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Wisdom Trailer

Inspired by the idea that wisdom is the greatest gift one generation can give to another, award-winning photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman interviewed, photographed and filmed 50 of the world’s great writers, actors, artists, designers, politicians, musicians and religious and business leaders of our time. He posed seven questions to each of his subjects - all over 65 years of age. Their candid responses offer uniquely inspirational and often surprising insights.

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• Awareness, Movies, Personal Development

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Going Silent For 17 Years

The story
For almost three decades, John Francis has been a planetwalker, traveling the globe by foot and sail with a message of environmental respect and responsibility. For 17 of those years without speaking.

Why this story inspired me
It shows what the actions of one man can lead to if he chooses to follow his instincts. Not knowing where his journey will take him but being interested in the journey.

What I hope sharing this story will lead to
I hope that more people become aware of their own potential to really make a difference.

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• 589 clicks |
• Awareness, Green, Speeches

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Je Bent Mooi

The story
In november 2009 I gave a presentation about creativity at the Kansdenkdag event in Maarssen (Holland). At the end of the presentation I gave the audience an assignment in which I asked them to place stickers with (personal) inspiring quotes on objects in the place where they live. Then I asked them to make a picture of the result and mail those pictures to me. I promised I would let these pictures inspire me to make a new creation. Since the quote ‘Je bent mooi’ (which is Dutch for ‘You are beautiful’) turned up in several of the received pictures, I decided to use that line to write a song. After that I asked a friend of mine to help me record it by playing piano as I would sing it and play guitar.

Since I wanted to put ‘embrace your mistakes’ into practice, we only played the song 3 times together and picked recording number 2 to be the final version. And yes, there are mistakes in it. But that’s also what the song is about. Everything and everyone being beautiful in their own way. The video was shot in Amsterdam and Tilburg. Another friend of mine helped me out shooting it. Meeting all the people in the video was a great experience. Should you want to understand the lyrics of the song then you can read the translation at the bottom of this post.

Why this story inspired me
Simply filming random people that you meet as you wander through a town shows that the lyrics are right: You are beautiful. All people are.

What I hope sharing this story will lead to
I hope that more people will start to focus on the beauty that’s everywhere around them instead of comparing themselves or others with the models on TV, billboards and in magazines.

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• 1069 clicks |
• Awareness, Music, Personal Development

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Still Bill

The story
Still Bill is an intimate portrait of soul legend Bill Withers, best known for his classics “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me,” “Lovely Day,” “Grandma’s Hands,” and “Just the Two of Us.” With his soulful delivery and warm, heartfelt sincerity, Withers has written the songs that have - and always will - resonate deeply within the fabric of our times.

Why this story inspired me
The trailer shows that Bill Withers’ main strength is to not become distracted by what other people want. He’s not looking for people to like him, he’s not looking for more money, he’s looking for ways to know how it feels for his “desperation to get louder”.

What I hope sharing this story will lead to
I hope that more people will find the strength to do whatever it is that they want to do. This means: being true to yourself.

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• Movies, Music, Personal Development

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Seth Godin - Stay Curious

The story
Seth Godin shares his view on the importance of staying curious. A lot of people stop being curious because the schoolsystems are not focused on keeping people curious. But if you are able to persist your curiosity will become an easy habit that can help a lot of people.

Why this story inspired me
A lot of insights that I believe are true are shared in this conversation with Seth. It’s hard to stay curious when the world around you seems to keep telling you to go with ‘certainty’ instead of living a ‘risky’ life. But I believe that, in the end, a risky life is what living is about. It’s about exploring. It’s not about knowing what the future will be like. It’s knowing that you don’t know what’s ahead of you and looking forward to what’s going to come. Whatever that may be.

What I hope sharing this story will lead to
I hope that people who have chosen to be curious will get extra strength from this story and continue to focus on what it is that they want to discover. Stay curious.

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• 2638 clicks |
• Awareness, Personal Development

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How To Live To Be 100+

The story
To find the path to long life and health, Dan Buettner and team study the world’s “Blue Zones,” communities whose elders live with vim and vigor to record-setting age. At TEDxTC, he shares the 9 common diet and lifestyle habits that keep them spry past age 100.

Why this story inspired me
The presentation shows that having a purpose in your life and living life in a community (friends, family) are of big influence on your chances of reaching a high age while remaining healthy. It’s also a good idea to create a life in which the activities that you do demand you to move your body.

What I hope sharing this story will lead to
I hope that more people will see the importance of creating opportunities for older people to stay active in a way that let’s them know they’re still part of society after they retire. The documentary Young At Heart is a great example of the effect that such initiatives can have.

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• Awareness, Personal Development, Speeches

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Homeless Mustard Sings Creep

The story
Homeless guy Mustard walks into a radio show where they are promoting a ‘homeless shopping spree’. During the interview it turns out that Mustard can play guitar and sing. He takes his guitar and starts playing Radiohead’s ‘Creep’.... Beautiful.

Why this story inspired me
This might be one of the best versions of ‘Creep’ that I have ever heard. The way he sings the song shows that the lyrics could be his. He owns the lyrics. Very moving.

What I hope sharing this story will lead to
I hope that more people are able to find their unique style/voice. The guy in the clip doesn’t just play a cover of a song. He takes the song as an idea and makes it his own. That’s a big difference.

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• 2122 clicks |
• Events, Music