Author Sean Prentiss shared a study on the importance of curiosity and how it can promote better grades as well as overall happiness. He said reading “Desert Solitaire” by Edward Abbey changed his life and he eventually found purpose in his own book “Finding Abbey,” but encouraged viewers to discover the book that could change their life just as he did.
“It is wrong to criticize leaders of the church even if the criticism is true,” Zachary Lien said.
As a student and former member of the church, Lien focused on the “mental cages” many find themselves locked within, sometimes without knowing. He shared his journey that led him to break these walls down after the indoctrination he experienced growing up. Lien says the friendships he made saved his life during this process, and another speaker experienced a similar revelation.
Shawn Kingsbury focused on the addiction he struggled with for years, and how he had to change his thought patterns, as well as his “tribes.”
Kingsbury found the solution when he changed the people he surrounded himself with, and soon he began learning about how addiction works and started his own sober community known as Pure Vida Recovery.
Having relapsed four times in his past, Kingsbury highlighted the importance of not being defined by the past, just as Anthony Curcio, a former criminal, said in his talk.
“The most important treasure,” Curcio said, “Is time.”
After spending seven years in confinement and seven months in solitary confinement, or “the hole,” as he called it, he described the reprioritization of his life. He once attempted and failed an elaborate heist, but now he works toward educating youth about crime and drugs, along with writing children”s books.
Curcio detailed his past life of materialism and wrongdoing, but has come to find that the most important thing was the time he lost, especially with his two daughters, and the time he has before him.
The final speaker, art director Jadd Davis, focused on time and how people treat it in the moment. Davis entered the stage with a high energy that left the audience on a bright note about the power of positivity.
Davis discussed how everything is linear with everyone always moving forward, and how people can deal with possible issues in their lives, big and small.
The UI World Beat Ensemble performed in the middle of the session, and showcased the cultural styles of Ghana drumming. The high energy of the group heightened the mood of viewers when it asked the audience to chant with it.
Curiosity brought these speakers to question others and themselves, which brought them to greater purposes.
Jessica Bovee can be reached at [email protected]