Transcriber: Tanya Cushman Reviewer: Peter van de Ven
Well, thank you.
Okay, it's really great to be here.
I'm a filmmaker,
and I'm very passionate to explore the world and the beauty of nature.
I love shooting things
that are either too small, too fast, too slow or too vast
for the human eye to see.
And for me that's a giant turn-on,
and I'm really grateful and happy I can share it with you guys today.
So, I've been shooting time-lapse for almost 30 years, nonstop,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week -
continuously.
And one of the things I learned from that experience
was that beauty and seduction are nature's tools for survival.
And one of the reasons why I started to do this
was because when I graduated from UCLA, I didn't have any money,
but I had time and a sense of wonder.
And today, I'm still never going to get tired
of watching these flowers open and move to the light.
So when I heard about the bees disappearing -
I'm sure you've heard about this issue as well,
colony collapse disorder -
which many scientists believe
is actually the most serious environmental threat facing mankind,
and I figured, well, you can't tell the story about the bees disappearing
without telling the story about flowers,
because they co-evolved over 50 million years.
Their love story is a love story that feeds the earth.
So it's the little guys we often take for granted,
pollinators,
that really are the foundation of life:
bees, bats, hummingbirds, butterflies.
So, I was in Mexico one time.
We were shooting our monarchs, which you'll see shortly,
and I asked my scientific advisor, I said,
"Well, you know, what motivates their behavior?"
And they go, "Well, you know, it's all about risk and reward."
And like a little kid, I go, "But why?"
And he said, "Well, you know, it's all about survival."
And I said, "Why?"
And again, they said, "Well, it's all about reproduction."
And I said, "Why?"
I thought they'd say something flippant,
like "Well, it's all about sex."
And instead, they kind of pondered it,
and they said, "You know, everything in the universe wears out.
Nothing lasts forever."
And that really blew my mind
because I realized
that nature created reproduction as a mechanism for life to move forward
as a force of energy through generation after generation.
I mean, we truly do stand on the shoulders of our ancestors.
So I want to share with you a little nectar from my film.
Meryl Streep does a voice-over from the point of view of a flower,
but in this montage,
I hope it will inspire you
to put some seeds in a pollinator-friendly garden.
Let's roll the video.
(Music starts)
(Buzzing)
(Wing flutters)
[Hidden Beauty]
(Music ends)
Hey!
(Applause)
Thank you.
As you can see,
pollination is really the foundation of life.
It's really a mystical moment,
where the animal world and the plant world intersect
for life to continue, generation after generation.
But I really like big ideas, and I was kind of wondering,
well, if plants are key to survival -
I mean, it's the only thing that can take light energy
and turn it into food, fuel, medicine, shelter -
well, what supports plants?
Well, you know, the answer is soil.
And I wondered, well, what creates soil?
You know, what can decompose rock and organic matter
for plants to flourish?
Well, the answer is
it's the largest organism on the planet,
it can heal you, it can cure you,
it can even shift your consciousness.
It's actually right underneath your feet.
It's called mycelium, which is the root system for mushrooms.
And here is a clip,
a film I'm working on called "Fantastic Fungi."
(Laughter)
(Music starts)
(Birds chirping)
(Video) Paul Stamets: Mushroom mycelium represents rebirth,
rejuvenation,
regeneration.
Fungi generates soil that gives life.
The task that we face today is to understand the language of nature.
My mission is to discover the language of nature
of the fungal networks that communicate with the ecosystem.
And I believe nature is intelligent.
The fact that we lack the language skills to communicate with nature
does not impugn the concept that nature is intelligent.
It speaks to our inadequacy for communication.
If we don't get our act together
and come in commonality and understanding with the organisms that sustain us today,
not only will we destroy those organisms, but we will destroy ourselves.
We need to have a paradigm shift in our consciousness.
What will it take to achieve that?
If I died trying
but I'm inadequate to the task
to make a course change in the evolution of life on this planet,
okay, I tried.
The fact is I tried.
How many people are not trying?
If you knew that every breath you took
could save hundreds of lives into the future
had you walked down this path of knowledge,
wouldn't you run down that path of knowledge as fast as you could?
I believe nature is a force of good.
(Music ends)
Good is not only a concept; it is a spirit.
And so, hopefully, the spirit of goodness will survive.
(Applause)
Let's hear it for mushrooms.
One of the most common remarks I hear when people see this imagery
is "Oh my God!"
And have you ever wondered what that means?
Well, I thought about that, and I kind of realized
that the "Oh" makes you present, it makes you mindful.
And the "my" touches something really deep inside your soul.
It becomes a gateway for your inner voice to be heard.
And "God" is that spiritual journey we're all on
to be connected to some kind of universal energy.
You know, that connection
that make us feel we're a part of something which celebrates life.
And for me, nature has been my greatest teacher
because it has taught me so much about cultivating an open heart,
developing appreciation,
feeding my mind and nourishing my soul.
So let's dive into the world of gratitude
as seen from the point of view of a child and an old man who's very wise.
(Video) Girl: When I watch TV,
it's just some shows that you just - that are pretend.
And when you explore,
you get more imagination than you already had.
And when you get more imagination,
it makes you want to go deeper in
so you can get more and see beautifuler things.
Like the path, if it's a path,
it could lead you to a beach or something,
and it could be beautiful.
(Music starts)
[Gratitude]
Man: You think this is just another day in your life.
It's not just another day.
It's the one day that is given to you today.
It's given to you; it's a gift.
It's the only gift that you have right now,
and the only appropriate response is gratefulness.
If you do nothing else
but to cultivate that response
to the great gift that this unique day is,
if you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your life
and the very last day,
then you will have spent this day very well.
Begin by opening your eyes
and be surprised that you have eyes you can open,
that incredible array of colors
that is constantly offered to us for pure enjoyment.
Look at the sky.
We so rarely look at the sky.
We so rarely note how different it is from moment to moment
with clouds coming and going.
We just think of the weather.
And even with the weather,
we don't think of all the many nuances of weather,
we just think of good weather and bad weather.
This day, right now, it's unique weather,
maybe a kind that will never exactly in that form come again.
The formation of clouds in the sky will never be the same that is right now.
Open your eyes.
Look at that.
Look at the faces of people whom you meet.
Each one has an incredible story behind their face,
a story that you could never fully fathom.
Not only their own story but the story of their ancestors.
We all go back so far.
And in this present moment, on this day,
all the people you meet,
all that life from generations
and from so many places all over the world,
flows together and meets you here like a life-giving water
if you only open your heart and drink.
Open your heart to the incredible gifts that civilization gives to us.
You flip a switch, and there is electric light.
You turn a faucet,
and there is warm water and cold water
and drinkable water.
It's a gift that millions and millions in the world will never experience.
So these are just a few of an enormous number of gifts
to which we can open our heart.
And so I wish you
that you will open your heart to all these blessings
and let them flow through you,
that everyone whom you will meet on this day will be blessed by you,
just by your eyes,
by your smile,
by your touch.
Just by your presence.
Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you.
And then it will really be a good day.
(Music ends)
(Applause)
[A film by Louie Schwartzberg]
Thank you.
(Applause)
So let's open our hearts
and create the shift in consciousness that we need.
You know, it's great being lead-off speaker today,
but we're actually in the bottom of the 8th inning,
and let's remember that nature bats last.
So let's create a sustainable future for ourselves and for our children.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)