Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.
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0:01 - 0:04When I graduated UCLA, I moved to northern California,
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0:04 - 0:07and I lived in a little town called Elk
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0:07 - 0:09on the Mendocino coast,
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0:09 - 0:13and I didn't have a phone or TV, but I had U.S. mail,
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0:13 - 0:17and life was good back then, if you could remember it.
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0:17 - 0:20I'd go to the general store for a cup of coffee
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0:20 - 0:22and a brownie, and I'd ship my film
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0:22 - 0:27to San Francisco, and lo and behold, two days later,
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0:27 - 0:29it would end up on my front door,
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0:29 - 0:32which was way better than having to fight the traffic
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0:32 - 0:34of Hollywood. (Music)
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0:34 - 0:38I didn't have much money,
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0:38 - 0:41but I had time and a sense of wonder. (Music)
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0:41 - 0:44So I started shooting time-lapse photography.
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0:44 - 0:46It would take me a month to shoot a four-minute
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0:46 - 0:51roll of film, because that's all I could afford.
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0:51 - 0:53I've been shooting time-lapse flowers continuously,
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0:53 - 0:56non-stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
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0:56 - 0:59for over 30 years, and to see them move
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0:59 - 1:03is a dance I'll never get tired of.
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1:03 - 1:08Their beauty immerses us with color, taste, touch.
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1:08 - 1:11It also provides a third of the food we eat.
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1:11 - 1:14(Music)
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1:14 - 1:18Beauty and seduction is nature's tools for survival,
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1:18 - 1:21because we protect what we fall in love with.
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1:21 - 1:23It opens our hearts, and makes us realize
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1:23 - 1:28we are a part of nature and we're not separate from it.
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1:28 - 1:32When we see ourselves in nature, it also connects us
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1:32 - 1:34to every one of us, because it's clear
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1:34 - 1:37that it's all connected in one.
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1:37 - 1:41When people see my images, a lot of times they'll say,
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1:41 - 1:45"Oh my God." Have you ever wondered what that meant?
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1:45 - 1:48The "oh" means it caught your attention,
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1:48 - 1:51makes you present, makes you mindful.
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1:51 - 1:53The "my" means it connects with something deep
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1:53 - 1:56inside your soul.
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1:56 - 1:58It creates a gateway for your inner voice to rise up
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1:58 - 2:01and be heard. And "God"?
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2:01 - 2:05God is that personal journey we all want to be on,
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2:05 - 2:10to be inspired, to feel like we're connected to a universe
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2:10 - 2:13that celebrates life.
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2:13 - 2:15Did you know that 80 percent
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2:15 - 2:19of the information we receive comes through our eyes?
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2:19 - 2:22And if you compare light energy to musical scales,
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2:22 - 2:25it would only be one octave that the naked eye could see,
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2:25 - 2:28which is right in the middle?
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2:28 - 2:31And aren't we grateful for our brains that can, you know,
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2:31 - 2:34take this electrical impulse that comes from light energy
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2:34 - 2:39to create images in order for us to explore our world?
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2:39 - 2:41And aren't we grateful that we have hearts
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2:41 - 2:43that can feel these vibrations
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2:43 - 2:47in order for us to allow ourselves to feel the pleasure
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2:47 - 2:49and the beauty of nature?
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2:49 - 2:54(Music)
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2:54 - 2:57Nature's beauty is a gift that cultivates
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2:57 - 2:59appreciation and gratitude.
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2:59 - 3:03(Music)
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3:03 - 3:05So I have a gift I want to share with you today,
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3:05 - 3:09a project I'm working on called Happiness Revealed,
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3:09 - 3:12and it'll give us a glimpse into that perspective
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3:12 - 3:15from the point of view of a child and an elderly man
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3:15 - 3:17of that world.
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3:20 - 3:25Child: When I watch TV,
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3:25 - 3:30it's just some shows that you just -- that are pretend,
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3:30 - 3:33and when you explore, you get
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3:33 - 3:38more imagination than you already had,
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3:38 - 3:41and when you get more imagination,
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3:41 - 3:43it makes you want to go deeper in
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3:43 - 3:47so you can get more and see beautifuller things,
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3:47 - 3:53like the path, if it's a path, it could lead you to a beach,
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3:53 - 3:56or something, and it could be beautiful.
