Why You Should Attened a Conference {#BBCCHI}

Do you have a passion?

I am not a fan of blog confrence recap posts. It’s not because I’m jealous I wasn’t there. For one, I think part of what you are paying for is the knowledge you take away from it and reading someone’s else notes isn't giving you the whole lesson or knowledge. For two it’s very personal, meeting your bloogy friends are not the same as my bloggy friends etc. For three, not all my readers are bloggers, I dont want to isolate. So this is a sort of recap post, but not really because I don't like them, got it? (that means if your not a blogger keep reading!)



I spent my Saturday at Bloggy Boot Camp Chicago, it was a fabulous time with great speakers and people. I learned a lot, I laughed a lot and I meet some of my bloggy bucket list (Tiffany, Francesca) and some long time twitter friends.

Here’s the thing, my biggest take aways from the confrence? Have nothing to do with blogging.

You need to be honest to who you are, to YOU

 What is my (your) story?

Be honest with yourself and STOP BEING SCARED of something that keeps coming up

Please yourself, you have to be HAPPY with YOU and what your doing

Where you put your ATTENTION is where you get your RESULTS

People who do not want your success as much as their own are not worth your time

All those apply to anything you love and are passionate about. They can be applied to any hobby or job or passion.

As women (in general) and mothers (specfically) we spend so much of our time and energy pleasing others, doing for others, being for others that sometimes we forget to take time for us. I don’t mean carving out five minutes for a shower I mean time to really know who we are and what we are passionate about. What fuels our minds beyond the love of our children and family.

Here’s the thing, Motherhood is a limited egagement. Your kids are only going to need your round the clock care for a limited number of years. If you are doing your job well they will be growing up and becoming more and more independent. If you have no passion, no desires, no hobby or goals beyond raising them, what do you do with yourself when they need you less?

I have written before that I think it's important for our children to see that we have dreams, desires, passions and goals beyond them. I think it's good for them. It teaches them, it encourages them. If you have a passion, even if its just a small inkling in your gut, you owe it to yourself and your family to take one Saturday (or a Tuesday evening, or whenever) and spend the time exploring and building that. Your family will survive, you will survive, your house may be messier but messes can be cleaned, opportunities that are lost cannot be regained.

So if you have a passion, a hobby, a desire to learn just do it. Make it happen. If there is a conference go. If there is class take it. If there is a group go to it. Find a way to make the cost work, the time work. Get over your fears of what you will look like, what you will wear, what people will think and just do it. Because if you don't feed your passion no one else will.





*I think most of the above quotes are from Tiffany (the prettiest ever) Romero, Amy B. Hole and Wendy Piersall but I had a squirmy baby and my notes were messy. 


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