Which of us, in our childhood, did not feel paralyzed and confined by our own fears? Or, as an adult, in the idea of his own death?

In the history of humanity, we find countless moments in which the human being personified forces of nature in order to better manipulate them. Everything around him was transcendent, incomprehensible, trembling… And, therefore, the illusion of being able to control him allowed him to sleep more peacefully and face the new day with more hope. But millennia passed and science allowed us to understand more and better what we lived and what surrounded us. It made it possible for us to think that we could effectively manipulate and control our reality. It led, little by little, in our self-confident thinking, to consider ourselves greater than everything and everyone and, in our well-thinking neutrality, to see ourselves only as material and biological beings…

But on March 11, 2020, the world saw a long-awaited but entirely unwelcome WHO statement: the number of cases and deaths associated with the COVID-19 disease had reached “alarming levels of spread and inaction.” ». Thus began a year of confinement, social distancing, masks, vaccines, fake news and fear… a lot of fear… for each of us, for our families, for our jobs, for our society, for our world… On May 25, 2020, our homes were invaded by the screaming sigh “I can’t breathe”, which devastated all the lives that heard it or heard about it. A question crossed our minds… How is it that, in the midst of a pandemic of this proportion, with so much suffering and so much pain, there was still so much hate and so much evil? How is it possible to feel safe? How can we live without fear? How can we build the dream of a life without fear?

We’re not fine. Nobody is fine. And we need to talk about it. Of course, anything can happen and, as much as we try to avoid something, one lesson we have learned over the last year is that reality is unexpected and that pain is an obligatory presence in life’s journey. But pain and suffering are not absolute evils. Pain and suffering can be the prelude to a greater good! That’s why this year, at TEDx Funchal 2021, we’ll meet testimonies who were able to live beyond fear. That they were able to believe that there is a meaning in everything they have experienced throughout their lives. That they were able to fight for the Good they yearned for personally, socially or professionally. That they were able to find within themselves the capabilities to win, no matter what.

Will you join us to share the extraordinary ideas of our speakers and, thus, also walk in a transformation beyond the apparently real? Open your heart and your mind. Here, we go much further than memes and social media news. Here, we go even beyond fear.