I am not an expert in anything. I didn't go to college and the only expertise I have is being emotional and that's a fact. And so I've been coping with these emotions and life through music for as long as I can remember. And this one moment changed how I see everything. I was standing on a stage much smaller than this one in a room of about 200 people and I was singing a song I wrote called Narcissist. And for the first time in my career, people were singing the words back to me. But they weren't just singi ...

to my house >> since it burned down. >> Oh my god. >> One of the first things you learn when your house burns down is that it is not just a building with millions of things inside it.It is a place where love happened. So, I wanted to write letters to my house to say thank you, to acknowledge all that love, and to honor all of that love. I've learned that letters can be a healing tool, knitting together our broken hearts.This is one of the letters I wrote to my house. Dear house, you never met my dad, but yo ...

Core Message - Grief is not a problem to be solved but an experience to be acknowledged and integrated [3] - Grief is not linear but layered, shapeshifting, and embodied, moving through our bodies [4] - Grief is a universal human experience, not an exception [5] Reframing Grief - Instead of resisting grief, the industry suggests welcoming it as a teacher about love [2][3] - The industry proposes giving grief a name, voice, and purpose, particularly through creative expression like poetry [8][9] - Poetry, with its fragmented and rhythmic nature, provides a language for grief when ordinary words fail [10][11][12] Practical Applications - The industry recommends naming grief, imaging it, and sharing it to create community and lessen loneliness [14][15][16] - The industry encourages a shift in language, replacing "I'm fine" with more honest expressions of grief's weight [17] - Grief is not the opposite of love but another face of love, emphasizing the importance of sitting with grief [18][19]

Core Message - The speech emphasizes that the toughest moments in life, the "rock bottoms," are actually defining moments and opportunities for rebuilding oneself [2][3] - The speaker shares a personal story of loss and healing to illustrate the process of personal transformation [1] Five Steps of Healing and Personal Transformation - **Trauma:** The initial disruptive event, such as loss of a loved one, job, or general dissatisfaction with life, is a catalyst for change [4][5][6] - **Pain:** Experiencing and validating difficult emotions like anger, sadness, and abandonment is crucial; pain demands to be felt to be healed [6][7][8] - **Acceptance:** Accepting the past experiences and memories, learning forgiveness, and processing grief are essential for moving forward [9][10][11] - **Micro Habits:** Small, daily decisions and habits, such as journaling, meditation, or exercise, trigger significant personal transformation [12][13][14][15] - **Turning Pain into Purpose:** Transforming personal pain into a purpose to help others, gaining wisdom from the experience [15][16][17][18] Personal Experience & Support - The speaker underwent an 18-hour liver donation surgery for her mother [1] - The speaker now helps other liver donors through their journeys, drawing from personal experience [17] - The speaker emphasizes that even in the darkest times, there is hope and the possibility of overcoming challenges [18]

[Music] Can you see that six-year-old Anu over there. That six-year-old, you can see her, right. She's holding that little bag in her hand.She's standing at the threshold of her nani house. You know what she's waiting for. She's waiting for her little sister to come into this world. Her mom has come to her mother's house to deliver the baby.A little baby, a little baby sister. Oh my god. Now look what's happening.The babies come there. It's so much of fun, isn't it. I have a baby sister now.I can play with ...

Grief & Healing Process - The speech emphasizes the universality of grief and highlights that the grief journey is unique for everyone [14] - It outlines a five-step process for navigating grief: communicating with oneself, communicating externally, building a community, releasing grief physically, and becoming a grief cycle breaker [15][16][17][18][20] - The speech suggests various methods for physical release of grief, including yoga, meditation, Reiki, somatic work, acupuncture, running, walking, and dancing [20] - The speaker advocates for breaking generational grief cycles by identifying and accepting the root cause of trauma [15] Personal Journey & Identity - The speaker shares their personal experience as a transracial adoptee, detailing the compounded grief of losing their birth mother and being separated from their Korean heritage [2] - The speaker's journey includes reconnecting with their Korean identity through travel, research, and eventually searching for their birth mother [24][25][26][28][29] - The speaker highlights the importance of writing as a tool for processing grief and connecting with both their deceased mother and their son [4][5][10][11][36][37] Family & Legacy - The speech underscores the potential negative impact of unhealed parental grief on children and the importance of addressing it [15] - The speaker expresses gratitude for their adoptive mother's love and support, while also acknowledging the complexities of their adoption story [13][14][27][35] - The speaker aims to create a loving and supportive environment for their son, breaking the cycle of generational grief and honoring their Korean heritage [33][34][35][36][37][38]

Music Therapy & Neurodiversity - Music serves as a powerful medium to connect with disadvantaged communities, especially neurodiverse individuals including those with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and chromosomal abnormalities [2] - Music-based interventions are rooted in Indian classical music, leveraging its ancient wisdom [4][5] - Music stimulates multiple brain regions simultaneously, regardless of active or passive engagement [8] - Music is multi-sensory, engaging kinesthetic, auditory, visual, and tactile systems [12][13] - Individuals may have sensory sensitivities to elements of music like sound, pitch, or instruments [16] - Music perception involves sound, tone, emotion, and language [17][18] - Music can be broken down into elements to aid understanding for individuals with sensory sensitivities [15] Application & Benefits - Music therapy can help individuals discriminate between sound, music, and noise [20] - Music can be collaborated with disciplines of psychology and neuroscience [26] - Music can be used as a healing agent and a wholesome exercise to relieve stress [30] - Music therapy is about empathizing and gathering insight into someone else's mind to fix a problem [32][33]

Core Message - The speaker's mother, a Holocaust survivor, found a path to healing through forgiveness, despite enduring immense suffering and loss [1][17] - Forgiveness is presented as a powerful tool for personal empowerment and healing, not condoning evil deeds, but freeing the victim from pain and anger [8][15] - The act of forgiveness, though difficult and taking time, can lead to significant positive change in one's life and the lives of others [16][17][19] Key Events & Actions - The speaker's mother and aunt, both twins, survived medical experiments at Auschwitz [1] - The mother co-founded CANDLES, an organization for twins who survived Nazi experiments, and led a search for Dr Mengele [1] - The mother forgave Dr Mengele and other Nazis, a controversial act that became a defining aspect of her life [1] - The mother's journey included lecturing about her experiences, facing public criticism, and donating a kidney to her twin sister [1][2][17] - The mother's forgiveness extended to a Nazi doctor, Dr Munch, who testified about the gas chambers at Auschwitz [2][5][8] Impact & Legacy - The mother's story of forgiveness has had a profound impact on many individuals, including German students, a woman of German descent grappling with her heritage, and victims of abuse [9][11][15] - The speaker urges the audience to consider forgiveness as a means of personal transformation and positive change in the world [18][19]