This "TedTalk Norah" makes comments about success and life that go all over the place. What stands out to you before she gets to the "just be kind" exit line? Why do you think she made her audience uncomfortable? What does she say that you agree or disagree with?
Just before the end of her speech she switches from talking about a tree of life to specifically talking about her life. As she spirals downward through her rant it suddenly gets much more personal. She says that if your life is rotten there is nothing you can do to change that, and I disagree. I feel like how you perceive your life can be a pretty big part of it.
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Nora references Mrs. Elm which seemed to reveal a bit of progress. She mentioned that you need to live to learn, but then she goes on to talk about how if your life is bad there's no escaping it. I disagree with Nora, because no matter the decisions you make we can't control the world. I think it's possible to have joy in any circumstance we face. Nora is constantly focused on her lives disappointments, and never puts any value in the good.
ReplyDelete-Jenna Whitehead
These people prepared to see Nora Seed Olympic medalist give a beautiful motivational speech and are obviously uncomfortable from the emotional, personal, negative one they receive. At the end of her speech she tells the audience that "if your life is rotten, it will be rotten no matter what you do". This stands out to me because she is ranting her true feelings and this line has a tone of hopelessness, that she truly feels she is rotten. I agree with Jenna that there can be joy in everything. Everything can have a bright side or result in something good later.
DeleteAs Nora says in her speech, they were expecting a speech on the "path to success." While the speech started somewhat inspirational, it ended with Nora saying, "If your life is rotten, it will be rotten no matter what you do." I do not agree with what she says here, because I believe that there's a way to get out of feeling like you're always in a bad situation, or "rotten life." The audience probably began to feel uncomfortable before this, but whenever the speech began to feel personal, that's most likely why they felt that way about the speech... and it just kept spiraling to make them more uncomfortable. Especially when Nora begins talking badly about measures of achievement, including her Olympic medal, the audience had to have been extremely confused and it was nothing like they had expected.
ReplyDelete- Adalyn Winters
I think Nora did something incredibly important for her growth during this speech. She mentions that she's not good at public speaking, but she's able to tap into her emotions and deliver a powerful speech about her own experience that seemingly enraptures the audience. I think the moment that sticks out most to me though, is her realization towards the end of the speech. She puts all of the experiences of the morning into a new context, one that she didn't really understand prior to seeing the scar. She wasn't successful here, not really, at least. She was still unhappy, she was still suicidal, and at the end of the day, she didn't do any of this for herself, but for her father. I think that is what starts such a shift in the lives going forward. She now knows that her definition of success is warped, so she just tries to do things she thinks she'd enjoy. I also wanted to mention the "Just be kind" line. It's similar to the last words on her suicide note, and I think it shows that, while she can be selfish, like we all are, at the end of the day, she wants to use her life to help others in some way, or at the very least, influence others to help those they see in trouble.
ReplyDeleteI think that Nora did an impressive job adapting to the whole scenario, but she obviously was still not the gold Olympian Nora. She was able to speak from her emotions, and honestly developed her thought process more as she spoke, but it was definitely not a world-class athlete speech. Because the audience was expecting a motivational speech they were uncomfortable with the speech they got from a developing suicidal Nora. I disagree with her perspective that if you are dealt a hand that is rotten, you are stuck in that loop. I think it is a personal mindset problem. I believe you can have joy in whatever scenario you are in, if you choose to. Because joy is a state of being, much as depression is. A depressed person can receive physical gifts and still be depressed. In the same way, a joyful person can receive afflictions and still be joyful. I do appreciate her concluding statement though. "Just be kind" is a growth statement for her, because if Nora had been attempting to use this ideology in her root life she may not have been depressed.
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