Yesterday I arrived in Chicago and stood on a curb, waiting for my much appreciated ride. (I’m here to speak at BBC Chicago.) I texted my friend and let her know what vestibule I was standing by and she texted back, stay right there. It made me think of being in the now, you know? The way I have to say to myself, stay right here. Stay right here, over and over. Otherwise I’m always thinking ahead, what’s next, what needs to be done and how will it turn out? What can I do to control it? Stay here now. After some buses moved, I could see that I was standing right in the middle of the rental car pick-up, and if I walked just about twenty steps, I’d be in the right place for a car to pick me up. I had picked the wrong place to stand and so I started […]
Kelby at Type A Parent has a new series going called We Still Blog. I’m all pink in the cheeks with the news that I got to be the first blogger featured there. My post is about something new we have on our family plate, something unexpected and medium hard, which is hard, just like all the hard parenting things are. If that makes any sense at all. Maybe it will make more sense if you head on over there to read it. Thank you. ::::: Also. I had the honor of being interviewed over the phone by a smart and kind woman named Debbi. She laughed at my jokes, so yeah, she’s pretty kind, right? Well, anyway. The interview is going to be shared as a part of a FREE series Debbi is doing. This Telesummit is for every woman that feels she has to compromise to “do it all”. Which is […]
Now I can say I’ve been to Kentucky. I was a first-timer. I can also say Louisville without pronouncing a big E in the middle while also pretending I have a mouthful of marbles or bubble gum. My friend Holli says it would be spelled like this – Luavul (but don’t forget the mouthful). I have been practicing hard. I’m getting very close to letting go and garbling. We Minnaaahhhsoooohhhtaaahns are not terribly good at leaving out vowels…or consonants for that matter. Anyway, ya’ll. I had a fantastic time in Kentucky. I met lovely people. I spent time with Ellie and Holli. I sat under the stars on a perfect Kentucky summer night in an amphitheater while Brandi Carlile completely astounded me with her talents and the talents of her band. I had no idea. I screamed SHE SINGS THIS??? like three times during the concert because when I have heard her […]
Tomorrow morning I’ll be boarding a flight to Kentucky. I’ve never been to Kentucky, so not only do I get to add another thumb tack to the map of my life’s travels, but I also get to speak with Ellie. We’ve each done a lot of speaking, in different capacities and venues. This particular keynote is something new. We’ve created something dynamic, something soulful and maybe sometimes funny. We’re going to do some skits, tell some stories and read some posts. We’re going to talk to the people that have come to hear us and ask them questions and then listen like they’re the best movie we’ve ever seen…because we all are! We’re story people. Ellie and I so badly want our words to be worth the time of the people that have paid to join us and we’re believing that if we get out of the way, that will happen. Our friend […]
I mean, if you live somewhere near Lexington, Kentucky. Do you? We’d love to see you if you do! If you don’t, we’d love to come and see you as well, but this time, we’re headed to Kentucky, ya’ll! On August 10th and 11th, Ellie and I will be attending the St.Agnes House fundraising event(s) in Lexington, Kentucky. We are so honored to have been asked to be keynote speakers for this event that supports a cause close to both of our hearts. St.Agnes house is a place for patients and/or their families to stay while in Lexington for cancer treatment or any kind of long-term care (NICU, transplant patients, etc.). Many of these people have to come from far and wide to get the care they need and St. Agnes does the job of extending not only hospitality but grace and love. St. Agnes is a community, drawing people with similar stories […]
Next week in Nashville, I’ll be speaking at the Blissdom ’11 Conference with friends Arianne and Cecily about writing and fighting the internal voices that try to hold us back. Taken from the Blissdom website, the description of our session~ Merciless Beauty and the Critical Beast: “Your story is bold. Your perspective is courageous and true. You sit down to write mercilessly, vulnerably, and then you hear them: an invisible army of critics in your head. Before you even hit publish, you begin to anticipate the feedback from your outspoken audience. And so you pull back and self-censor. Or do you? How much do you edit yourself before your strong voice becomes watered down by the focus-group tendencies of social media audiences? How can we confidently respect the integrity of our stories while being mindful of our readers? Learn to write with unadulterated beauty while nailing down elusive terms such as “voice” and […]
