Healing

Thursday, December 31, 2015, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

For the last meeting of year, we will keep in the spirit of the New Year by examining examples of healing.

A song does not come from the heart; it comes from your lungs. HERE is a TED Talk by soprano, Charity Tillemann-Dick, who survived a double lung transplant, and with tremendous will was able to sing again.

The will to heal comes from the brain, but what if your brain is damaged. HERE is a TED Talk by game consultant, Jane McGonigal, who healed her brain by inventing a game.


-------------------------------- Updated 12/31/15 ------------------------------

Here are the links to the other videos shown at the meeting:

• Hannah Brencher: Love letters to strangers
• Ramona Pierson: An unexpected place of healing

Joy and Sadness

Thursday, December 24, 2015, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Christmas has been called both the happiest and saddest time of the year. We will review these two emotions in a couple of TED Talks. This talk by Shawn Achor dismisses the ideal that joy comes from success. Instead, he says success come from joy. This talk by Brene Brown is about her discovery that sadness is essential for joy. (This revelation will sound familiar to you if you saw this year's hit movie Inside Out). 

The meeting is on the morning of Christmas Eve, but please come if you can. The group size should be smaller than usual, which is perfect for a focus group to suggest topics for next year.

Purpose

Thursday, December 17, 2015, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

For the last three meetings of the year, we will take a break from the worries of the world and explore some of life's personal experiences. We will start with something simple, finding a purpose in life.

Vic Strecher, a professor from the University of Michigan, has made his purpose helping his students find their purpose. He developed media that would appeal to his young audience, including a comic book which featured a dung beetle, a creature who finds purpose in a pile of crap. He tells his story in this TEDx Talk. 

Mike Rowe, the host of "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel, has a different take. People take jobs without purpose, but they can find purpose in their work. Here is his TED Talk.

---------------------------- Updated 12/17/15 -------------------------------

Here is the third TED Talk shown at the meeting:
Mark Bezos: A life lesson from a volunteer firefighter

Also here is a TED Talk about dung beetles, not shown at the meeting:
Marcus Byrne: The dance of the dung beetle

The Way From Paris

Thursday, December 10, 2015, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

With the Paris COP21 Summit, climate change is getting a lot more attention, but mostly in the form of criticism. The right says it is naive, while the left says it is inadequate. Obama had to find a realistic path in spite of a hostile Congress and an uninformed electorate. 

In our next meeting, we will view excerpts from Obama's press conference before he left Paris. Here he carefully explains why he expects an agreement in Paris will lead to a solution to the climate crisis.

-------------------------------- Updated 12/10/15 ----------------------------

Here are the additional videos shown at the meeting:

• John Oliver on climate deniers
• The Carbon Bubble