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3:56 - 4:25(Music)
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4:25 - 4:32Elderly Man: You think this is just another day in your life?
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4:32 - 4:38It's not just another day. It's the one day that is given to you
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4:38 - 4:42today.
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4:42 - 4:48It's given to you. It's a gift.
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4:48 - 4:52It's the only gift that you have right now,
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4:52 - 4:55and the only appropriate response
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4:55 - 5:02is gratefulness.
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5:05 - 5:12If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response
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5:12 - 5:17to the great gift that this unique day is,
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5:17 - 5:20if you learn to respond
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5:20 - 5:24as if it were the first day in your life
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5:24 - 5:26and the very last day,
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5:26 - 5:35then you will have spent this day very well.
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5:35 - 5:38Begin by opening your eyes and be surprised
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5:38 - 5:42that you have eyes you can open,
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5:42 - 5:48that incredible array of colors that is constantly offered to us
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5:48 - 5:51for pure enjoyment.
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5:51 - 5:55Look at the sky.
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5:55 - 5:58We so rarely look at the sky.
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5:58 - 6:03We so rarely note how different it is
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6:03 - 6:08from moment to moment, with clouds coming and going.
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6:08 - 6:11We just think of the weather,
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6:11 - 6:13and even with the weather, we don't think of
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6:13 - 6:17all the many nuances of weather.
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6:17 - 6:21We just think of good weather and bad weather.
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6:21 - 6:25This day, right now, has unique weather,
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6:25 - 6:28maybe a kind that will never exactly
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6:28 - 6:31in that form come again.
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6:31 - 6:35That formation of clouds in the sky will never be the same
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6:35 - 6:38as it is right now.
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6:38 - 6:44Open your eyes. Look at that.
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6:44 - 6:48Look at the faces of people whom you meet.
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6:48 - 6:56Each one has an incredible story behind their face,
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6:56 - 7:02a story that you could never fully fathom,
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7:02 - 7:09not only their own story, but the story of their ancestors.
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7:09 - 7:13We all go back so far,
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7:13 - 7:17and in this present moment, on this day,
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7:17 - 7:22all the people you meet, all that life from generations
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7:22 - 7:26and from so many places all over the world
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7:26 - 7:30flows together and meets you here
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7:30 - 7:36like a life-giving water, if you only open your heart and drink.
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7:36 - 7:43(Music)
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7:43 - 7:48Open your heart to the incredible gifts that civilization
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7:48 - 7:50gives to us.
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7:50 - 7:54You flip a switch and there is electric light.
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7:54 - 8:00You turn a faucet and there is warm water and cold water,
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8:00 - 8:02and drinkable water.
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8:02 - 8:06It's a gift that millions and millions in the world
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8:06 - 8:10will never experience.
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8:10 - 8:15So these are just a few of an enormous number of gifts
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8:15 - 8:18to which we can open your heart.
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8:18 - 8:22And so I wish you that you will open your heart
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8:22 - 8:28to all these blessings, and let them flow through you,
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8:28 - 8:31that everyone whom you will meet on this day
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8:31 - 8:35will be blessed by you,
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8:35 - 8:39just by your eyes,
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8:39 - 8:42by your smile,
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8:42 - 8:46by your touch,
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8:46 - 8:50just by your presence.
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8:50 - 8:54Let the gratefulness overflow
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8:54 - 9:00into blessing all around you,
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9:00 - 9:09and then it will really be a good day. (Music)
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9:16 - 9:16(Applause)
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9:16 - 9:19Louie Schwartzberg: Thank you.
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9:19 - 9:26Thank you very much. (Applause)
- Title:
- Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.
- Speaker:
- Louie Schwartzberg
- Description:
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Nature’s beauty can be easily missed -- but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day. (Filmed at TEDxSF.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 09:47
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. | ||
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Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. | ||
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Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for Nature. Beauty. Gratitude. |
Camille Martínez
The English transcript was updated on 7/24/19.
Note: the narrator's name was added to the subtitle at 4:25:
(Narrator) Brother David Steindl-Rast: