Described by CNN as the place “Where Everyone Knows Your Twitter Name”, the annual BlogHer conference is the largest gathering of bloggers in the world.
Approximately 5000 attendees come together to share ideas, tips and meet “in real life”.
Here are three takeaways from BlogHer ’13
3 Takeaways from BlogHer ‘13
1— Stop over scheduling — Leave room in your life to say yes to the things you want to and “no” to the things you don’t want to do.
How many times have you said “yes” to a committee, to a work project or even a client that you knew you didn’t have the time to fit in or you weren’t really excited about?
Then, you had to say “no” to something you really did want to do. Or, you simply pushed yourself to keep going and eventually hit burn out.
Burn out is bad enough but what if you had a major health scare? That happened to Maria Ross of Red-Slice.com. A self-described “Type A”, Maria launched a consulting business, moved cities and maintained an active social life until a brain aneurysm put a halt to her over scheduled life. She shared her story from her new book Rebooting My Life: How a Freak Aneurysm Reframed My Life.
I found it an inspiring and important reminder.
2—“Lean in” – Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and author of the recent best seller Lean In shared her thoughts on leaning in.
The crux of her message was, “Lean in to what you’re afraid of and get support”. Simple, yet sage advice. Growth is always scary on some level but by taking on new projects and experiences, we do grow and it’s not so scary anymore. She advocated developing support networks she called “circles” (not G+ circles but real life support) which she described as a peer network where you know you can share authentically.
Personally, creating a support network is the key to building my business. Knowing I have others to turn to for resources personal or professional helps me sleep better at night. Do you have a circle of support?
3—Embrace your inner superhero – Lourds Lane shared from her soon-to-be-released Broadway musical Chix6. Weaving a powerful story of family violence and a sense of perfectionism honed by her Filipino mother, she wrapped us in a tight cocoon of love and acceptance.
As a child, Lourds found consolation in the violin and become a powerful performer. As young as 7 years old, she leaped off the stage during an orchestra performance and connected with her audience in the aisles. The experience empowered her and she felt wings sprouting from her back. When the performance was over, she thought she’d ride that tidal wave of good feeling. Yet, instead of lauding her courage, her conductor told her she had shamed the classical community.
Luckily, she didn’t give up her violin. Over the years, she continued to find solace in it and use it to re-invent herself.
As she grew up, she realized being human is a multi-faceted experience. Sometimes there are differences of perspective which is ok. And, at other times there are outright stumbles and falls.
Superheros always embrace their humanity.
Many of the superheros I met at BlogHer ’13 were the attendees. They share their stories of struggle with post-partum depression, alcoholism, coming out and so many other deeply personal moments on their blogs. To those bloggers in particular, I do hope you feel your wings sprouting.
What about you? What did you learn at BlogHer ’13? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
