Reverence

I spent Saturday at Bloggy Boot Camp.  Some of you know that.  I spent the whole day there.  It didn't occur to me until after I had left that I hadn't spent one moment thinking about the weather, I hadn't checked my phone for a single text, I didn't wonder for one minute whether Oliver was napping or Axel was having fun.  No body asked me, "What does your husband do?"  Not one person asked if I have a "real job."  For 10+ hours I was in a place where I had colleagues, people who cared what comes out of MY mouth and I met for the first time strangers who are now part of my "tribe."

Coming into the conference I was a sceptic.  How are all these people, who have chosen to communicate in such a "detached" online world, ever going to communicate in person.  I am the first to admit that I cannot stand what technology is doing to our youth - eliminating face-to-face conversation and ripping the heart out of grammar.  How will these women (I assumed they would be women) going to survive without their beloved virtual wall of protection?  Here's the thing...we didn't.  We didn't survive, we triumphed.  What I forecasted would to be cloudy veils, isolating us from the outside, became the pedestals and platforms we stood on.  Each one of us had an intense history of discovering true self and confidence a mile wide to back it up.

When the first speaker took the mic (after an enthusiastic intro by @TiffanyRom...who's so "pretty and smart") everyone snapped into their own way of gathering exactly what THEY needed from the conference - choosing the parts that were most relevant to their END GAME and feeling an overwhelming sense of pride and happiness for each of their neighbors.  Just as I wondered how we could "de-tech" for the day and just be present the Twitter feed lit up and for the rest of our time together Twitter became not a hinderance to our interaction but a tool.

For the afternoon breakout session I had decided on the "money lecture."  How to turn your blog into something lucrative.  I had decided on that BEFORE I heard @TiffanyRom say, "if writing feeds your soul, you should go to that session."  It slammed home the reason I started this blog, it brought forth what, deep down, I want for my END GAME.  I am a writer.  I went to that session.  Extremely glad I did.

Vikky from UpPoppedAFox.com (presenting alongside her partner @HeatherofthEO - eerily resembling a famous SNL skit) read a piece about Reverence.  She spoke on how a simple walk with her daughter to an art class taught her what it meant to have a deep respect for something.  I wish my story were that endearing.  For me to come to the understanding of Reverence it took a room full of strangers in a place I had never been.  I had to separate from my children, leave the "what does your husband do" people behind and be inducted into a new TRIBE in order to truly mean what the word meant.  100 women, reverence for all, judgement for none.

Now I will break a couple of blogging rules.  I am posting this without a picture.  I am posting on a Monday morning.  I've been checking all of my "new blogs" for the last day and a half, wondering who will post that first summary of what they experienced at the Boot Camp.  I haven't found one yet.  Perhaps they are all waiting for Tuesday evening, an agreed upon "great time to post."  I can't wait.  I have lost control of this space - which ironically I have complete control over.  I have let it slip to whimsy and fluff.  This space is mine to reclaim and from this point forward I will do just that.  This is, at least for this day, my "day job."  It is important.