Boy am I happy to be home. As much fun as the trip was, it just felt so good to walk through my own door and into the arms of my family. Blissdom was a mix for me. A mix of amazing people, great learning opportunities, overwhelming size, and new perspectives. I made new friends, connected with people I've met online, learned a lot, and came home with a new understanding of the blogging world.
As a lifelong introvert, it wasn't always easy to come out of my shell in a group of 700 or so bloggers (I walked into the newcomers meet-up and walked straight back out again). But I have gotten better at group situations since junior high school and was able to comfortably participate in much of the conference even if I did pass on the karaoke.
And I loved meeting other new bloggers! Including Maya from MemeTales in the photo above (she has a fun new reading app for 3-6 year olds), Holli from Thrive Consulting (she does bookkeeping and taxes for bloggers), Robyn from dear heARTists (her blog tagline is "a place for artists of all kinds to get reenergized, encouraged, and ministered to"), Erika, a 25-year-old product designer who gets to travel the world (is my envy seeping through the screen?), and so many others!
I learned a lot. I think the session on blog law by Sara from Saving for Someday was worth the price of the conference in itself. Seriously. Plus she so generously sat down with me afterward and answered my extra questions patiently and thoroughly. Me Ra Koh is both a wonderfully engaging speaker and incredibly good at sharing photography tips in an accessible way (her blog is subtitled "photography for real people"). Such good stuff there! And now I know I need to get another camera lens...
Despite all the bloggy stuff I learned, I was surprised to find that my biggest take aways from the conference were actually to make more space in my life (thanks Christine Koh), reassess my values and strengths (thanks Tami Heim), and to refocus on my family and my marriage (thanks Tsh Oxenreider). Not exactly what I went to a blog conference for, but I am very thankful and excited about this direction.
Daphne is taking her nap and it's time for me to read over my conference notes, catch up on e-mails, and follow up with some folks I met over the weekend. So I'm going to sign off now and attend to my to do list and maybe set up a simple art activity for when Maia gets home from school. xo
