Article Assignment #4

Why Bother Leaving the House?

Ben Saunders (TED Talk)

Rating *****

            Why Bother Leaving the House is TED Talk by Mr. Ben Saunders as he tries to convince and inspire his audience to live more on the edge.    

            Ben Saunders is a self-proclaimed “polar explorer” who has spent just over 2% of his life living in a tent in the Arctic Circle.  During his speech he talks about his extraordinary journey into the vast, icy landscape of the North Pole.  For him exploring can be compared to a crack addiction; it burns up his money, ruins relationships and yet he still finds himself going back for more.  He stresses to the audience to ignore the misconception that it’s all been done before and that there are still challenges waiting to be conquered.  Everyone can benefit from leaving house. 

            I found myself being moved by Ben’s words as he spoke.   He spoke with a true passion that has stemmed from a life lived to its fullest.  I agree with him in that there is so much out there in the world to be done, yet as North Americans we sit back in our safe lives and let others do it for us.  We don’t all need to be radical adventurers like Ben Saunders, but we could all profit from leaving our comfort zone every once and a while. 

            I highly recommend this video to anyone contemplating taking a risk and pushing themselves to a new level they had never thought they could reach. 

Saunders, Ben. “Why Bother Leaving the House.” TED Talk. 14 December, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jBB5iibKy0