The Wisdom of Jane Goodall
I acquired a new hero yesterday while watching a video of Jane Goodall's 2007 TED talk. I had to write a report about Jane and her chimpanzees in 5th grade, but at that time, she was just a weird scientist to me. Yesterday she impacted me as a graceful person whose views of this world (some of them, anyway) resound deeply with my own. As a girl with a heart for ecology working on a Master's in Public Health, I generally have a hard time explaining to people what exactly it is that I'm interested in; how human health, social justice, and plants are so very related to each other; and how much it all really matters. This video was some kind of much-needed validation for my muddled passions, especially as I face big questions about what to do with myself professionally and academically. Jane Goodall exemplifies the fact that it is possible - perhaps essential - to
be a conservationist and a humanitarian at the same time, and I like her.
Her talk is a little over 20 minutes long, but worth every minute. You can watch it here if you so desire. If you do watch it, try not to get bogged down in the science or the details of her nonprofit organization; listen to what she says about people - about our past and present missteps, but also about our powerful minds and indomitable spirits, and our capacity to see and understand and make our planet a better place to live and move and have our being. It's inspiring.
"Woven throughout all of this is a message of learning to live in peace and harmony within ourselves and our families and our communities, between nations, between cultures, between religions, and between us and the natural world. We need the natural world. We cannot go on destroying it at the rate we are; we do not have more than this one planet." -Dr. Jane Goodall
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| Image from http://www.fi.edu/winners/2003/goodall_jane.faw?winner_id=4374 |
Her talk is a little over 20 minutes long, but worth every minute. You can watch it here if you so desire. If you do watch it, try not to get bogged down in the science or the details of her nonprofit organization; listen to what she says about people - about our past and present missteps, but also about our powerful minds and indomitable spirits, and our capacity to see and understand and make our planet a better place to live and move and have our being. It's inspiring.
"Woven throughout all of this is a message of learning to live in peace and harmony within ourselves and our families and our communities, between nations, between cultures, between religions, and between us and the natural world. We need the natural world. We cannot go on destroying it at the rate we are; we do not have more than this one planet." -Dr. Jane Goodall
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