Giles Duley: When a reporter becomes the story | Video on TED.com
^^^^Press This Purply Link^^^^^^
We watched this with mom this morning. She had a premonition that she was going to be in the hospital on a certain day, told Edwin, and they planned how to get our cages doubly ready for her absence. Extra water, food, hay...all done. Then she ended up in an ambulance in the hospital, exactly as she knew she would.
But before these sorts of things happened, she was a documentary nature photojournalist, writer, and environmental educator and even her greatest inspiration and mentor, Ansel Adams, wrote to her. At the time she was working in Iowa to help preserve the 0.01% of the natural tallgrass prairies, wetlands, and the wildlife dependent upon them for survival...Ansel Adams sent her a postcard back in...maybe 1981...to encourage her and on it was a prophetic photograph he had taken of Hurricane Ridge. Hurricane Ridge is here in Washington State and one of mom's favorite places. Back then she had never even heard of it. Then she became ill and continued trying to work until her dear friend, the editor of the newspaper,
fired her for her own good but not before writing an editorial about why mom's column would no longer appear in the paper. Mom was sad.
For years, she didn't know how to find fulfillment through giving, for she felt she had nothing to give. Until PandaPig looked up at her from his miserable cage sitting on the floor of the farm store where she had gone to buy cat food for Chai. And he asked to go home with her and she was then reliant on Disabled Transport who had never transported a disabled woman with a giant guinea pig cage and a guinea pig in it, but there they were so he carried them both home to the Wildlife Refuge.
If she had remained a
healthy wildlife photographer/writer, we would not have PandaPig's Sanctuary.
But now she's out here, not that far from Hurricane Ridge - how prophetic of the late Ansel Adams, who had invited her to his home in Carmel, CA then passed away before she could visit him.
We tell her that it is
precisely her disability that enables her to fulfill her dreams. Because it's true, and that is also the topic of this EXTRAORDINARY TED TALK!
We are now so happy together and mom finally feel like we ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE, TOGETHER, and we feel content (after our breakfast, love-time, and long runabouts where we make lots of mischief.) But this inner peace could not have happened any other way. Mom is sick but not suffering on the Inside, where it really counts.
So, we hope you'll take the time to watch this TED talk. And if you're not familiar with TED talks, perhaps you will feel inspired to learn more about them because they're each extraordinary and you are sure to find yourself somewhere within each speakers' own experiences. These are people who care and make a difference and share their experiences and humanity openly and we love TED talks with parsley and lettuce, wheatgrass, and fresh organic carrots. Sometimes mom eats
popcorn. Just so's ya know.
Since our coach is now resting at home we are getting a break from OlympPIG competition. But when we do return, and we will,
we will dazzle you! (or not.) Either way, we piggies are AWESOME!
And, like the speaker featured here, we wouldn't be here if mom hadn't gotten sick. ENJOY.
Love,
YumYum, Vinny-Guinea, Bhindi, and Peter-Peanut
