TED Women...

The lights of the city have dimmed, as at around five winter robs daylight in the blink of an eye. TED women is fading, or so I think, but I dare not say, because this Conference is full of hidden surprises, awesome encounters, lights and sounds that are strange to my mind, but not to my spirit.

The talks have rounded up, well, most of them. I am impressed from what I see, hear and feel. Sometimes I am a sponge that is being dampened by the thinking of enormous minds and clear hearts. Sometimes I am astounded by the sounds of The Asphalt Orchestra, leading us to every venue. Or by the smooth poetry of Marley, taking us into the afternoon break.

Aromas of 30 countries have embedded my spirit, making me forget that I am in the capital of the United States, and making me feel like I am in the capital of the world instead. Whoever passes by has some hidden jewel in the mind or in the heart, and has come here to share it. Amazing.

Many times one can only imagine to be near this bunch of thinkers, scientists, dancers, makers, all gathered under the flag of social networking for the best future of the planet. I am indeed lucky I am here with them.

Soon it will be time to leave. Many people have made connections. Many more have made friends. But all of them have changed their minds in one or many ways.

This is what happens when you realize that the guy or gal sitting next to you thinks different, looks different, but is nothing but one flesh and blood human being after all, who is looking for an opening in your heart or your consciousness that will allow the seed to be planted.

For people like me, these are new concepts as to how to relate to each other in terms of equal capacity of thinking, and equal capacity of loving.

Nevertheless, this awesome opportunity of mingling and taking a breath of the same air with important people in the world has made me rethink my position in this fairy tale.

Am I the pawn, the queen, the knight or the king of this game? My mind takes positions of defense and of attack, it twists and twirls around the new ideas I hear, the old ones I hear renewed, the stolen ideas that mingle with original ones, the passion of artists and the emotion in hearing people tell you what you want to hear, sharing your thinking and repeating your actions.

Then there are those who dare to challenge what you have known as "the truth". They make you small, they make you big. They challenge your most intimate self, and dare to tell the truth that you cannot bare.

The awesome array of colors of minds reunited in this place does not have to fool you, though. The most beautiful face of the venue cannot be measured today. Not even in a week or in a month after this is over. During the next year, when the preparation for the TED 2011 takes place, Pat Mitchell and her team will probably be the first ones to evaluate the actual truth of what has been said here, the power of each statement will be assessed against reality.

And the result of the comparison will bring about an even better TED Women, or maybe not, maybe just a more sellable TED. So the question is then, not if this is awesome, because it is, but how much of this is true, how much is part of a fairy tale, and how much of it are just good intentions that will not flourish in reality. Wait, I must not forget that... this is only the first TED... devoted to women only, hehehe.

Even if just an expression of good intentions, humanity is in need of events like this. Because change must begin somewhere, and open spaces like TED Women will offer a great way to begin (although much of the wok has began at least 50 years ago), my hope is that TED in the future will not only stay in words being said in the wind, but it will also offer a reality check in terms of what has been said and done in previous forums, the steps that have followed, the results that have been achieved, and most importantly, how many of the speakers and doers are still living their truth.

This event will of course change my life. Now I know that people can rally for different ideas, different positions, without necessarily killing each other. Wait, is not democracy about this completely? No. The kind of democracy the US has is different to the democracy of poor countries like mine. In our democracies people kill each other over ideas. Will TED conferences help us stop the killing? We sure hope so, although we may not know how many of these gatherings will really do the trick.