This absolutely powerful TED talk by Eve Ensler, touched me in a way I cannot explain. She shares her heart wrenching insights into the connection between our awareness of and compassion for our bodies and the body of our world.
Cancer exploded the wall of my disconnection. I suddenly understood that the crisis in my body was the crisis in the world – and it wasn’t happening later, it was happening now. Suddenly my cancer was the cancer that was everywhere: the cancer of cruelty, the cancer of greed, the cancer that gets inside people who live downstream from chemical plants (and they are usually poor), the cancer inside the coal miners lungs, the cancer of stress for not achieving enough, the cancer of buried trauma, the cancer in caged chickens and polluted fish, the cancer in women’s uterus from being raped, the cancer that is everywhere from our carelessness.
In his new and visionary book, New Self, New World, the writer Philip Shepherd says, “If you are divided from your body, you are also divided from the body of the world. Which then appears to be other than you or separate from you, rather than the living continuum to which you belong.”
Before cancer, the world was something ‘other’. It was as if I was living in a stagnant pool, and cancer dynamited the boulder that separated me from the larger sea. Now I am swimming in it. Now I lay down in the grass and I rub my body in it, and I love the mud on my legs and feet. Now I take a daily pilgrimage to visit a particular weeping willow, and I hunger for the green fields in the bush, and when it rains, hard rain, I scream and run in circles. I know that everything is connected.
I hope her pure passion resonates with you – like it did with me.
What struck you about her talk? Please share below!
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Thank you for sharing.
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Reblogged this on Twisted Dream and commented:
In his new and visionary book,New Self, New World, the writer Philip Shepherd says, “If you are divided from your body, you are also divided from the body of the world. Which then appears to be other than you or separate from you, rather than the living continuum to which you belong.”
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Thanks for sharing!
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fabulous speech thanks
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Glad you enjoyed!
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Hi lovely!
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Thank you so much MissDeliciousNutritous!
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It’s amazing to me that this happens to people that you can go from being from tunnel vision focused on certain things. This type of vision not allowing you to see what was happening all around you, and we all do it. I recently found out about a school shooting in Pakistan where 80 people were killed. A person next to me had heard a bit of the conversation and asked me “Oh my god where was this.” When I started to explain that it happened in Pakistan their interest wandered. That conversation was what I remembered as she started to talk about the world, and all the things happening around in. War, resource pillaging, raping, and much much more. The people around me as example by the random classmate show that we stay tunnel visioned on what happened to us only and that the world is not our problem only we are. Don’t mind that we are all human and apart of the same species, if you are not american then we don’t care. That is all sorts of wrong and those kind of thoughts are why we don’t move forward and rather stay stagnate in our spaces. While she talked about the world and things that happen elsewhere and how important it is, I’m proud she is part of humanity.
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What insight! Thank you for sharing your compassion and wisdom with us.
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She is a very powerful speaker. I love Ted Talks.
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Completely agree, on both fronts!
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Brilliant TED talk – very powerful and impossible to ignore the impact.
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Completely agree!
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The whole thing spoke to me, I am on this discovery of my body that she talks about. What is it? What do you do with it? Is it something to be overlooked or is it something to be treasured? Is it just a vessel or shell, or is it much, much more than that? I tend to believe it is much, much more than that…
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I completely agree. Best of luck on your journey – would love to hear your insights throughout the process.
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I’ll tell you from personal experience that it’s definitely NOT something to be overlooked. That doesn’t work (although it initially might seem like a good plan to your mentally body) for you or your body. I’m finding that it is something not only to be treasured/honored, but also appreciated, listened to, included, and considered your best friend and helpmate.
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Posted on FB, plus will include a link to this in an upcoming post at Evolution Made Easier. Powerful TED presentation!
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Thank you so much! It’s a great message, in a moving package. Eve is brilliant.
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Reblogged this on My Inner Medium and commented:
Thanks for posting this L to the Aura!
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Thanks for sharing Graham!
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