From TEDx Straight to Your Heart

Today, I come from the TEDx Tryon stage...straight to your heart.

I am still high from this weekend's TEDx performance experience. For 3 days I was immersed in a creative collaborative process with singer-songwriter, Asher Leigh.

We were invited to be the Final Performance of TEDx Tryon--bringing the event to an uplifting close, honoring the charge of the day "Live.Inspire.Repeat."

We spent the two days of dress rehearsal and tech rehearsal soaking in the TED Talks, letting whatever moved us become inspiration for our performance. We watched each Speaker step into the 'red dot' on stage illuminated by the Spotlight, sharing powerfully about their bright idea that offered hope and possibility amidst the problems of our world. Since Asher is a singer songwriter, she created a song from the speakers' actual words and ideas--in the 24 hours before being in the spotlight herself! Since I love to improvise spoken word and song, I let the TEDx inspiration turn into improv that flowed in the moment when we stepped on stage.

(And Yes, I encountered Fear leading up to performance day. And Yes, I felt so ALIVE as I moved beyond Fear to courageously step onto the stage!)

When our performance finished I didn't even know what had happened--I have come to realize that this is usually the case when I am improvising. So, I had to watch this same video to find out what exactly we created together onstage in the unknown!

Here is what happened!

TEDx Closing Performance - Jessica Chilton & Asher Leigh