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Hardships Revealed In Andrew Solomon's Ted Talk

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In Andrew Solomon’s Ted Talk, How the worst moments moments in our lives make us who we are, he talks about a few of the people he has interviewed for his books and how the hardships in those people’s lives have changed their lives and who they have become. He also talks about how he was treated as a child at school from his peers, as well as the decisions he made in high school because he was homosexual and was afraid to get made fun of. Andrew Solomon now has two children and is married to a man. He is now an activist in the LGBT rights, mental health, education and arts. He has written many books, mostly on how to find one’s identity with some being New York best sellers. Andrew Solomon has realized that anything negative that has happened …show more content…

Andrew Solomon is a homsexual man who was bullied and misunderstood as a child by others, but yet he has grown into an amazing author, husband and father. He has suffered all of these hardships and through it all, he continued on with life. When he hit a hard place, he didn’t give up. When Bobby Finkel did not invite Andrew Solomon to his birthday party because Bobby Finkel simply did not like Solomon and did not want him at his birthday party, he instead decided to go to the zoo and out for a hot fudge sundae with his mother. When it comes to other people facing hardships, they were never told to “forge meaning and build identity”. As this life continues, people will continue to face hardships and rough times. Depending on how one wants to deal with their rough time is what makes everyone unique and different which is what Andrew Solomon was saying, “You need to take the traumas and make them part of who you've come to be, and you need to fold the worst events of your life into a narrative of triumph, evincing a better self in response to things that …show more content…

He says “Some of our struggles are things we're born to: our gender, our sexuality, our race, our disability.” Yet, what most do not think about is what is behind the face, words and wall they could be putting up. People are extremely fast to judge and whether one is confident in one’s self, things can be hard. Andrew Solomon has no shame of who he is any longer and with Solomon being a public figure, he can show others that it is okay to not be ashamed of who they are anymore either. Andrew Solomon’s motto is “forge meaning. Build identity.” As one listens to him talk, they can hear the change in his voice but they can also see the change in his facial expression, Solomon states, “It took identity to rescue me from sadness.” Andrew Solomon hopes that his life can help others become who they are and of course, “forge meaning and build

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