Life After TED:

How speaking up changed my life

If you haven’t read the beginning of Kitty’s story, you can go to Part 1, It’s Never Too Late to Change, Part 2, Proper Ladies Don’t Give TED Talks, and Part 3, In the Circle of the Red Rug; you’ll get to know an amazing woman!

In my three recent blogs, I shared how weak and boxed in I felt for most of my life. Even while I emerged into the realm of championship surfing, large-canvas painting, and art shows, there was a huge discrepancy between how strong I appeared to others and how hesitant I felt inside. I could never have imagined how transformative it would be to give a TEDxBeaconStreet talk and dare to tell my story and encourage others forward.

I stood on the red rug completing my speech, and heard myself encourage and challenge the audience. “Go for it!” I yelled. “Find your passion and let nothing stop you!”

But a nagging question stayed with me in the aftermath of the standing ovation I received that day. Would I continue to go for it? Would I dare to grab onto who I had become and run with it?

What ensued followed a now-familiar pattern: No I can’t, Yes I can; No I won’t, Yes I will; No I didn’t, Why, YES I DID! I realized I was a new person, cutting out of an old pattern.

I had never given a talk about myself. Suddenly, I was in New York, a few months after my TEDxBeaconStreet talk, standing before a room of hundreds of Estee Lauder top executives, telling my story again, in new ways! It had been awhile since I had picked up my painting materials, but now I found myself compelled to start drawing powerful images of the very clicker I had held in my hand on the stage — a new symbol of power and choice for me to explore, express, and celebrate.

In my teaching, I shifted to a far more give-and-take (TED-like) model, and classes were coming alive in new ways. I, who had never written or even read a blog before, began to blog for TEDxBeaconStreet, in this four-part message to you! Perhaps most valuable and meaningful of all, I am now an ongoing member of a community the likes of which I have never known. TEDxBeaconStreet is a center of love, caring, community, stimulation, celebration, and support.

I’m glad I challenged my audience to “go for it!” I hope they did and continue to do so. I am delighted to realize that in encouraging them forward, I have ended up doing the very same for myself.

In many ways, Kitty embodies the values of TEDxBeaconStreet: she took an idea, one that came to her while she was out learning new skills, and put it in action, with incredible, unpredictable results. Her courage has inspired many thousands of people. Watch her talk to join them!