“What happened when we all stopped” narrated by Jane Goodall

View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-happened-when-we-all-stopped-narrated-by-jane-goodall

As millions around the world shelter at home, the smog melts away, the birds sing, and the waters run clear. What if we used this moment in our lives and in history as an opportunity to jumpstart the rebirth and rewilding of our planet when we go back to work and school? This moment can lead us to a healthier, cleaner, greener future, if only we grasp it. Tom Rivett-Carnac tells the story of what happened when we all stopped. To download a free children's book version of this poem, visit https://bit.ly/TEDEdWhisper

Written by Tom Rivett-Carnac, directed by Avi Ofer.

Today we have something
a little different.

Dr. Jane Goodall
is going to tell you a story.

Stay tuned after
the animation

to learn how to download
this as a free children's book.

Ready?

Let's begin.

It starts as a whisper,

a word on the air.

It can't quite be heard,
but you know that it's there.

As gentle
as sunlight,

as tenacious
as hale,

in its route to the heart,
it could not but prevail.

And the people looked up
from their day-to-day tasks,

their day-to-day jobs

and their
day-to-day masks.

They heard
or they felt

where the whisper
could lead,

and they looked
with eyes wide

at what that
might mean.

And once they could see it,
they hadn't a chance

To resist the
sweet song

of the deep spell
it cast.

But the feeling it brought
them at first glance

was pain,

as they lifted their eyes
on the land they had claimed.

Since they saw
at last

as if raised
from a dream,

they were almost alone
on the land and the sea.

For the trees
had almost gone,

and the bees
had almost gone,

and the creatures
in their shells by the seas

had almost gone.

And the people felt sad
as they saw their new Earth,

but they knew
this was it,

one wild chance
for rebirth.

Breaking new ground,
seeds rolling down,

smell of the earth on
your hands and your brow.

No time for sorrow,
we're building tomorrow.

The sound of things growing
now keeps us around.

As the wildness grows,
and the deep wood grows,

and the sense that the
future's come to meet you

grows,

There's no chance
we can rest.

We must do
our best.

This moment can lead
us back home,

that's our test.

It starts as
a whisper,

a word on
the air.

It can't quite be heard,
but you know that it's there.

It then spoke
like thunder.

Until we all moved.

And we could.

And we did.

And it's done.

She's renewed.

Help turn the whisper into a roar
by sharing this poem today.

You can download the illustrated book
for free at ed.ted.com/whisper

or keep your soul aflutter with one
of these animated poems.