[Music]
[Music]
a lot of us feel like the world is
falling apart almost every day we see
another tragedy a war hurricane refugee
from famine when we see these images we
tend to feel hopeless helpless
overwhelmed like there’s nothing we can
do
has anyone felt these feelings has
anyone started avoiding the news we numb
we eat we drink we shove our feelings
and go on Netflix binges or maybe that’s
just me and none of this really helps
the situation what if when we saw images
like this we could not give up but
instead just like in our own lives feel
inspired to create something better and
more than that we knew that we weren’t
alone in this we were part of a huge
community looking seeing things falling
apart as openings to change the course
of our shared future what if to make
this change
you only had to make some small but
radical internal shifts it happened to
me in the fall of 2015 I was at home
here in Arizona checking Facebook and I
kept seeing images like this of families
drowning in the Mediterranean as they
fled to safety from Syria and other
countries it was the largest refugee
crisis since World War two but this time
something in me had just had it and I
knew that I could no longer live in
integrity with Who I am in the world
that I want and not do something so a
month later despite all the reasons not
to I found myself on the shores of
lesbos Greece it was frigid winter and
he spent my nights pulling people from
rafts and being handed babies and my
days finding these people food clothing
shelter medical
and baby supplies whatever they needed
to continue their journey and most
importantly letting them know that
someone still cared I wondered where was
the government the military the large
international organizations why was it
me Zoe from Arizona and some other
amazing concerned citizens from around
the world in the water and what if we
had decided to just stay home I was so
shocked that I started posting photos
and stories every day online of what I
was seeing and experiencing and the
amazing people making this journey
what happened next changed my life
people read my stories and they shared
them with their friends who shared them
with their friends and in just a few
weeks people like you had sent me almost
$100,000 for these people that they’d
never even met the average donation a
hundred bucks now anyone who knows me
knows I’m a little bit of a lone wolf
but I learned in a way that I will never
forget that I’m not alone that we all
care about each other even if we haven’t
met and we want to help if we just know
how so while every day I was seeing the
worst of humanity in the impact of war
and absolutely horrified at the failure
of the global systems I also discovered
the best of humanity so I came home with
a question what is it then that can help
us go from feeling helpless that our
computers to actually doing something I
discovered it’s an inner shift from the
old paradigm that we’ve been taught to
see through charity to a new paradigm
solidarity and to make this shift we
need to make three changes in how we see
ourselves and the world the first shift
is from no there’s nothing I can do to
yes in the moment that you see the news
story you have to pass
one is to say no shut the computer and
grab the cookies we’ve all done it
the other is to say yes to the authentic
voice in your heart that cares it isn’t
easy but our future depends on it you
don’t have to know exactly what you’re
gonna do if you say yes and you share
that yes other people say yes too and
because of that opportunities open and
for those of you who say to me but Zoe I
have nothing to offer I received one of
the greatest lessons of my life from a
family I helped on one of the bitterest
nights they sent me a message months
later they said it was just a tiny tent
and just a little bit of warmth but it
was your love and your smile that gave
us the strength to go on
your care is the most important gift you
have to share if someone was hurt right
in front of you I have no doubt that you
would help them so we have to ask what’s
the distance that makes the difference
between our yes and our no and what if
we admitted that everyone deserves a yes
when I came home I founded an
organization one light global since
Greece we’ve been to Serbia Turkey
Palestine Lebanon we saw that aid was
just the beginning so we started
infrastructure projects we put hundreds
of kids in school rather than work on
the street we started a Women’s Center
we’ve bought prosthetic limbs for
children we paid for forty thousand
meals and more and everywhere that we
went we fell in love with the people
that we met we laughed together we
shared meals and stories we discovered
our profound shared humanity these were
victims they were our human brothers and
sisters and I can’t tell you the
incredible joy and fulfillment this
brought to all of our lives we learned
there are no one-way streets
but between trips disasters were
happening here too and we started to
feel torn between helping here and
abroad but the more that we saw the more
that we realized that the causes of the
suffering were interconnected we are
sophisticated we know now that the
causes of war poverty natural disaster
are complex and implicate and impact all
of us the second shift is in the size of
the word us what do you think of when
you think of the word us maybe your
family or community picture it now
expand that to encompass all of humanity
all of us together and home is here when
we are in this perspective the question
isn’t will I help but how can I do my
part up until now we’ve had one answer
charity it is an old model and it only
works in a world where us is still small
a world of separation of here and there
of haves and have-nots not of equals
resourced human beings working together
towards a common goal at best it
provides band-aids at worst I have seen
it it is horribly inefficient it
outsources aid to large organizations
that people have lost trust in it makes
people without money feel like they have
nothing to offer and worst of all it
maintains the status quo of a world that
is not working a world of inequality
injustice violence hatred and abuse of
resources it is the people on the top
deck of the Titanic handing champagne to
those below well we all sink charity has
been around for thousands of years and
yet these problems are still here if we
truly want change
we must begin to look through the lens
of the yes and the big us the lens of
solidarity this is the difference that
can change our future from this
perspective it changes are very
psychology and the systemic patterns
that cause these events to recur it also
changes the way that we address them on
the ground we work together with the
people that are impacted who better
knows what they need this is a refugee
camp an official camp that I was at this
is a camp co-created by volunteers and
refugees and in the big picture we form
a global community working together
looking at root causes and root solution
and solutions to the imminent dangers
that we all face this is something
anyone can help with no matter who or
where they are so we say yes I can do
something and we work together as a big
US but there is a third shift the most
important of all on our last night in
Turkey my Syrian friends just like a
sister she said how do you feel about
all that you’ve accomplished and while I
was so proud of our team and the
incredible refugees we worked with there
was still this aching hole in my heart i
sat with that ache until I understood it
we were returning people to better lives
but they were still lives in a world
where these events would keep happening
something was missing and this time at
home I noticed that among all of these
tragic videos I was seeing online we’re
also all of these like totally amazing
videos of people creating new
technologies 3d printing aquaponics
solar walls blockchain air crete
[Laughter]
this was the missing piece the third
shift is from despair to opportunity the
opportunity to apply these new
technologies to the necessity these
disasters create in order to rebuild
differently a future free from these
elves once and for all but there’s
another piece my worst night unless
beause we were guiding boats in the
refugees would flash their cell phones
from the water and when one of us saw
them we’d text everyone else we’d hop in
our cars and we drive to the part of the
island we anticipated them arriving we’d
shine lights or build fires to try to
get them to come in safely and not land
on the rocky shore or miss the island
entirely that night I was really young
couple we ran and ran further south we
ran down these hills through the woods
it was dark and it was raining we tried
everything we could but the waves were
high and we lost them
two full boats of people drowned that
night people just like you and me just
looking for safety in my deep grief I
kneeled on the ground and through my
tears I asked the universe why is this
happening
clear as a bell I heard these people are
coming to open the heart of the West we
are at an historic turning point if we
want a different future it will require
global solutions and every culture has a
wisdom that is necessary to add to that
conversation in order for a new way of
life to emerge that is egalitarian and
sustainable for all what if we saw these
horrible tragedies as critical moments
moments in which we are called to come
together to share intercultural wisdom
and new technology to rebuild
differently my mom used to say necessity
is the mother of invention
humans are amazing if you give them the
need and the resources and the right
partners to create with there are 65
million displaced people in the world
today that’s projected to grow to 200
million soon what if instead of putting
these people in camps like ghettos kept
dependent on charity unable to
contribute to themselves or anyone else
which is what they want most they could
be opportunities to create new ways of
communal living with sustainable
holistic Urban Development that could be
an inspiration to the rest of the world
this is Beedie Beedie the newest and one
of the largest refugee camps in the
world this is the view of it from space
300,000 people live here could grow to a
million what if instead of looking at
biddy biddy as the newest camp we looked
at it as the newest city what if instead
of sending in only basic supplies they
literally shipped food and water in here
every day and not enough of it people
are hungry we shipped an innovative
urban planners renewable energy experts
resource centers of shareable tools
innovated agriculture permaculture
provided virtual education what if we
created an online collaborative idea
forum and empowered the people here to
communicate with millions around the
globe engaging in innovation together
that could be used anywhere next month
next month one light global is going
here to build a Resource Center with
some other organizations based on these
ideas and explore innovative agriculture
models that may just make food security
a non-issue maybe one day we can bring
that back here to Yavapai County where
kids are going to bed hungry every night
this is just a tiny example of what can
happen when we move from know and
despair and charity to yes and
solidarity and opportunity next time you
see a story on the news or Facebook or
in your neighborhood say yes see that
this isn’t happening to them or to you
but to all of us if you have no time
donate to small organizations on the
ground looking to long term innovative
solutions if you want to take it a step
further envision the world that you want
get together with your friends and
brainstorm out-of-the-box solutions and
share them if you’re a designer or a
tech innovator whatever your field
imagine how innovations in your field
can be applied if you can get on the
ground and implement from an attitude of
equality and solidarity and if you’re an
organizer or storyteller spread
awareness and let inspire people to
create a different future inside each of
us is alight it’s the same no matter how
we appear on the outside and it’s also
unique when we all shine our light it
becomes one light that can shine away
the darkness thank you
you
you
[Music]
a lot of us feel like the world is
falling apart almost every day we see
another tragedy a war hurricane refugee
from famine when we see these images we
tend to feel hopeless helpless
overwhelmed like there’s nothing we can
do
has anyone felt these feelings has
anyone started avoiding the news we numb
we eat we drink we shove our feelings
and go on Netflix binges or maybe that’s
just me and none of this really helps
the situation what if when we saw images
like this we could not give up but
instead just like in our own lives feel
inspired to create something better and
more than that we knew that we weren’t
alone in this we were part of a huge
community looking seeing things falling
apart as openings to change the course
of our shared future what if to make
this change
you only had to make some small but
radical internal shifts it happened to
me in the fall of 2015 I was at home
here in Arizona checking Facebook and I
kept seeing images like this of families
drowning in the Mediterranean as they
fled to safety from Syria and other
countries it was the largest refugee
crisis since World War two but this time
something in me had just had it and I
knew that I could no longer live in
integrity with Who I am in the world
that I want and not do something so a
month later despite all the reasons not
to I found myself on the shores of
lesbos Greece it was frigid winter and
he spent my nights pulling people from
rafts and being handed babies and my
days finding these people food clothing
shelter medical
and baby supplies whatever they needed
to continue their journey and most
importantly letting them know that
someone still cared I wondered where was
the government the military the large
international organizations why was it
me Zoe from Arizona and some other
amazing concerned citizens from around
the world in the water and what if we
had decided to just stay home I was so
shocked that I started posting photos
and stories every day online of what I
was seeing and experiencing and the
amazing people making this journey
what happened next changed my life
people read my stories and they shared
them with their friends who shared them
with their friends and in just a few
weeks people like you had sent me almost
$100,000 for these people that they’d
never even met the average donation a
hundred bucks now anyone who knows me
knows I’m a little bit of a lone wolf
but I learned in a way that I will never
forget that I’m not alone that we all
care about each other even if we haven’t
met and we want to help if we just know
how so while every day I was seeing the
worst of humanity in the impact of war
and absolutely horrified at the failure
of the global systems I also discovered
the best of humanity so I came home with
a question what is it then that can help
us go from feeling helpless that our
computers to actually doing something I
discovered it’s an inner shift from the
old paradigm that we’ve been taught to
see through charity to a new paradigm
solidarity and to make this shift we
need to make three changes in how we see
ourselves and the world the first shift
is from no there’s nothing I can do to
yes in the moment that you see the news
story you have to pass
one is to say no shut the computer and
grab the cookies we’ve all done it
the other is to say yes to the authentic
voice in your heart that cares it isn’t
easy but our future depends on it you
don’t have to know exactly what you’re
gonna do if you say yes and you share
that yes other people say yes too and
because of that opportunities open and
for those of you who say to me but Zoe I
have nothing to offer I received one of
the greatest lessons of my life from a
family I helped on one of the bitterest
nights they sent me a message months
later they said it was just a tiny tent
and just a little bit of warmth but it
was your love and your smile that gave
us the strength to go on
your care is the most important gift you
have to share if someone was hurt right
in front of you I have no doubt that you
would help them so we have to ask what’s
the distance that makes the difference
between our yes and our no and what if
we admitted that everyone deserves a yes
when I came home I founded an
organization one light global since
Greece we’ve been to Serbia Turkey
Palestine Lebanon we saw that aid was
just the beginning so we started
infrastructure projects we put hundreds
of kids in school rather than work on
the street we started a Women’s Center
we’ve bought prosthetic limbs for
children we paid for forty thousand
meals and more and everywhere that we
went we fell in love with the people
that we met we laughed together we
shared meals and stories we discovered
our profound shared humanity these were
victims they were our human brothers and
sisters and I can’t tell you the
incredible joy and fulfillment this
brought to all of our lives we learned
there are no one-way streets
but between trips disasters were
happening here too and we started to
feel torn between helping here and
abroad but the more that we saw the more
that we realized that the causes of the
suffering were interconnected we are
sophisticated we know now that the
causes of war poverty natural disaster
are complex and implicate and impact all
of us the second shift is in the size of
the word us what do you think of when
you think of the word us maybe your
family or community picture it now
expand that to encompass all of humanity
all of us together and home is here when
we are in this perspective the question
isn’t will I help but how can I do my
part up until now we’ve had one answer
charity it is an old model and it only
works in a world where us is still small
a world of separation of here and there
of haves and have-nots not of equals
resourced human beings working together
towards a common goal at best it
provides band-aids at worst I have seen
it it is horribly inefficient it
outsources aid to large organizations
that people have lost trust in it makes
people without money feel like they have
nothing to offer and worst of all it
maintains the status quo of a world that
is not working a world of inequality
injustice violence hatred and abuse of
