I spent this past week surrounded by brilliant, provocative, important ideas. My notebook is stuffed full of quotes, my mind is reeling with sparkly new connections – these are my favorite kinds of overwhelm. 

From this ocean of fascinating content, a surprising thread emerged. Despite my love of brain-first adventure, despite my attending this gathering in search of exactly that sort of input, the sessions that affected me most deeply were… something else. 

I shivered with glee when the air escaped from a thousand-year-old ice shard, with a pop and crack reflecting the passing centuries.

I welled up when a chorus of teenagers performed the most stirring rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” that I will ever hear.

I was stopped in my tracks when the sun broke through an ancient forest grove after days of misty gray.

Dear ones, our world requires all of us – brains, hearts, bodies, and spirits.

Our own lives deserve nothing less.

The top photo is the fantastic Janet Echelman’s sculpture Noli Timere – shown with the little medal that I carry everywhere, both inspired by Seamus Heaney.