Here's a strange story that happened just before I walked on stage onto the TED stage on Saturday and it's true. Before I begin let me remind everyone I'm an atheist or at the very best, as Michael
Palin would say, "an agnostic with doubts": The TedX crew hooked me up with the mic and said 'good luck'. I replied 'no pressure', smiled and walked off to grab a quick glass of water. I walked around the corner to the adjoining room. It was empty and I thought I'd jot down any final thoughts before it was too late. I heard a voice behind me say "When will I be free?" I turned to see a middle aged African women dressed in a beautiful flowing purple dress with a headscarf to match. I said "Hi". She replied "Hello" but didn't look at me. I said "How's your day?". She didn't say anything but instead looked up at me directly into my eyes as if to say "quit the bullshit." She then disappeared into the womens toilet. I thought I must look pretty stupid with my head mic on and I was probably being a bit too 'nice' and feigning enthusiasm to stave off the pre-stage anxiety. I started wondering what she meant about her 'freedom' comment. My mind shot to a moment in the film Amazing Grace where William Wilberforce can't get to sleep and he's haunted by the ghosts of slaves. I took that scene to be figurative and showed that he felt that he wasn't covering as much ground as he'd like. I then realized that I had practically nothing in my presentation about the 'ethical' side of what we were trying to achieve with Gideon. I felt as though the whole thing was a 'look at how wonderful I am' and that was followed by the thought that I actually felt that I hadn't achieved anything in terms of Gideon's ethical stance. That I hadnt covered any ground this year regarding slavery in China. That Gideon had been a huge undertaking that had not made any mark or progress in the social realm and hadn't inspired anyone to change their perceptions on 'Made in China'. I felt as though that women's eyes had burnt into my soul and I felt unprepared to speak about what I thought really mattered. For those that were there on Saturday, the slide that said "More than just a pair of shoes" was going to be the moment where I was going to change everyone's minds about the consideration of sweatshops and modern day slavery. That it was something that we could change together - even if it took decades. But that slide hit me on stage with a feeling of hopelessness - it hit so hard that my eyes looked up at the counting clock and all my brain was saying "You're running out of time". I got to the end, walked off stage and said to my wife "I didn't get a chance to talk about what really matters". She laughed and said "You were talking for over 20 minutes!". But I felt that I'd missed the whole point. That ethics will be the biggest crises the thinking/acting person will face over the next 10 years. In the words of a young bloke who felt a like I did on Saturday (although this other guy was far more eloquent) "Too be or not to be? That is the question." By the way, I stood there in the other room for 10 minutes before I was called back into the theatre. I never saw the lady in purple reappear. #TEDxCanberra ps. If someone else saw her let me know so I can feel a little more sane. Matt
http://tl.gd/da6p16
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