Aletta Blogt

On December 1st Tedx Amsterdam organized a women’s event. The independently organized event was hosted by Dutch presentor Sylvana Simons and took place in the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum. 25 inspiring women took the stage and presented their ideas, visions, ambitions and dreams to the 100 women present in the audience. I was one of the lucky ones and got a personal invitation to attend this unique event. And all I can say it was an emotional rollercoaster, from utter joy and cheerfulness to moving stories and personal revelations. From scientific research to power coaching and so much more.

It is hard to say which speaker was the best or most inspiring because almost all of them had something going for them. But I will give it a try and present my very personal summary of this day in nine quotes. These were the most remarkable for me but since I have to make choices I inevitably will have to kill some darlings too in the process.

1.You have to use what you got in order to get what you want
Dr Amy Lehman gave us a virtual tour of the Tanganiyka Lake area in Africa. She sails this lake with her hospital ship and told us about the challenges this area faces. Her personal motto is: You have to use what you got in order to get what you want.

2. What their mums told them
Jessica Stern is an internationally acclaimed expert on terrorism. She does not only study terrorism but actually talks to (former) terrorists as well. She dazzled the audience with stories of her encounters with known and feared terrorists such as Al-Qaida leaders. In her conversations with former terrorists the influence of their mothers turned out to be crucial in their way back to society.

3. We lost our connection to nature
One of the first slides Mette de Vries of Strawberry Earth showed us, presented five logo’s of internationally known brands and five leaves of trees. And she asked us if we could name the trees. Shame on us. We knew the brands but not the trees. This simply showed us how disconnected we are from nature. Something De Vries is trying to change because as she stated: everyday we can make a sustainable choice.

4. You miss one hundred percent of the shots you do not take
Shannon Fitzgerald quoted famous Canadian hockeyplayer Wayne Gretzky to underline her point we should not back down because we are afraid of new opportunities. Does that mean she is not afraid to take every opportunity that arises. ´Hell no´, she said and she comforted us by telling that risk takers are scared too. Her advice is to thin slice new opportunities, get grounded and only talk to positive people in our lives.

5. Normal doesn´t get you nowhere
New York state born Kelly Cutrone is a PR icon. She took the stage and swept us out of our chairs with her talk. Her one-liners were catching. Not only doesn’t normal get us nowhere we have to watch out for our mums too. They are our big programmers and it is hard to live up to their expectations while we try to live our own lives.

6. Every time I found myself editorializing I pressed delete
San Francisco based Indian journalist Sonia Faleiro writes about the people in the margins. One day she noticed she wrote about them but decided to make their voices heard. So now she let them speak themselves in her articles, books and essays. Her main character in her latest book Beautiful Thing has an utterly optimistic and positive voice while her story is terribly tragic and sad.

7.When you do not talk about it, it is not there
On august 17 1988 Corina Vermeulen heard she was HIV positive. In a dry manner with a wonderful sense of humour she told us what kind of impact this news has had on her life. It was quite impressive to listen to her and hear her story. Even more impressive was the way she left the stage. She had come out of the closet and told the world. The audience, me included, was deeply moved.

8. Treating people nicely comes back to you
Business professional Mei Lin Ang had it all. A good job, four wonderful teenage daughters and a fulfilling life. But the desire to have her own business kept crawling up although she never knew what and how. Until she discovered frozen yoghurt in the States. Now she is an ice cream entrepreneur. Her three life rules were be sharp and stay focused, create your own story and be nice to all.

9. Dare to dream bigger
The last talk of the day was a real kicker. Lauren Zander is a top of the bill mental coach. Her message was loud and clear. Dare to dream bigger. Kill the chicken, the brat and the weather reporter in you. Make a promise to yourself and keep this promise. To help you make this promise public. Because no one is coming to save you but you.

Antia Wiersma works for Aletta, institute of women’s history and was invited to Tedx Amsterdam Women.