Tonight I’m sitting in my hotel room furiously working on my blog, sending pitches, and following everyone and their sister on Twitter. My first BlogHer conference has been good. More than the swag and the selfies, three key themes emerged from each keynote speaker and interaction.
1. “Sisterhood is priceless and there is always room for it.” Stacey Ferguson, CEO @BeBlogalicious & Justice Fergie Lifestyle Media
Women DO support each other and build healthy, collaborative spaces. I experienced this camaraderie throughout the weekend, and most salient when I met my tribe of other brown women bloggers. About forty of us shared tips, leads, encouraging words, and laughs about how to survive these e-streets collecting coins as we share our voice. Thank you especially to Feminista Jones, Luvvie, Natural Hair Rules, Stacey Ferguson, and CocoaFly.
[Tweet ""The rooms I find myself in are more important the rooms I've talked myself out of" @luvvie #BlogHer14 #GetLiberated "]
2. “When we are rested and fully recharged, we are more present in our lives.” Arianna Huffington, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Huffington Post & Author of Thrive
Self-care is necessary before we can show up as your best self for anyone. It was almost scary how much this message echoed throughout the weekend. Arianna Huffington discussed how the key to her success was getting eight hours of sleep each night. She championed frequent digital breaks and admonished that we know more about how our iPhones are doing than the state of our being. In her keynote that followed, Kerry Washington discussed how she has to put on her own oxygen mask, ask for help, and admit when she doesn’t know something in order to deal with the demands of her life.
This is a huge growth area for me, but I got some confirmation from a tarot card reading from a sponsor that I’m on the right path. I'll be adding Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success by Arianna Huffington
3. "What we do has to align with our soul. Don't do things that don't connect with who you are." Richelle Parham, Chief Marketing Officer at eBay
Spend your energy on things that have impact and spend the other parts of yourself on things that bring you joy. Too often we spin our wheels with tasks that simply don’t matter at the end of the day. They don’t change our lives, bring more love in the world, and do nothing but add to this sick culture of busyness. Instead, we are to shift to spend our time and service in more meaningful ways. And we can’t limit this focus to our singular, personal causes. Kristen Howerton cautions us to listen to others who don’t look like you. Natalia Oberti Noguera reminds us that we can amplify others’ voices by inviting them to the table. Feminista Jones suggests that we can support sometimes just by retweeting or sharing information, even if we don’t have our own perspectives to share.
I know in my spirit that Web 3.0 is going to the balance between the culture of “me” and a consciousness of “us.”