Last night I watched the Anderson Cooper 360 special for World Refugee Day on CNN with Angelina Jolie titled “Angelina Jolie, Her Mission and her Motherhood”. The interview special with Jolie was just a part of the coverage of World Refugee Day by CNN. You can check out this link for full information.

On his blog, Anderson wrote about Jolie after the interview, “A lot of celebrities have causes and show up to talk about them when cameras are around, but the truth is that Angelina Jolie knows what she is talking about when the subject is refugees. To use a cliché, she doesn't just talk the talk, she walks the walk. She has traveled to some 20 countries over the years as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and she says she donates one-third of her income to charitable causes.
I'm not sure what I expected before I met her, but to say I was impressed would be an understatement. She is smart, funny, self-deprecating, and intensely passionate about her children and her work on behalf of refugees.” You can read his full blog post about Jolie here.

I am not a big celebrity fan, but I too was very impressed by Angelina Jolie. She spoke about her experiences in over 20 countries and the terrible and horrible things she saw and was working to change such as suffering refugees, brutal rapes, violence against children, people dieing of AIDS, malnutrition, etc., as well as the wonderful spirit of determination and hope she found over and over again amongst people who had suffered and were suffering through so much.

Jolie talked about her first visit to a refugee camp in Sierra Leone, and how it forever changed her outlook on life. She talked about being “sheltered and spoiled” growing up in Los Angeles, and how realizing how so many people were living with so little, while she had so much, left a deep impact on her. She also talked about her visits in Darfur, Ethiopia, Congo, Cambodia, Thailand, Sudan, Ecuador and other places, as well as her experiences helping unaccompanied minors in the United States. The stories she shared and that were spotlighted on the special were heartbreaking over and over, and yet were just a handful of examples of the suffering that is going on right now.

Of course she also talked about her experiences adopting her son from Cambodia and her daughter from Ethiopia, as well as the birth of her and Brad Pitt’s newest daughter just a few weeks ago. One of the best things that Jolie said was that when her biological daughter was born, she was relieved to realize that she did not feel any differently towards her biological child than she did towards the children that were hers through adoption. She felt the same towards them and she loved them all equally. As powerful as her messages regarding refugees, etc. were, I felt her message about adoption was powerful as well.

She also mentioned that she and Brad Pitt were planning on adopting “next”. When asked from what country, she said that they were currently discussing countries, trying to decide what age, gender and race of child be best for their other children and their family make up. I thought it was pretty cool to think of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt having the same sort of thoughts and decisions to make in regards to adoption that so many of us do (minus the “how to pay for it worries” of course). I related to many things that she said, especially the way she felt overly grateful for everything she had and the realization of how blessed she truly is, after she made her first trip to Africa and how she wished more people could have that experience. Although I do not share her perfect body or millions of dollars in the bank, I do share the fact that adopting my children has changed my life, broadened my views, thoughts and outlooks and changed who I am and what my priorities in life are.

What struck me the most about Angelina was her sincerity and dedication to making a difference in the world. As a famous actress, she could very easily live in an elite world, where she did not even have to come into regular contact with even the everyday “problems” that regular U.S. citizens face. But instead of hiding from “real life”, she has immerged and dedicated her life to being around the people on this earth who have the least, and finding ways to help them and encouraging others to do the same.

I think of how much good she has done, how much good she plans on doing in the future and how much good could be done with a few more “Angelina’s” in the world. I’d like to think that if I was as rich and famous as she, that as she has, I would also choose to dedicate my power and resources to making this world a better place.

*Photo from Anderson Cooper 360 blog CNN website.