Dr. Jess Hench wants to share what the ampersand means to her. It isn’t just a cool punctuation mark, or a random conjunction…It’s actually a philosophy of life.We so often hear metaphors of life being like a book. You’re in a certain chapter right now. You’re writing your life story.But life doesn’t follow a storyline with a beginning, middle, and a neatly resolved end. There isn’t necessarily a point or a moral. The plot isn’t clear.When we get stuck on this vision of life as a storyline, that opens up phrases like “I took the wrong path.” “I made wrong turn.” “I hit a dead end.” “I’ve gone backward.” “I’m behind.”Life doesn’t follow a storyline. Instead, it is a mosaic of moments.The “and” philosophy opens up the possibilities in our lives and helps us see that every moment adds to this beautiful mosaic.After all, the human experience isn’t a story. There’s no plot. We are all here together, building this mosaic of humanity. And each of us gets too choose what we will add to it. Dr. Jess Hench began her career teaching elementary school, and she is now a professor of Leadership Studies at CNU. She has presented at conferences, led study abroad, and teaches several courses per semester. She has traveled throughout the world and gotten to know incredible people from all walks of life. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx