A plea for sorrow
Femke Van der Laan |
TEDxAmsterdam
• November 2019
2 years after the loss of Amsterdam’s former mayor, and Femke’s husband, Eberhard van der Laan, Femke initially had difficulty coming up with the contents of this talk. The sadness took over. Memories of sorrow overpowered her drive to make the talk she had imagined to create. But now, she made something pure, raw, and more honest. It’s a plea for sorrow.
Sorrow lets us do funny things. It forces us to hide and feel ashamed. It forces us to feel afraid and vulnerable. We do not allow ourselves to feel truly sorrowful. Why? Feeling sad is something that cannot be ignored. It requires attention. If we don’t address it, we overflow. That’s why we share. We listen. We connect. We expose ourselves and we heal. We never fully recover, but we know we are not alone. Embrace your sadness. It’s what makes us human.