What IS this thing?
The question most of the attendees struggled to answer. The reason is because it was many things to many people. Some people came for knowledge, some people came for networking, and some people came to witness a reality they wanted to attain. I came for all of these reasons. So the best packaged response I can give of the nature of WDS is:
A conference where people come together to inform and inspire each other to live creative lives in a conventional world; aka "Down with 9-5 cubicle life and get paid to do what you love!"
It's bold, but over 3,000 people believe in this and 2,800 were there to support each other and demonstrate that it IS possible.
Who was there?
People I didn't expect...and people I did. There were business people, technology people, health and fitness people, people you'd expect at star trek conventions (just seeing if you're paying attention ;) ), artists, musicians, writers, film-makers, performers...people in big industries and people who had their own start-ups. I expected the age range to be 20s-30s. That was so off. I would venture that most of the attendees spanned late 30s-50s. The next biggest group would be 20s-30s. Some were in their 60s and 70s. The youngest was 17, who came with her mom.
What did you learn?
Way more than I can ever share in a single post. The weekend itself was a whirlwind. It took me a few weeks of reading other people's blog posts to remember and digest it all. Some of the highlights for me were:
1) Gretchen Rubin: The greatest thing that determines a person’s happiness? One’s level of self-awareness: accepting who you are first, not who you would like to be. This was powerful for me.
2) Tess Vigeland. Two bloggers summed up her presentation very well, so I'm going to copy and paste from their entry on 44 Chunks of Wisdom:
- 28. How do you know when it’s time to go? When you have too much self-respect to stay.
- 29. Go out leaving no regret.
- 30. I could have not have had more fun if I were bathing in a tub of kittens.
- 31. When you have your dream job, the irony is that you don’t spend a lot of time dreaming.
- 32. I’m supposed to tell you I’ve learned so much [leaving my job] that it’s been a growing experience. It’s been terrifying, awful, and heart-breaking.
- 33. The next person who tells me “just make it happen” gets a punch in the face.
- 34. How do I get back to remarkable? By re-defining it. Our jobs are not who we are.
32 hit my core. Her entire speech hit my core. When I left Wisconsin for Tucson, people were excited for me. I was excited for me. We were all like, "Oh my gosh! Amy's going to go achieve her dreams!" 32 is actually what happened. The experience was terrifying, awful, and heart-breaking. So heart-breaking...I actually felt betrayed by dancing like it was a person.
3) Donald Miller: The psychologist Viktor Frankl suggested that ultimately we humans are on a search to find a deep experiential sense of meaning. When man does not find this meaning, he seeks out pleasure. The stuff we believe we want may not make for a happy or meaningful life. (Again, taken from 44 Chunks of Wisdom). I'd never thought about this before...
Was it life-changing?
Absolutely.
Any great memories?
1) Just barely squeaking in to listen to Jonathan Fields. They told us several times the room was full, but I hung on in line. They came out and told us they could take three people. I was in that group. **Destiny**
I later travelled out to a suburb of Portland to buy one of his books, Career Renegade, which was life-changing just to read.
2) Seeing people of blogging celebrity status like Leo Babauta, Jeff Goins, and Jodi Ettenberg - whose stuff I've been reading and following for at least a year - doing things like getting lunch, walking down the street, and dancing at the after-party. You know, being normal people.
3) Meeting a organic farmer the day after the conference. I was at a train stop and heading somewhere else when I saw her WDS swag bag. I went a few blocks toward my destination, but felt a strong pull to go back to the train stop and talk to her. So I went with the pull. I sat down next to her and asked, "What brought you to WDS?" It opened up a long conversation on "passion," thinking outside the box, and wanting to live a good life. I told her it felt really good to meet someone who didn't already have an established start-up and who wasn't a high-energy extrovert like so many others I'd seen and met. She felt the same. It was definitely a memorable moment.
Coming home, I felt many things, including joy, sadness, and even desperation. I saw so many people who seemed to have their "thing." They had businesses and many of them were fantastic writers. I felt very behind. I had a little personal blog and I was barely making a living...while the guy next to me had a six-figure income (not kidding). Then I read a post from another blogger I follow, Matt, where he talks about not comparing your beginning to someone else's middle. After WDS, I connected with even more people who were there through their blogs and twitter. I realized that every. single. person. there. was remarkable and amazing. Some were in their "beginnings" and some were in their "middles." I know now to look to these people as guides and inspiration, rather than hold their accomplishments next to my own. Finally, I just have to say that it's really great to be one among these people - people to whom you can say, "I traveled across the country without a job, contacts, or a place to live in order to chase a dream," and they'll respond, "That's awesome! Tell me about your dreams..." How cool is that?? Overall, WDS was a great experience. I may go back again, I'm not sure. If I were to go back, it would be to meet more amazing people. As far as information goes, though, I think I have enough to last me a lifetime...and now I gotta get to work!
No comments:
Post a Comment