#1: Anne Hallward’s Ted Talk

After listening to and reading the transcript of Dr. Anne Hallward’s Ted Talk, How telling our silenced stories can change the world, I instantly related some of my personal stories to those that Hallward discussed. Throughout the presentation, Hallward explains how feeling shameful and lonely can inhibit people from healing externally. She also claims that when people “speak of what is most personal, it’s the most universal.” Hallward urges listeners to tell vulnerable stories because people can benefit from hearing others’ experiences, letting them know that feeling pain and suffering is not uncommon and is part of everyone’s lives.

Similar to my grandmother, who passed away from Alzheimer’s disease, Hallward tells the story of her father’s death from dementia. She explained that it pained her to watch him decline so badly that she would pray for him to pass. Although shameful of these feelings, Hallward claims she was able to feel “compassion” for her “own sadness” and that she was “healing” because she finally “told the shameful story” that she was keeping inside of her. Although horrible, I also remember experiencing some of these terrible feelings when watching my grandmother pass. Watching a loved one slowly and painfully deteriorate is one of the most difficult things to go through. Hallward’s shameful story provided me with another way to evaluate my feelings about my grandmother.

Hallward reminds the listeners that telling a personal story “could be one of the greatest gifts” a person has to offer. By telling the story of her father’s death, I was able to find comfort in knowing that others have experienced some of the same awful feelings that I have felt.  I did not truly realize how significant it was to hear a story similar to mine. One that I have never actually expressed to anyone.