Award-winning poet and artist Wendy Videlock explores the profound impact of language and words on our lives. Wendy Videlock of Palisade, CO, is the award-winning author of four books of poetry, a children's book and a collection of essays on language, landscape and the imagination. Her work appears in the New York Times, Best American Poetry, O Magazine and elsewhere. She is the winner of the Keats Soul Making Prize, The PTB Sonnet Prize, the Fisher Prize and the Cantor Prize. Her syndicated newspaper column, The Barefoot Laureate, appears in newspapers across the four corner states. Wendy is also a visual artist whose works appear in galleries across Western Colorado. She teaches and advocates for the arts and believes that language is the invisible influence informing our thoughts, our actions and our perceptions. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx