[Music]
on August 31st 1987 I was born on Hilton
Head Island on August 31st 2011 I moved
to New York City
no job no college degree one suitcase
living on my buddy’s couch in Brooklyn
on August 31st 1772 a hurricane came and
devastation drained our man saw his
future drip drip and down the drain
he put a pencil to his temple connected
it to his brain and he wrote his first
refrain a testament to his pain well the
word got around they said this kid is
insane man took up a collection just to
send him to the mainland get your
education
don’t forget whence you came in the
world is gonna know your name what’s
your name man Alexander Hamilton those
are the opening lines from the Broadway
hit musical Hamilton written by
lin-manuel Miranda Alexander Hamilton’s
life in the Caribbean was hit hard just
like those hit by hurricanes Maria
Irma and Matthew I believe the
devastation and destruction like this
can be the ultimate catalyst for healing
and strength and I’m living proof on
August 31st I was born and on that same
day in 1772 Alexander Hamilton and the
island of st. Croix were hit by a
catastrophic hurricane after the
hurricane Alexander Hamilton went on to
become one of the founding fathers of
the United States of America I mean he
played an integral role in the US
Constitution became our first secretary
that Treasury founded the New York Stock
Exchange and is now the subject of my
very favorite Broadway musical of all
time Hamilton Hamilton suffered a great
deal of personal hurricanes he was
orphaned at a young age by his mother’s
death and his father’s abandonment he
was taken in by an older cousin who
later committed suicide he lost his son
in a duel and later became a subject of
a very public extramarital affair like
Hamilton I was born on a small island in
the Atlantic Ocean obsessed with when in
water and I to have survived multiple
hurricanes not only hurricanes from
mother nature but also my very own
personal hurricanes I’ve lived through
Hurricane Hugo at age 2
Frane at age nine katrina at 19 sandy at
25 matthew at 29 now
Irma Marie and Jose at age 30 as far
back as I can remember I’ve always lived
through hurricanes during Hurricane Hugo
when I was two we evacuated to Columbia
South Carolina my mom’s way of keeping
me calm during a storm was to drive me
around in her car this taught me to be
calm during storms both personal and
otherwise I was an afflicted kid in high
school you know everything looked like
it was perfect on the outside but that’s
because I was living a lie I was put on
medication from a young age and told to
shut up the horse tranquilizers they put
me on stifled my energy stifled my
creativity and ruin my periphery I don’t
remember a lot from my childhood days
and I certainly was not allowed to run
free they were afraid of me doing
something that might embarrassed them my
childhood was taken from me and that
created my own internal hurricane sure I
learned how to make myself a peer fine I
was the one who met all the tourist
girls and had many groups of friends but
that it actually make me happy I wanted
to go to the next level of enlightenment
but I didn’t know how to get there
externally I was silent but internally I
was screaming and I think my friends
knew what was coming before I did I
rebelled
I turned to blackout drinking physical
abuse of self lashing out for attention
overstepping many boundaries hurting
several people those destructive
behaviors were the closest things I knew
to speaking my own truth when I went
away to college I the opportunity to
reinvent myself for the first time and
my doctors even reduced the dosage of
tranquilizers I became decently popular
I excelled in athletics joined a
fraternity and even secured a girlfriend
I mean that was my attempt at fitting in
but who was I really kidding you know
it’s rare that a hurricane changes its
course
my internal hurricane finally showed up
in public taking me and almost everyone
I loved with it again it was more
blackout
drinking physical abuse of self and
lashing out for attention but now
involved crashing cars lying cheating
vandalism and brushes with the law
my personal hurricane was now a category
5
so my support system sent me off to
rehab in the woods of Utah the islands
of Washington state in the city streets
of Los Angeles in rehab I was forced to
go cold turkey and realized I didn’t
actually need the medication see people
labelled me with names like addict
alcoholic weirdo pariah and I slowly
returned Hilton had as a sober yet still
conflicted man I began again my work on
the water now giving kayak tours and I
thought I had reached the eye of my
storm finding peace and quiet in the
work I was doing but ultimately there’s
still complete chaos I felt suffocated
by the size of my surroundings by the
way people saw me and I realized I was
right back to where I started so an
attempt to expand my periphery I decided
to pack my bags and travel down to live
in an iceberg in Patagonia there was an
expedition traveling south with a
National Outdoor Leadership School
hmm Patagonia
was beyond my wildest imagination I mean
we endured long hikes in the middle of
blizzards and paddled through freezing
cold Arctic waters I could climb to the
top of a cliff and scream at the top of
my lungs and nobody would tell me to
shut up I could see further than I ever
could before I was hundreds of miles
away from civilization and forced to do
nothing except submit to what was bigger
than me in Patagonia I became powerless
to mother nature it was the wind it was
the water and for the first time in my
life I felt peace and calm in the face
of Mother Nature our group was forced to
come together as a team you know for the
first time in my life I was held
accountable for other people’s survival
I couldn’t get away with lying
vandalism seeing how grand of a power
she could be taught me that I too could
grow and become a force to be reckoned
with when we would prepare for mother
nature to hit us life got very simple
seek shelter connect I then realized
that her empathetic physical nurturing
is what I secretly craved and the winds
finally stopped hurricane comes from the
16th century word Huracan means a storm
with a violet wind see in the 16th
century the Spanish worshipped the God
of the storm I worship the goddess of
the storm she is the goddess of the
Stars got us to the wind got us of the
water mother nature is my higher power
she is the ability to create immense
destruction and profound healing
simultaneously Hurricane sandy hit New
York City in October of 2012 during the
play I was producing now in that storm
our light board operator was killed when
a tree fell on him was the first hit I
had experienced by mother nature since
my own storm it felt personal but
because my mom had taught me to remain
calm I did now the day after the storm
my phone rang and it was the lightboard
operators girlfriend calling to say
she’d like to take over his job for the
rest of the performances I mean at that
time there were no subways buses or cars
with less than three people that were
allowed in or out of the city the next
morning in preparation for our matinee
she walked from Coney Island in Brooklyn
over the Manhattan Bridge and up to my
apartment at 72nd Street in Central Park
West
all the while carrying a 30 pound
backpack filled with the clothes for his
funeral which was the next day her
resiliency continues to inspire and have
a massive impact on me to this very day
see when mother nature destroys she also
brings people together to form human
bonds sometimes when that destruction is
far bigger than we
imagine we can lose our sense of purpose
our direction our ability to see clearly
what’s most important to us but those
human bonds help us regain our meaning
and purpose and remind us to love thy
neighbor see when we go through
destruction alone or together we’re
given an opportunity to connect to
rebuild devastation does not have to be
the cause of someone’s ruined the human
spirit remains strong and the human
condition continues to flourish with the
respect of Mother Nature Alexander
Hamilton wrote that in the midst of his
hurricane our distressed in helpless
condition taught us humility and
contempt of ourselves see we are all
visitors here on her earth right mother
nature strikes us when she thinks our
world needs it the most
right now we’re going through economic
social and political turmoil
you know we’re connected through
technology but arguably more
disconnected than ever before we live in
a land that is lonely insecure and
unfulfilled
my loneliness is cured by my connection
to the maternal energy that comes in the
wake of mother nature’s destruction
she’s raw liberating and seductive I
regularly seek out maternal energy in my
life through Reiki energy healers
partnered meditation and cuddle
therapists my desire to be around the
chaos so the wind and the water is
satisfied by the maternal energy I’ve
sought out in the empathy the mother
nature provides see empathy is defined
by rome and krishna rock is the art of
imaginatively stepping into the shoes of
another person understanding their
feelings and perspectives and using that
knowledge to guide your action empathy
is not empathy empathy is not compassion
it doesn’t come from looking within but
from looking around in hurricanes as
destructive as they are or the reset
button for our world they create
instantaneous and unapologetic empathy
empathy has the power to heal broken
relationships empathy has the power to
inspire and motivate entire movements
into action I was 29 when Hurricane
Matthew hit our island I remember
feeling helpless all the way in New York
City while the wind and the water I had
worshipped all my life would now flood
the homes and properties that those I
loved Hurricane Matthew stripped our
island of its lush forests and privacy
that is what I was most sad about but
now I see her pruning as a gift forcing
us to see each other in connect and
devastation her pruning has created
space for me to return as I really am
right the island that once suppressed me
and my energy now embraces me and my
unique voice resilience is the ability
to overcome illness depression adversity
or the like and resilience is one of our
greatest gifts sometimes we have to go
through an addiction a war or a
hurricane just to realize how strong we
are mother nature will save us she can
also destroy us at will
but ultimately she will embrace us I’m
sharing this message to help people find
comfort and connection through loss and
destruction personal and physical
upheaval brings families closer by
bringing up the emotion yes things get
destroyed but can also be rebuilt you
know if we can be resilient during these
kinds of turbulent times we can survive
anything
a hurricane brought Alexander Hamilton
to us a hurricane brought me to this
TEDx stage a hurricane brought us
together this is an opportunity to go
deep to be bold and to build something
far greater than we could have ever
imagined hurricanes are mother nature’s
acts of empathy thank you Chris
everybody that was great
[Applause]
on August 31st 1987 I was born on Hilton
Head Island on August 31st 2011 I moved
to New York City
no job no college degree one suitcase
living on my buddy’s couch in Brooklyn
on August 31st 1772 a hurricane came and
devastation drained our man saw his
future drip drip and down the drain
he put a pencil to his temple connected
it to his brain and he wrote his first
refrain a testament to his pain well the
word got around they said this kid is
insane man took up a collection just to
send him to the mainland get your
education
don’t forget whence you came in the
world is gonna know your name what’s
your name man Alexander Hamilton those
are the opening lines from the Broadway
hit musical Hamilton written by
lin-manuel Miranda Alexander Hamilton’s
life in the Caribbean was hit hard just
like those hit by hurricanes Maria
Irma and Matthew I believe the
devastation and destruction like this
can be the ultimate catalyst for healing
and strength and I’m living proof on
August 31st I was born and on that same
day in 1772 Alexander Hamilton and the
island of st. Croix were hit by a
catastrophic hurricane after the
hurricane Alexander Hamilton went on to
become one of the founding fathers of
the United States of America I mean he
played an integral role in the US
Constitution became our first secretary
that Treasury founded the New York Stock
Exchange and is now the subject of my
very favorite Broadway musical of all
time Hamilton Hamilton suffered a great
deal of personal hurricanes he was
orphaned at a young age by his mother’s
death and his father’s abandonment he
was taken in by an older cousin who
later committed suicide he lost his son
in a duel and later became a subject of
a very public extramarital affair like
Hamilton I was born on a small island in
the Atlantic Ocean obsessed with when in
water and I to have survived multiple
hurricanes not only hurricanes from
mother nature but also my very own
personal hurricanes I’ve lived through
Hurricane Hugo at age 2
Frane at age nine katrina at 19 sandy at
25 matthew at 29 now
Irma Marie and Jose at age 30 as far
back as I can remember I’ve always lived
through hurricanes during Hurricane Hugo
when I was two we evacuated to Columbia
South Carolina my mom’s way of keeping
me calm during a storm was to drive me
around in her car this taught me to be
calm during storms both personal and
otherwise I was an afflicted kid in high
school you know everything looked like
it was perfect on the outside but that’s
because I was living a lie I was put on
medication from a young age and told to
shut up the horse tranquilizers they put
me on stifled my energy stifled my
creativity and ruin my periphery I don’t
remember a lot from my childhood days
and I certainly was not allowed to run
free they were afraid of me doing
something that might embarrassed them my
childhood was taken from me and that
created my own internal hurricane sure I
learned how to make myself a peer fine I
was the one who met all the tourist
girls and had many groups of friends but
that it actually make me happy I wanted
to go to the next level of enlightenment
but I didn’t know how to get there
externally I was silent but internally I
was screaming and I think my friends
knew what was coming before I did I
rebelled
I turned to blackout drinking physical
abuse of self lashing out for attention
overstepping many boundaries hurting
several people those destructive
behaviors were the closest things I knew
to speaking my own truth when I went
away to college I the opportunity to
reinvent myself for the first time and
my doctors even reduced the dosage of
tranquilizers I became decently popular
I excelled in athletics joined a
fraternity and even secured a girlfriend
I mean that was my attempt at fitting in
but who was I really kidding you know
it’s rare that a hurricane changes its
course
my internal hurricane finally showed up
in public taking me and almost everyone
I loved with it again it was more
blackout
drinking physical abuse of self and
lashing out for attention but now
involved crashing cars lying cheating
vandalism and brushes with the law
my personal hurricane was now a category
5
so my support system sent me off to
rehab in the woods of Utah the islands
of Washington state in the city streets
of Los Angeles in rehab I was forced to
go cold turkey and realized I didn’t
actually need the medication see people
labelled me with names like addict
alcoholic weirdo pariah and I slowly
returned Hilton had as a sober yet still
conflicted man I began again my work on
the water now giving kayak tours and I
thought I had reached the eye of my
storm finding peace and quiet in the
work I was doing but ultimately there’s
still complete chaos I felt suffocated
by the size of my surroundings by the
way people saw me and I realized I was
right back to where I started so an
attempt to expand my periphery I decided
to pack my bags and travel down to live
in an iceberg in Patagonia there was an
expedition traveling south with a
National Outdoor Leadership School
hmm Patagonia
was beyond my wildest imagination I mean
we endured long hikes in the middle of
blizzards and paddled through freezing
cold Arctic waters I could climb to the
top of a cliff and scream at the top of
my lungs and nobody would tell me to
shut up I could see further than I ever
could before I was hundreds of miles
away from civilization and forced to do
nothing except submit to what was bigger
than me in Patagonia I became powerless
to mother nature it was the wind it was
the water and for the first time in my
