TED Community » Camille Martinez

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Teaching language to adults. It's highly gratifying to witness both a student's progress, and their sheer surprise & joy over the strides they've made and continue to make. They're like my children.

People don't know that I'm good at

Some know. I'm good at: being green-thumbed; often preferring animals & insects to humans; liking bluegrass; practicing Buddhism; writing well; anthropomorphizing; parallel-parking; loving sardines.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +2.10 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Talk: Amos Winter: The cheap all-terrain wheelchair

  Nov 24 2012: Fantastic. And it's true--the world needs more people who are willing to go off the beaten path, and who strive to do what they love, with a deep compassion for fellow beings at the helm. I'm gearing up for some big changes myself, so thank you for the inspiration and the reminder of what I have inside :)

• A comment on Talk: Paul Nicklen: Tales of ice-bound wonderlands

  Jan 14 2012: Amazing, all of it. Thank you for doing the job you do, for giving this talk, and for giving it via this entity that makes it accessible to the public.
  
  And if that was a serious offer to go to the Arctic or Antarctica: yes. Sign me up. Not kidding.
• +2

  A comment on Conversation: Instead of old age homes and orphanages in separate facilities, the combination of both should be built.

  Nov 1 2011: This is such a lovely idea. I also like the inclusion of pets.
  
  I saw a special on Public Television years ago about animals in nursing homes. The Eden Alternative is a network of nursing care facilities that endorses just such a model:
  
  http://www.edenalt.org/our-10-principles
  
  "An Elder-centered community commits to creating a human habitat where life revolves around close and continuing contact with plants, animals, and children. It is these relationships that provide the young and old alike with a pathway to a life worth living."
  
  Important health benefits for elders living with animals (under 'Therapy dogs):
  http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/dogs-that-changed-the-world/medical-dogs/1277/
  
  "...in a 2005 study by the American Heart Association of hospitalized heart failure patients, researchers found that a 12-minute visit with a therapy dog reduced blood pressure and levels of stress hormones, and eased anxiety. Therapy dogs have been shown to improve the focus and memory of patients with Alzheimer’s, encourage speech and simple physical activities among stroke victims and individuals with impaired mobility."
  
  I also love the idea of prison inmates working with dogs! Here is some info, plus a list of programs in swing:
  
  http://www.coyotecommunications.com/dogs/prisondogs.html
  
  My favorite: New Yorks' 'Puppies behind bars' :)
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Camille Seaman: Haunting photos of polar ice

  Nov 1 2011: Camille,
  
  I came across your talk yesterday--just under 24 hours ago--and have watched it seven or eight times. Each time, I wipe away an overflow of emotion from the ends of my eyes.
  
  Those of us who have seen this are lucky; it's so important that such imagery can overwhelm us--in the best possible way--and move us to that other place in our hearts and minds that we know is there, but that we continually forget, or mindlessly push aside, as we run around trying to keep up with what we think is the important reality of our lives.
  
  The truth of the matter is, as you so eloquently illustrate with your approach to these icebergs, is that we humans are, in the whole grand scheme of time and space, the spores on the ends of fern fronds. If that.
  
  I really felt the personalities of the icebergs in your photos. I don't even usually talk like this, but I was just completely overwhelmed by how alive they are, just like a tree, or a bird, or my hand. I will watch this so many more times, and send it to so many more people.
  
  This is truly beautiful--the photos, the perspective, the presentation.... Not sure why you were wearing a parka but it was a nice touch, inadvertent or not.
  
  Thank you for sharing your work with us. What a lovely life you must have; thank you for making ours lovelier, too.
  
  With peace, from another
  Camille