resources it is the people on the top
deck of the Titanic handing champagne to
those below well we all sink charity has
been around for thousands of years and
yet these problems are still here if we
truly want change
we must begin to look through the lens
of the yes and the big us the lens of
solidarity this is the difference that
can change our future from this
perspective it changes are very
psychology and the systemic patterns
that cause these events to recur it also
changes the way that we address them on
the ground we work together with the
people that are impacted who better
knows what they need this is a refugee
camp an official camp that I was at this
is a camp co-created by volunteers and
refugees and in the big picture we form
a global community working together
looking at root causes and root solution
and solutions to the imminent dangers
that we all face this is something
anyone can help with no matter who or
where they are so we say yes I can do
something and we work together as a big
US but there is a third shift the most
important of all on our last night in
Turkey my Syrian friends just like a
sister she said how do you feel about
all that you’ve accomplished and while I
was so proud of our team and the
incredible refugees we worked with there
was still this aching hole in my heart i
sat with that ache until I understood it
we were returning people to better lives
but they were still lives in a world
where these events would keep happening
something was missing and this time at
home I noticed that among all of these
tragic videos I was seeing online we’re
also all of these like totally amazing
videos of people creating new
technologies 3d printing aquaponics
solar walls blockchain air crete
[Laughter]
this was the missing piece the third
shift is from despair to opportunity the
opportunity to apply these new
technologies to the necessity these
disasters create in order to rebuild
differently a future free from these
elves once and for all but there’s
another piece my worst night unless
beause we were guiding boats in the
refugees would flash their cell phones
from the water and when one of us saw
them we’d text everyone else we’d hop in
our cars and we drive to the part of the
island we anticipated them arriving we’d
shine lights or build fires to try to
get them to come in safely and not land
on the rocky shore or miss the island
entirely that night I was really young
couple we ran and ran further south we
ran down these hills through the woods
it was dark and it was raining we tried
everything we could but the waves were
high and we lost them
two full boats of people drowned that
night people just like you and me just
looking for safety in my deep grief I
kneeled on the ground and through my
tears I asked the universe why is this
happening
clear as a bell I heard these people are
coming to open the heart of the West we
are at an historic turning point if we
want a different future it will require
global solutions and every culture has a
wisdom that is necessary to add to that
conversation in order for a new way of
life to emerge that is egalitarian and
sustainable for all what if we saw these
horrible tragedies as critical moments
moments in which we are called to come
together to share intercultural wisdom
and new technology to rebuild
differently my mom used to say necessity
is the mother of invention
humans are amazing if you give them the
need and the resources and the right
partners to create with there are 65
million displaced people in the world
today that’s projected to grow to 200
million soon what if instead of putting
these people in camps like ghettos kept
dependent on charity unable to
contribute to themselves or anyone else
which is what they want most they could
be opportunities to create new ways of
communal living with sustainable
holistic Urban Development that could be
an inspiration to the rest of the world
this is Beedie Beedie the newest and one
of the largest refugee camps in the
world this is the view of it from space
300,000 people live here could grow to a
million what if instead of looking at
biddy biddy as the newest camp we looked
at it as the newest city what if instead
of sending in only basic supplies they
literally shipped food and water in here
every day and not enough of it people
are hungry we shipped an innovative
urban planners renewable energy experts
resource centers of shareable tools
innovated agriculture permaculture
provided virtual education what if we
created an online collaborative idea
forum and empowered the people here to
communicate with millions around the
globe engaging in innovation together
that could be used anywhere next month
next month one light global is going
here to build a Resource Center with
some other organizations based on these
ideas and explore innovative agriculture
models that may just make food security
a non-issue maybe one day we can bring
that back here to Yavapai County where
kids are going to bed hungry every night
this is just a tiny example of what can
happen when we move from know and
despair and charity to yes and
solidarity and opportunity next time you
see a story on the news or Facebook or
in your neighborhood say yes see that
this isn’t happening to them or to you
but to all of us if you have no time
donate to small organizations on the
ground looking to long term innovative
solutions if you want to take it a step
further envision the world that you want
get together with your friends and
brainstorm out-of-the-box solutions and
share them if you’re a designer or a
tech innovator whatever your field
imagine how innovations in your field
can be applied if you can get on the
ground and implement from an attitude of
equality and solidarity and if you’re an
organizer or storyteller spread
awareness and let inspire people to
create a different future inside each of
us is alight it’s the same no matter how
we appear on the outside and it’s also
unique when we all shine our light it
becomes one light that can shine away
the darkness thank you
you
you
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