life I felt peace and calm in the face
of Mother Nature our group was forced to
come together as a team you know for the
first time in my life I was held
accountable for other people’s survival
I couldn’t get away with lying
vandalism seeing how grand of a power
she could be taught me that I too could
grow and become a force to be reckoned
with when we would prepare for mother
nature to hit us life got very simple
seek shelter connect I then realized
that her empathetic physical nurturing
is what I secretly craved and the winds
finally stopped hurricane comes from the
16th century word Huracan means a storm
with a violet wind see in the 16th
century the Spanish worshipped the God
of the storm I worship the goddess of
the storm she is the goddess of the
Stars got us to the wind got us of the
water mother nature is my higher power
she is the ability to create immense
destruction and profound healing
simultaneously Hurricane sandy hit New
York City in October of 2012 during the
play I was producing now in that storm
our light board operator was killed when
a tree fell on him was the first hit I
had experienced by mother nature since
my own storm it felt personal but
because my mom had taught me to remain
calm I did now the day after the storm
my phone rang and it was the lightboard
operators girlfriend calling to say
she’d like to take over his job for the
rest of the performances I mean at that
time there were no subways buses or cars
with less than three people that were
allowed in or out of the city the next
morning in preparation for our matinee
she walked from Coney Island in Brooklyn
over the Manhattan Bridge and up to my
apartment at 72nd Street in Central Park
West
all the while carrying a 30 pound
backpack filled with the clothes for his
funeral which was the next day her
resiliency continues to inspire and have
a massive impact on me to this very day
see when mother nature destroys she also
brings people together to form human
bonds sometimes when that destruction is
far bigger than we
imagine we can lose our sense of purpose
our direction our ability to see clearly
what’s most important to us but those
human bonds help us regain our meaning
and purpose and remind us to love thy
neighbor see when we go through
destruction alone or together we’re
given an opportunity to connect to
rebuild devastation does not have to be
the cause of someone’s ruined the human
spirit remains strong and the human
condition continues to flourish with the
respect of Mother Nature Alexander
Hamilton wrote that in the midst of his
hurricane our distressed in helpless
condition taught us humility and
contempt of ourselves see we are all
visitors here on her earth right mother
nature strikes us when she thinks our
world needs it the most
right now we’re going through economic
social and political turmoil
you know we’re connected through
technology but arguably more
disconnected than ever before we live in
a land that is lonely insecure and
unfulfilled
my loneliness is cured by my connection
to the maternal energy that comes in the
wake of mother nature’s destruction
she’s raw liberating and seductive I
regularly seek out maternal energy in my
life through Reiki energy healers
partnered meditation and cuddle
therapists my desire to be around the
chaos so the wind and the water is
satisfied by the maternal energy I’ve
sought out in the empathy the mother
nature provides see empathy is defined
by rome and krishna rock is the art of
imaginatively stepping into the shoes of
another person understanding their
feelings and perspectives and using that
knowledge to guide your action empathy
is not empathy empathy is not compassion
it doesn’t come from looking within but
from looking around in hurricanes as
destructive as they are or the reset
button for our world they create
instantaneous and unapologetic empathy
empathy has the power to heal broken
relationships empathy has the power to
inspire and motivate entire movements
into action I was 29 when Hurricane
Matthew hit our island I remember
feeling helpless all the way in New York
City while the wind and the water I had
worshipped all my life would now flood
the homes and properties that those I
loved Hurricane Matthew stripped our
island of its lush forests and privacy
that is what I was most sad about but
now I see her pruning as a gift forcing
us to see each other in connect and
devastation her pruning has created
space for me to return as I really am
right the island that once suppressed me
and my energy now embraces me and my
unique voice resilience is the ability
to overcome illness depression adversity
or the like and resilience is one of our
greatest gifts sometimes we have to go
through an addiction a war or a
hurricane just to realize how strong we
are mother nature will save us she can
also destroy us at will
but ultimately she will embrace us I’m
sharing this message to help people find
comfort and connection through loss and
destruction personal and physical
upheaval brings families closer by
bringing up the emotion yes things get
destroyed but can also be rebuilt you
know if we can be resilient during these
kinds of turbulent times we can survive
anything
a hurricane brought Alexander Hamilton
to us a hurricane brought me to this
TEDx stage a hurricane brought us
together this is an opportunity to go
deep to be bold and to build something
far greater than we could have ever
imagined hurricanes are mother nature’s
acts of empathy thank you Chris
everybody that was great
[Applause]
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