This past weekend, I went to Asheville, NC to the Type-A Mom Conference 2010 . I spoke on the “Lose the Mommy Guilt: Juggling Family Life and Blogging” panel with Ria Sharon and Molly Gold and our session was moderated by Linda Sellers. I was a bit apprehensive before the panel, because all three of us had very different approaches. Ria is more zen and peaceful. Molly is more about systems for organization. I am…hmmm, it’s hard to explain. Basically, my thought process is that we are all grown women who need to live our (not someone else’s!) priorities. I’m not really a guilt-driven person, so when I’m feeling guilty, it’s usually because I am doing something wrong/not living the way that I want to… and I need to change! (On the other side of the spectrum are women who are constantly feeling guilty and/or accused. They usually need to give themselves a break, because they are doing more than great!) In any event, I learned something wonderful from Ria, Molly and Linda. I’m so glad that we were able to share our experiences as well as hear the challenges and victories of the other women in the room.
The conference was really wonderful overall and I’m glad that I went. I took some (unedited) notes during some of the sessions that I attended. If you’re interested in blogging, you can read them (It’s About Respect: Professionalism in Blogging; Using Your Blog as a Platform to Get Gigs; Multimedia Blogging: Using Pictures, Audio and Video; and Creative Ways to Monetize Your Blog: Thinking Outside the Widget) over at my “bloggity blog” – kimberlydcoleman.com.
My “aha!” moment didn’t come at the conference though. It came at the (4 due to connecting flights!) airports. Hearing the flight attendants on all four planes remind me to “put on your oxygen mask first” before helping the person next to me was my biggest takeaway from this weekend. July, August and September have been very full months. Each month I mention to my husband, “next month is going to be a lot saner”. At this point, he just shakes his head and laughs at me. Having the time to just sit and think through the various aspects of my life made me realize that I really need to take care of myself better though. (I had already started to come to that conclusion at the end of August, but this free time just solidified it.) For some things, I just need to delegate better. For others, I need to get them off “my plate” completely. I’m still figuring out which things fall into which category, but I’m excited. I am so fortunate that I already have a lot of joy, fun, laughter and love in my life. I’m convinced that even more will be added as I make room for them by letting go of other (good, just not great for me) things.
I left the weekend further inspired by these parting words from the keynote speaker Aliza Sherman’s “Looking Back, Looking Forward: Women’s Journeys on the Web” presentation:
Dream
Learn
Do
Become
Be who you are meant to be.
(You can see the entire slideshow below. Even if you are not “into” blogging or the web, many of her points are universal themes. She was so inspiring!)
In any event, I will be sharing with you how my journey goes and I hope to hear how yours is going too. We moms have many roles, so it is imperative that we put on our own oxygen masks first! I would love to hear how you do so…