You’re welcome. I’m totally not as freaking hilarious and adorable as these two toot knockers, but if you’d still like to meet me and hang out and stuff, I’m giving away a ticket to the I_Blog Conference in Iowa this November 5-7! I’ll be there, waxing philosophical on all things blogging as a speaker, and then at night I will be happily tucked in my bed at the beautiful Hotel Pattee, where the conference is being held. It’s truly an honor to be a part of this enriching and well-planned event full of great informative sessions and opportunities to get your chat on with fellow bloggers. To enter for the free conference pass: Leave a comment on this post. (If you have trouble with my comment thingy, please email me at heatheroftheeo(at)gmail(dot)com with your entries. I apologize if you have to do this, but sometimes that thingy is wonky and I just don’t […]
I love October. You should see how it waddles when he walks. It’s the absolute most hilarious and adorable thing you’ve ever seen. And he wiggles it on purpose and calls it his chubby butt. October brings that feeling with it, you know? Like things are about to get hard before they get better. Like you’re dressing up for something you don’t want to wait for and you don’t want to recognize that it might be cold and tiring when you try to live it out. And it’s exciting and depressing at the same time and it leaves me in the throes of fighting the funk and I am. I was a stay at home mom who blogged as a hobby before. And now I’ve somehow become a writer and I feel like I’m embarking on winter, a season to hibernate and rest but there’s no time for that. A book proposal won’t […]
I’m pretty sure that one of the strangest experiences a mother can have is to spend some nights in a hotel room alone. Strange and good and surreal and lonely and wonderful. That’s how it is for me anyway, especially since I’m traveling so much lately. I sat here last night in the silence, in Asheville, North Carolina and felt all of these opposite clashing emotions and of course they were, each of these feelings, tinged with a hint of guilt. Guilt is always the glitter on a mother’s art project, it seems. (Unless we work really hard at not feeling guilty, but that’s pretty difficult to do when we’re already exhausted.) (Amen?) (AMEN.) I’m convinced that one thing we mothers have got to try is living more and thinking less. Recently I heard it said that if you want to change how you think you have to live yourself there. It sounds […]
All week I tried to prepare for speaking to my Minnesota blogging cronies. I tried and tried and felt more and more scattered and then more and more anxious due to the unpreparedness. I got in the elevator on Saturday morning with Minnesota JoY (who saved me in the parking lot by generously giving me the parking fee I neglected to remember to bring) and Matt Logelin and Chris Ann from LoveFeast Table. That was a really good start. I asked Matt if he wasready for his keynote.He said no.I felt better.(Did you notice how I just said that last thing Logelin-style?) (Am clever.)Check out the lovely place we were able to call home all day Saturday. (A big thank you to CoCo for allowing a bunch of Internet Geeks to take over their space.) Yeah, you betcha. I want to work there. The commute would be Uff Da Long, but the huge […]
Let’s just get this question out of the way at the beginning, shall we? How is it September 1st already? There. No answer? Me either. It’s inevitable, summer is bound to slip away. She does it every year. She is sneaky and good at hiding. I was thinking it might be fun to look at the brighter side of falling into fall. So. Here are some things that are up and coming in the land of the EO: On September 11th, I’ll be speaking at the first-ever Minnesota Blogger Conference in St. Paul. My session is 45 minutes long and is called “Authentic Blogging: The benefits and risks of sharing your personal life online.” I plan to dance and sing. Kidding. I’m really looking forward to this, friends. I wish you could all be there. Except I don’t, because that would make me nervous and I’m currently not all that nervous. Anyway. The […]
