I am free | Ushi Patel | TEDxVail
[Music] Brave the unknown trust the stirring in your heart to Voyage the fierce Uncharted Territory belonging solely to you walk the path of the lionhearted to the realm where the darkness is pregnant come to peace with the Mischief before you the sun and the storm will endow a rainfall that ends the Famine of this era I never thought I'd be a poet I was creative I had a successful career in branding and design I had all the right jobs earned by all the right college degrees the right fabulous apartment in San Francisco with the right car and all the right clothes for all the right parties life seemed good on the outside and it was but I was empty living a life that I thought I should be living living a life I thought others expected that I should be living it went something like this get up rush out the door coffee and breakfast in hand commute Hong Kong a little road rage one meeting to the next one appointment to the next hustle hustle hustle hundreds of emails and texts did I eat lunch all an endless cycle of keeping it together paying bills long days every day for the promise of a future it turns out I didn't even want sound familiar yeah yes I was contributing yes I was achieving yes I was working with purpose and drive but I was a slave imprisoned by a myth I bought into I could just have a little more then I could relax just a little more and life would be easier if I could just achieve a little more I'd be comfortable in my skin all external Pursuits to make up for what didn't feel right on the inside and then things started to fall apart on the outside too my business was failing I lost clients and a lot of money I was arguing with the people I loved a relationship ended I totally lost track of who I was and I hated who I'd become and all that certainty all that security all that safety I was chasing wasn't there what was the point of being so busy so I stopped I just stopped I decided for one year I would do only the things my heart wanted me to do even if what my heart wanted made no rational sense I'd C the space to listen I create the space to feel I would Brave the unknown so I slept on some couches lived simply ate simply and I recovered I recovered parts of myself that I lost trying to keep up and in that recovery a poet was born I didn't recognize the poems at first as the stirring in my heart was so noisy I forgot what that sounded like what I did know is that I felt really drawn to Nature so I spent every day of that year sometimes all day in nature I'm talking some true tree hugging for a city girl and as I did so the poems would come I'd have beautiful beautiful dreams of owls and Stags and lions and elephants lots and lots and lots of elephants and I would see the animal and then the poem would come and i' look up the symbolism of the animal and it would always match the meaning of the poem these synchronicities reminded me of what I believed in they reminded me that I wasn't alone the beauty and wonder of nature humbled me I softened and I became more in touch with who I was and who I wanted to be in nature I could easily feel I could listen and then I could converse with my heart and trust that voice for so long I tried to have this epic impact and matter poetry wasn't the dream it was because of poetry that I started to dream again and then those dreams became true when I decided to have a better relationship with myself when I decided that I'd be completely honest with myself poems would flow and in that space I could forgive I could heal I could experience compassion first for myself and then others poetry was an external expression of an inner Triumph and that's why it naturally inspires and Comforts others we all have a gift something that can flow through US sometimes we search the entire world for it sometimes we go to a million workshops to try to find it sometimes we ignore it sometimes we exchange it for Safety and Security sometimes we don't even believe we have it but we do this is what I learned in my experience that I want to share with you if you're feeling something similar if you're feeling lost if you're feeling stuck if you're feeling alone uncertain like you're failing and you don't know what's next first you're not alone no one has it completely figured out not even Beyonce even though it looks like she does what you are looking for is closer than you think it's right here you are what you're looking for when you choose yourself your gift naturally chooses you when you choose yourself your gift naturally chooses you and that choice Demands a personal exploration and self-confrontation that strengthens you and gives you back to you if you do the personal work the words follow if you do the personal work the great food follows if you do the personal work the Beautiful music follows so let's do the work never before has there been so many tools to do so never before has there been such a great need that's what writing poetry teaches me that I matter we matter you matter how many sleeping dreams are in the room right now wake them up your photography will open minds your Symphony will comfort and uplift grieving Hearts your technology will give voice to the voiceless and the blind will see your business model will cure economies and help people to prosper the farmer will give his gift and all will eat when you choose to have a better relationship with yourself your gift chooses you and then your entire life becomes a gift in the collective and unified offering of our gifts there will be good great social change there will be a great and positive future I'm not saying it's going to be a life of ease and riches it's not going to be all cupcakes and champagne the reward is far greater Freedom incredible Freedom a free voice the freedom to create any reality you want the freedom to be you right as if you are your own lover the quills of section for the paper has made me sane with each line I exhilarate the ink emancipating Venus from my with each stroke I catch up to the Horizon sending my verse Soaring Over The Edge to nuzzle the Sun so that he may paint his pleasure across the sky right I beg you right compose your Soul's Freedom the Beloved Burns for your poems [Music] [Applause] [Music]