I am but one among millions that get a TED experience by sampling the videos they freely share. I did get a faintwhiff of a TED halo experience as the NMC 2009 Summer Conference was held in the original TED venue at Monterey Bay, so I stood on the stage where TEDness happened..
What I like about TED (wow, now I was thinking of a parody of the song by the Romantics…) is the surprise factor of getting something out of a speaker or subject I did not expect. I typically download a few almost by random choice, as videos I can watch on my iphone during long plane flights.
On my flight to New Orleans last week, I was completely, blown away by this guitar performance by Kaki King
Whether you buy that she has been called “the next guitar god” (and wow, the comment flow on the TED site form the video above read like highbrow versions of YouTube comment bashing), it is amazing to watch her play– because, especially in that opening song– she turns everything that is conventional about playing guitar and turns it upside down, inside out, and produces something beautiful.
And this leads my mind to wander down paths of wondering where in other places, there is room and acceptance for the unconventional- in education school systems, standards, programs, degrees, are all designed for performing to a norm. There are reasons for this, to set goals, to give many people a path, but are there rigid walls on that path or are there alt paths?
Plus, maybe this is how it should be; if the unconventional were to be conventional, then, well, um… then… uh…. I’m going down some spinning logic hole drain. So perhaps it is best for the “crazy ones” (sad thar crazyone.com uses this video to sell stuff, oh well) to be on the edges.
So maybe now I find this video as a reminder to look where possible in the bounds of a conventional world, where one can go beyond the walls- this is the place of creativity where I, personally, find the most energy in world of convention and rules (Yes, Mrs Tharpe, in your 12th grade English class, when you played Shakespeare on the record player, my head down on the desk was not looking at the book on my lap, I was sleeping).
Look for places where you can turn the status quo inside out, it makes the world that more interesting.
