In this post I will share 13 6 Things About Blissdom.
Why 6? See #1
1) I don’t have a plan for this post, so…
I actually have no idea how many points I’ll be able to come up with, but since I am a wordy sort-of blogger, I am going to assume a 13 point post would end up being the equivalent to a long ebook… As much as you love me, I know your love has limits. Hitherhencetofore – SIX and not THIRTEEN points.
It’s been a week plus one day since I got back from Dallas.
Since my return there have been school conferences, school performances, a date night with my husband (that included a mosh pit that could have ended my life as a person with 10 toes), EASTER, a trip to the *local* tulip fields, and the consumption of a copious amount of those malt-robins-eggs-candy-things.
READ: I cannot be held accountable for coherency.
Perhaps you can release me from spelling standards as whell.
Blissdom.
It’s a conference that is mostly for women who are entrepreneurial in the online space. There are tracks on Business, Life, Wriiting, and Photography. I was a Community Leader which means I was assigned to most of my sessions as part of that role… which landed me in mostly photography-based sessions… being a VLOGGER and all…
2) Have the balls to value your work!
It takes balls. Lots of folks out there low-ball and undervalue their skill and effort for the sake of some money, or some exposure, or whatever has a mere appearance of value.
This was my own takeaway of the session with David Molnar and Alli Worthington. I have heard this before, I have even DONE it before… but it’s always inspiring to hear it again. And again. I’m a people pleaser and tend to lose sight of my own value rather quickly. To hear why and how others are taking the bold step to truly value their work inspires me. I left the session feeling like I had gotten a good bicep workout – EXCEPT IT WAS FOR MY PROFESSIONAL BICEPS.
I’m talented in a way no one else is talented. YOU are talented in a way no one else is talented. My work is worth something. YOUR work is worth something… A LOT of something. It can be uncomfortable to ask for what you are worth, but Brene Brown’s words come back to me when I think about this topic, “Choose discomfort over resentment.” I deliver better content… I give and work better when I am not battling issues of resentment.
3) Self-portraits are a great way to teach a budding photographer how to photogriphate.
OR… take better portraits.
My sister from another mister Lucrecer lead a session on taking better portraits… I didn’t realize so much could be learned from using oneself for practice.
NOW…. when people criticize all my selfies…. I can be all, “I’M WORKING/LEARNING HERE!” I didn’t expect a session highlighting SELF portraits could be such a valuable learning tool. I have been schooled.
(See my eyes? You see the catchlights? I learned to look for catchlights, and I FOUND THEM while waiting for the plane to load on my flight home. I scooted right up to the window… badaboom – CATCHLIGHTS! You can also see bloodshots. It’s the unspoken conference SWAG item. Totes worth it.)
4) Anna Epp is a goddess to me.
I CAN take pretty good pictures… I HAVE taken pretty good pictures… but in Anna’s session, with our cameras in our hands, she walked through the bells and whistles of our DSLRs. Buttons I had ignored now have meaning and a purpose. I thought I was awesome enough just shooting in the aperture setting… But with Anna’s wisdom I am officially navigating full-on M. That’s MANUAL, y’all!
Also, Anna is nice. Nice people who inspire and teach are awesome.
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A non-photography session I attended was Megan Jordan’s session on boundaries and the writing process…
5) I am living a life of open loops. That’s not working for me.
In her session Megan dropped knowledge about multitasking – like…. it makes you dumb.
Literally. With each new task we add, we lose 10 IQ points.
It’s entire possible I have been working in the IQ negatives for at least 3 years.
Megan’s words inspired me. I am DONE. Overwhelmed. Distracted. Tired. I can’t remember if I brushed my teeth. If I drank water. WHAT DAY IT IS.
Or my all-time low… I go to conferences and FINALLY get to meet one of the women I have LONGED to meet for YEEEARS and I … saw her and… ::BLANK::
(That’s Heather – Sprittibee. Isn’t she lovely? Inside and out. So gracious and understanding and loving. Relationships like this are a HUGE reason why I *do* conferences like BlissDom…P.S. Photo cred – Spritibee )
I truly feel that moment helped sum up my desperation… Someone I was SO sure I would recognize in an instant.
Online saturation. Distraction. Hopping from one profile pic to the next… When I have my browser open, I often have many tabs open. Facebook, Pinterest, Hootsuite, sometimes my blog… other blogs… websites galore. GOOGLE + is the hawt girl right now.
My email app is open… Lightroom… iMovie…
The constant input of information to my brain is making me DUMB… Literally.
I’m going to let you in on a deep-dark secret… I get anxiety when I go to conferences. Not because I have to be in the company of many people, but because I am TERRIBLE with names and faces and I blame the 14,000 ring circus of open loops, Twitter IDs, and 180×180 pixel profile pictures.
In her session, Megan challenged us to create boundaries in the online space. Keep open browser tabs to a minimum. Keep email closed. Set up times to go online or go off line. Do the creative things in the morning when one has access to the fresh ideas. Before they get buried.
Megan quoted Tsh Oxenreider … (it was a quote, right Megan?)… I love this:
Empty yourself out before you consume.
Whether it’s writing, or prayer, or meditation, or… whatever … this statement clicked with me. I’ve been working on developing a habit of journaling since last July. I am a very task-oriented person, so taking the first moments of the day to do *nothing* is hard. But every time I choose to do it, my day just turns out… better somehow. I feel more of a sense of control. Or maybe just a bit more grounded instead of being swept away by the tide of doing.
Once I tackle that piece (journaling, etc..), I want to move toward adding creative time at the front of my day… before my mind becomes jumbled and mushed and falls victime to email, 11 open browser tabs, and Instagram… Speaking of which…
6) As I write this my email and 11 tabs are open in my browser.
Aaaaaand I just checked Instagram on my phone.
But something else that Megan said to do was… take baby steps. Don’t do it all at once.
Which is something I tell the kids when they unload the groceries from the car… less chance to break eggs and such.
….
Did you miss me? Nope. I have something to confess… I just bought a book.
See???? OPEN TABS!!!
But it looks like a good book… by Tsh Oxenreider.
Ope. I just created an Amazon affiliate account too.
This is getting out of hand…
This could have been done and published an hour ago!
*eyes bulge*
Focus, Jenny, FOCUS.
Baby steps. Baby steps…
Anyone else have this problem? Anybody?
Bueller?
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