Ernesto Burden
Publisher | Writer | Performer
Introducing Ernesto Burden, 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?
Brené Brown’s talk on vulnerability blew my mind. It hit so close to home in terms of her examination of shame. As she describes it, “The fear of disconnection: Is there something about me that, if other people know it or see it, that I won't be worthy of connection?” By the time I heard this talk I was in my 40s, and I knew quite a bit about myself. But I didn’t know how much my fear of shame, my resistance to being vulnerable with the world, was keeping me from being my whole authentic self. Life changing.
What people or events have inspired you professionally?
JRR Tolkien, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ernest Hemingway, Annie Proulx, all changed the way I thought about words, story and the shape of reality and the shaping of reality.
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
Everyone would understand how often we misinterpret each other’s intentions, and incorrectly layer our own narratives onto their actions, and rather than judging that, we’d all just get better at cutting each other some slack and assuming the best rather than the worst.
How did you feel when you learned you had been chosen as a speaker for TEDxAM24?
“Wow it’s a good thing I’ve had lots of opportunities to learn to manage my imposter syndrome, ‘cause here it comes again.”
What do you most want TEDxAM24 attendees to know about you?
I think our stories shape our lives as we shape our stories. I believe in them, and believe there’s a deeper meaning to all of this and I even believe in happy endings.
