Well, it finally arrived—my last conference of the year. It was fun to make a Tedx event the last of my 2013 rounds. I’ve never attended one of these before, and was really looking forward to it. I’d still love to make it to the mother ship one day, but for now this will do.

TEDxPeachtree wasn’t dissimilar from other conferences I attended, which I think I was expecting it to be, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. There were a few speakers I was familiar with, but most of them were new to me which I enjoy.

Here are a few little gems I pulled from the Atlanta TED Talks:

Jeff Shinabarger, Activist Philanthropist

• We will be known by the problems we solve.
• To give generously is to give freely with nothing expected in return.
• Define for yourself what is enough. (want vs. need)
• Sometimes we don’t need more gifts. Sometimes we need each others presence.
• Everyone has something to give.

Rashid Nuri, Urban Farmer

• Know who grows your food.
• Quality food is the most important factor in being healthy.
• We eat 31% more packaged food than fresh food. We are a sick country.
• The soil is the solution.
• There is no culture without agriculture.
• Quality food is a right.
• Urban agriculture could be the solution to universal healthcare.

Rossin, Portrait Artist

• Grace is the answer. Everything else is second best.
• Kindness is the all-seeing eye of the soul.
• You paint your portrait on your surroundings.

Nathan Sawaya, Brick Artist

• You don’t have to build what’s on the front of the box.

Aurora Robson, Activist Artist

• Waste is displaced abundance.
• It’s easy to ignore a problem you can’t see.

Marshall Seese Jr., Music Making Entrepreneur

• Freedom + Constraints = Empowerment
• Constraints prevent you from being overwhelmed.

Mark Riedl, A.I. Researcher

• If you aren’t scared of failure, you aren’t working on the right problem.
• Innovation requires both the idea and the implementation.
• Creativity builds society.

Wanda Hopkins-McClure, Educator and Silo-Buster

• Innovation in education will happen one teacher, one student, one classroom at a time.
• Great teachers encourage you to risk and fail.
• Great teachers encourage you to think about who you are.

Daphne Greenberg, Adult Literacy Advocate

• Acknowledging our medley of voices brings us one step closer to an inclusive society.
• 1 in 6 adults reads at an elementary level.
• This epidemic affects us all. (Healthcare, economy, interaction, etc.)
• People develop amazing coping skills.
• Adult literacy is a social justice.
• A determinant of a child’s success in school is dependent on the mother’s reading skills.

Mary Frances Bowley, Healer and Guardian

• We can’t sit here anymore and watch the bullies steal the childhood of our daughters.
• In Atlanta, 100 girls are sold for sex every night.
• 37-55 is the average age of a john.
• The way we order food at a restaurant is the way a john orders a girl.
• Protecting and restoring is the way to end trafficking.

Lisa Earle McLeod, Author

• It’s not our truths that cause problems, it is our belief in their exclusivity.
• Compromise is the problem, not the solution. You miss seeing what is possible.
• Whenever we get stressed, we tend to default.
• Find your Noble Purpose. It’s your North Star. Use it as your filter.

Neale Martin, Author

• If you want to change your life, you must change your habits.
• It’s not enough to be inspired.
• Discipline changes behavior.
• Disrupt the old habit. Create a new habit. Create a powerful reinforcement. Repeat it until it feels normal.

Well, that’s a wrap. I did a lot of learning this year, and hope to continue that tradition in 2014. Until then, it’s back to my Netflix queue. 😉