Blissdom Teachers

Today's Blissdom friends are a few of my favorite teachers. Click on the picture to be taken to their blogs!

The first is Saving For Someday. I have adored her for a long time and when getting ready for the first day of Blissdom and rocking out to "Beautiful" by way of a hairspray microphone (Don't judge...I always play Amercian Idol in my bathroom) she was one of the people I was chanting..."I get to meet her today...I get to meet her today"
I knew I liked her a lot, but when we got to really chat, I decided that I loved her. She's one of those people who is gentle, authentic and makes no apologies for it. (Oh and she laughs at all my jokes which makes her the ideal friend in my book) She spoke at Blissdom about the legal aspects of the blog world and I twisted a ton of arms to make sure I got to be there for that. I just HAD to be in the audience and I had a great time hearing my friend. I do have to work on my basic alphabet dancing as every time I tried to do the "YMCA" I kept getting my "C" backwards and hitting my friends.
The best part of her...she saw ME (read this post) and encouraged, loved me and was just who she is.

Next up is Belle Bean Dog. Who will forever be known to me as "Stinky Bean Dip" This is not an inside joke you aren't intended to get to make you feel out of the loop, but rather a nice mistake by my husband. He knows about all of you. He knew who I was excited to meet and as is common practice, I tend to call my friends by the Twitter handles rather than their real names. It goes both ways..most people call me "Crayon" He has heard me for months talk about Belle Bean Dog. Just like I can't do the "YMCA", he can't keep Twitter handles straight. He tweeted me to ask me if I got to meet "Stinky Bean Dip" yet. It was too good of a name slaughter to keep to myself.
This girl is an amazing writer and an even more amazing woman in real life. Best part...she doesn't live far from me so I am starting to see our halfway point as a beam of hopeful light. She's the kind of person that everyone wants to sit next to. Thankfully I got the opportunity many times!
She didn't speak at Blissdom, but she is an amazing teacher. From the way she handles herself in communities, her writing and her authentic voice...there is much to learn from "Stinky Bean Dip"

The last "teacher" for today is Shell from Things I can't say. We started off the conference meeting each other thing with a BANG. She tweeted something about her outfit (which was always fab!) and since I saw her I said "Boo". If you followed the stream it looked like I was "Boo"ing her outfit choice. FACEPLANT. I quickly followed it up with an explanation but there is nothing like insulting someone right before you meet them. (Sigh...I do this a lot!)
Shell is one of those power women. When she walks in a room, you notice. When she writes, you notice. When she speaks...you feel like you are chatting with an old friend. Don't let her good looks scare you. You may want to hide in a paper bag when you see her, but this lady is down-to-earth, welcoming and humble. I've been following her advocating (is that the right word?) for a while and she has taught me that when you are affected by something to let it move you and affect others. Use it. Own it.

Got My "Bliss"ter - Recap

In the whirlwind of Blissdom and the enormity of Opryland hotel, I bet every single attendee went home with a blister on their feet. I also bet that you got a "Bliss"-ter as well. This is that little spot inside of you that got rubbed raw. That is why I went to Blissdom, to take that little part of me that I call a blogger and get it rubbed until it throbbed and swelled; causing me to take notice.

I've been a blogger for a long time. An antique in this virtual space. Antiques get dusty and sometimes lose their original purpose. An antique dough bowl starts being used as a conversation piece and forgets its purpose as a dough bowl. Although still nice, its not doing what it was created to do. Likewise this blog has forgotten its purpose. 

Now that I have my "Bliss"-ter I intend to put this antique back into is purpose. The 365 pictures were fun, but it had nothing much to do with "Coloring Outside The Lines" (I will continue to do them John, but they will be available on my Flickr stream, so they don't clutter the purpose here) I will go back to writing here with INTENTION and not let my unique voice be silenced. I will strive towards a consistency and integrity with all of you. I will go back to taking the voices of others who are "Coloring Outside The Lines" and sharing them with you here. I will go back to strengthening my community, which is a place where we laugh at the crayon on the walls together. 

I will write with intention and make no apologies.

I had a wonderful time while I was getting my "Bliss"-ter. I learned as much from my fellow bloggers as I did from speakers and panels. Each of us there had a unique lesson to teach and some taught me even though they assumed they were just attendees. I know this post is getting long (for me) but let me introduce you to some of my teachers. I'm going to introduce you to just a few a day for the next week.

Dutch Being Me and Erin - I met up with these two for several weeks before Blissdom and we shared our fears of the whole "conference" bit. If any of the two of them were nervous at all, it never showed. Both of them have a powerful voice and magnetic personalities. Wherever they went they were surrounded by others. Their graciousness and willingness to share their experiences make them powerhouses in this virtual space. It seemed every single moment I began to feel my introvert showing like a slip under a dress; they were there. Taking my hand and leading me back in, I felt safe and confidence was renewed!

This picture is of me and LawMomma.
I have followed her, stalked her, laughed and cried with her for a while now. I couldn't WAIT to get to meet her in person. When you meet these bloggers in person, you have shared so much it is certainly like just getting together with an old friend again. But some of these blogger, like LawMomma...you blog worship. They speak to you in a way that inspires you, crushes you, makes you giggle and bonds you. I finally had a free moment that I got to look her square in the eyes and tell her how much I truly idolize her. When she looked back at me and opened her mouth....I LEARNED. She was stunned that I liked her that much. Shocked that I thought she was worthy. She seemed to act as though she felt that I was better than her. Talk about a teaching moment. When we use our voice on the internet, we don't know who we are reaching...who we are affecting...and who can't wait to really meet us. I am no better than she. My voice isn't more powerful. We are both bloggers. We are the same. There were several times that someone walked up to me and said they couldn't wait to meet me and like LawMomma; I was shocked. Shocked to learn that my voice was powerful. Shocked that I was worthy. We both learned something. To someone out there we are something worthy.