read a little bit from his book and performed a song. He shared with us the idea that while a song might not be able to change the world, a song can change a heart and heart can change a mind and our minds can change the world.

Having song and dance interspersed with the talks reminded me, yet again, how important it is to keep art a part prominent of our daily lives.

I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to attend this event. It’s given me much to think about, much I want to keep exploring, and I know that if we put our minds to it, we will figure it out together. #WWFIOT

~Melissa

*hope, inspiration, and anger