Adventures In Ted Talks

This past weekend, I completed what is the equivalent of running a marathon for me—a Ted Talk. And I lived! 
 
Not only did I meet the most amazing people from all over the world, I got the chance to talk about healing from childhood and adulthood abuse on a big stage with a big red dot. (I’ll tell you later how I “fell off the red dot” at one point because you know, it’s hard to stay on a rug while you’re speaking. Ha!)
 
I’m constantly amazed by how much we are guided and helped to be where we need to be at the right time. 
 
And I was even more thrilled to look out into the crowd and see my husband and kids proudly smiling back at me, and sometimes with tears in their eyes. None of this road I’ve traveled has been easy on them and it affected all three of them deeply in many ways. 
 
After the talk was over and Noah was heading home, I got a message from him saying that I was a kick-ass woman who is going to change the world. Of course, I teared up reading that. I’m just overwhelmed with love and admiration for Scott, Noah, and Grace, and I’m so eternally grateful they are mine.  And I hope with all my heart, our children and their children will never have to experience anything I did in their lifetime. 
 
If my Ted Talk opens up channels of communication with just two people about the bigger picture of life, stuff that can’t be explained by science, patterns of abuse, repression, and rebuilding life after all of it, I am a happy woman. 
 
For now, I’m going to kick back and relax and NOT MEMORIZE ANYTHING for a long time. 
 
Now what was I doing? Oh right…NOT MEMORIZING ANYTHING and enjoying being exactly where I am at this very moment. 
 
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More on the topic of memory loss related to abuse: 
https://www.kierstenparsons.com/blog/recovery-memory-andwhat-was-i-saying
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Here's a snippet of the Ted Talk that was filmed by our son, Noah. The official Ted Talk video will be uploaded to TED in a couple months, I believe. They produce a beautiful video for each presenter. So grateful!  You can find more info on Tedx Sedona at www.tedxsedona.com.