Alison Young
Trailblazer | Backpacker | Virtuso
Introducing Alison Young, who will speak at the next TEDxAmoskeagMillyard event on October 10, 2024, at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH.
What's your favorite TED or TEDx Talk, and why?
Tim Urban “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator.” It’s funny, personable and he goes right to the heart of the issue, using himself as the example, even though every one of us can relate. He backs up his talk with facts and magically touches both heart and mind. I love to laugh and need to laugh more at life’s challenges and my own foibles. His talk gives me permission.
What people or events have inspired you professionally?
I played with Leonard Bernstein as a young musician on the eve of my career. He had an almost magical ability to bring music to life through his gestures and coax from us more than we knew we had in us. Of course the maestro had an ego, but the experience of making music was in service to something greater than himself or any of us – to the composer, to the act of creation itself.
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
I think all of us would be better off learning to forgive. That does not mean living naively or without protecting oneself, but we could make more positive progress working together. I also wish we had heeded advice from decades ago to curb our appetite for fossil fuels.
How did you feel when you learned you had been chosen as a speaker for TEDxAM24?
Thrilled and honored! This is an unusual opportunity that requires more from me than simply showing up and speaking! I have a coach plus leaders who will guide the process, one helping me search deeply for my most authentic message, find a way to articulate it effectively and, in the end, become a better communicator and mentor. It is precisely the work I need to do at this moment. I am so blessed!
What do you most want TEDxAM24 attendees to know about you?
Not by choice, I am an expert at reinvention. Life sent me curveballs that upended my life’s work and identity. I really have no idea where it comes from (!) but I have a kind of secret power to keep stepping forward and exploring. Even with cancer, I didn’t retreat but entered the experience fully. As a backpacker, I have walked over 12,000 miles on six continents and got the trail name “Blissful” likely for my wide grin and easy laugh. But it’s also aspirational. Blissful is about searching for the my core, my center, where I resonate the most and where I can bring care and wisdom to others.
