Lisa Bu on finding new ideas and dreams

HOW BOOKS CAN OPEN YOUR MIND
TED talk February 2013
ages teen and adult / videos

Lisa Bu had a dream: to be a Chinese opera singer. ‘But,’ she says: 

‘no adults liked the idea. No adults believed I was serious. Only my friends supported me, but they were kids, just as powerless as I was. So at age 15, I knew I was too old to be trained. My dream would never come true. I was afraid that for the rest of my life some second-class happiness would be the best I could hope for. But that's so unfair. So I was determined to find another calling. Nobody around to teach me? Fine. I turned to books.’

You can see some of the books that changed her life and gave her new hopes, dreams and ideas in her TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk. It’s a delight to watch – and sent me looking for my copy of The Good Earth to read again. And, as Lisa says:

‘May books be always with you.’