Yannis Behrakis TedxAthens

Wisdom is not what we think, life is not what we think, Life and Wisdom is not what we write, LIfe and Wisdom is not what we say or do. Life is what we feel, Life is what we experience with our full mind, our full body, our full spirit.

We can say this using any terminology. The psychologists use the terms superego, subconsciousness, unconsciousness. The scientists use the terms energy, matter, dark matter/dark energy.We can use any words. Words are only a signpost, not the actual destination, not the actual life. Words are the menu in the restaurant, not the actual food. Words are only a representation, a concept, not the actual experience, not the actual life.Whatever your words, life is what you experience as a whole, as one, as connected with everybody and everything. When all becomes one entity and billion separate entities simultaneously. When you feel what all others feel and experience.

This is what I experienced in TedxAthens 2013. I had so much fun. I had a truly extraordinary experience. I laughed,I explored, I was inspired,I cried,I danced,I felt so much,I listened to marvellous sounds,voices,songs,fairy tales,speeches.

A thank you from my heart to all the people who contributed to TedxAthens 2013. Thank you to Kalavros and his team for all the dedication, all the work, all the talent, all the effort, they put into this. They are true authentic to what they do. Every year, they do not only talk about their main concept, they become their concept. This year their main concept was the “uncharted waters”. They actually sailed into uncharted waters instead of just discussing about it in theory. The main concept of 2012 was “ The ones who do”. Tedxathens 2012 was among the ones who do. They did the Grid/ TEdxSallon etc. They grow and become wiser as they go along. They actually re-create themselves every year.

You might say that it is an idealized image of the event. You are right. I personally didn’t learn anything new, didn’t see a truly mind-blowing speech ( however I saw extraordinary performances) . I have become extremely picky as far as speeches are concerned over the years. It may be very tiring to be in the same building for 15 hours. Some speakers were not so much prepared. One speaker thought that he was giving a lecture. Some might say that the ticket of 65 euros was high. Some others might say that enough is enough on talking about “Doers”. There are also issues in some areas of the organization. However these are just details and cannot spoil a bit the big picture.” IT WAS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE”.

Have you ever been confronted with a scene of such a spectacular beauty that you were astonished? The view of a mountain, or of a verdant valley, or of a rock formation or of a rainbow over the ocean. Have you ever experienced that feeling? The feeling of peace,of joy. You didn’t think, “if the boulder were hundred feet to the left it would be so much prettier” or “That tree is crooked. I need to do something about it “ or “How nice it would be if the rainbow wasn’t partially obscured by the clouds”. Oh no! Not really. You accepted the boulder exactly where it was and that the partially visible rainbow was still magnificent and that the tree was perfect in its crookedness. In fact, there was a rare beauty inherent in this very crookedness that you readily appreciated. Our life is equally wonderful not because of its perfection but because of its imperfection.
The same applies for every life, for every form of art, for every form of craftsmanship. The same applies for TedxAthens. Having some issues cannot change a bit what we experienced. This is what counts. This is the most important. After Knowing, comes experiencing. “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.
I was blessed to be there. Thank you very much.