You are a college student, 19 years old, hanging out with friends, walking around town, horsing around, and just back from Thanksgiving break. Someone sees a parked electric commuter train, and somehow it seems like climbing on top would be a good idea. Like climbing a mountain, seeing the world from above, changing perspectives… You’ve …Read More
Category: TED talk
The Fisherman: A Tale of Passion, Loss, and Hope ~ Jan Blake
“Stories are templates… maps to what it means to be a human being,” says Jan Blake in her TEDx Talk. Regret is one of the many stories that we must all learn to live with. Perhaps you are looking towards more modern stories, blockbuster or art house movies, to guide you on what it means …Read More
Positive Aging ~ Carl Honore
This semester, I’m teaching a course called “Storytelling for Positive Aging.” Studies show that a positive attitude, a growth mindset, towards the process of aging leads to longer and happier lives. In this course, I explore the questions: How can we tell ourselves better stories of aging? How can we respond to cultural attitudes of …Read More
Love, no matter what ~ Andrew Solomon
When I was working in the hospital in the pediatric ward as a resident doctor-in-training, one of the patients that was admitted frequently was a Down’s Syndrome child with a cleft palate. The cleft palate is an incomplete closure of the roof of the mouth that separates it from the nasal area above. Functionally, this …Read More
Mastering Life’s Transitions ~ Bruce Feiler
Life is the story that we tell ourselves. What happens when we get stuck in a story? How do we get unstuck? Bruce Feiler has 5 tips for mastering life’s transitions: Take control of the story that you tell about yourself. I once believed that I had no stories to tell, but then I realized …Read More
How humanity doubled life expectancy in a century ~ Steven Johnson
One hundred years ago, life expectancy in most countries was less than 45 years. But if you are born today, the amount of life years that you can expect is over 70 years. How did we nearly double life expectancy in a century? One answer might be the advances in science: antibiotics, medications, sanitation, and …Read More
Kindness ~ Orly Wahba
Orly Wahba developed Acts of Kindness Cards for her middle school students. The students were instructed to perform the act and pass the card on. Her students began to feel empowered as they saw the ripple effect of their actions. Simple acts of kindness: Read the book, Kindness Boomerang by Orly Wahba
Where good ideas come from ~ Steven Johnson
I am guilty of this too. It’s what we do as storytellers. We look for that pivotal moment, that eureka moment, that stroke of insight. Lifechanging moments are the stuff of good stories. It creates tension to move towards this great climax where the aha moment strikes you with an idea, and your life is …Read More
Find your punchline and deliver it ~ Michael Jr.
Comedian Michael Jr. will tell you that the secret to comedy is also the secret to life: “Instead of trying to get, find an opportunity to give.“ When he shifted his mindset from getting a laugh to giving an opportunity for laughter, his comedy career (and his life) changed. Comedy In comedy, there’s the setup …Read More
What makes a good life? ~ Robert Waldinger
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” In my high school graduation book, I remember answering this question. With the whole world in front of me, heading off to college, trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up. Gathering advice from different people, reading widely, experiencing what high …Read More