How to flourish in adverse times – Malibu style
By Bibi Jordan / Special to The Malibu Times
On Sunday Malibu residents had the opportunity to discover how to turn tragedy and loss into opportunities for growth and change. The TEDxMalibu conference at the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue featured a program of speakers, live and recorded, who addressed the theme “Flourishing in the New Paradigm,” or how to evolve personally in the current climate of economic turmoil, technological change and personal stress.
Organized by Life Coach Lisa Kamen, the TEDxMalibu conference arose from her own experience of divorce, real estate loss and serious family health issues.
“My own reversal of fortune validated my theory that happiness can and does reside alongside adversity,” Kamen said. “Suffering is part of the human condition and it need not define us. Through these dramatic experiences comes opportunity for growth, transformation and a richer view of the world.”
An aficionado of the TED online video series of 20-minute inspirational presentations by leaders of Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED), Kamen was one of the first to apply for a license for TED’s outreach program that supplements its two annual conferences in the United States and the United Kingdom and brings a community together to share prerecorded TEDTalk videos and live local speakers.
Many attendees were attracted to TEDxMalibu just “because it’s TED,” as Malibu resident Chris Sedlak said. Film Set Designer Kim Hix said he was fascinated with what he coined as TED’s “open-sourcing of humanity.” or “the online gathering of the greatest visionaries to seek a new collective vision that works for everyone.”
Jaclyn Gelb, a self-described “Topanga Canyon-mom and activist,” came because she said she views “TED as part of the same energetic shift as Occupy Wall Street that questions that status quo and overcomes apathy.”
Introduced with a stirring music performance by Malibu’s “American Idol” contestant Hannah Mulholland, the conference kicked off with a short overview by Jared Rosen, CEO of DreamSculpt Media, of the power of user-generated content to give rise to a new global consciousness. Dermatologist Jessica Wu picked up the thread of how we change consciousness by describing how what we eat alters not only our health, but also our mental outlook. Her suggestion that doctors write prescription for food drew hearty applause from the audience.
Dr. Narayan Srinivasa, principal research scientist at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu continued the scientific theme as he shared his research on enhancing perception of machines that learn through artificial intelligence from past experiences.
After a musical interlude by the Malibu Boys and Girls Glee Club, local artists spoke passionately about their respective art. After body and mind stretches from yoga teacher and world traveler, Ted McDonald, the audience experienced hands-on the creative power of repetition by engaging in a call and repeat drumming session led by theater artist and Drumtime founder John Lacques.
Another group of speakers focused on how tragedy had inspired positive change in their lives. Douglas Kmiec, former U.S. Ambassador and professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University, shared with the audience how the death of two close friends in a car accident that he alone survived has transformed him into an advocate of “loving our enemies” in both personal and professional life, including diplomacy. In another moving presentation, therapist Lisa Kamen elaborated on her personal travails because, she said, “Through these dramatic experiences comes opportunity for growth, transformation and a richer view of the world.”
This same message was mirrored in a stirring musical performance of “Believe” by five-time “Oprah Winfrey” performer Abe McDonald, who belted out the lyrics, “I believe in meŠ it’s my will that keeps me strong: Believe in your dreams!”
Sweetened with an ample selection of delicious chocolates and desserts from sponsor ChocolateBox Café, the somber message of leveraging personal hardship into transformational change resonated with TEDx attendees.
“Today, we’re gifted with a slow, free-falling economy that is going to give us the gift to reinvent ourselves,” Hix said. “Because the experience will force us to realize that we are all interconnected and together we must care for Mother Earth and Humanity.”
Agoura resident Linda Ciana said, “I was excited to hear the theme of ‘oneness’ being addressed by professional business people who are now beginning to endorse the concept of unity and letting go of ego.”
For organizer Kamen that was the main point she wanted everyone to take home from the conference.
“Through challenges such as the economic recession, we can be liberated from our old ways to recreate our lives,” she said. “This is exciting to me because it offers limitless possibilities. It was this potential power that catalyzed the organization and production TEDxMalibu as an opportunity to create, share and celebrate the brightest thinkers and doers within our fertile community.
“The most important idea I want the audience to take away from my presentation is that flourishing in the New Paradigm requires a new way of thinking about happiness and wellbeing that involves a conscious choice to show up for life passionately, fully, lovingly and joyfully.”