Conferences!

So much has happened since my last blog entry!

The anthology in which my essay resides (My Wandering Freedom) was published and is available and on Amazon.  It's titled, My Wandering Uterus. I remain in awe.  Many of you kindly purchased the book and gave me feedback, which was lovely.  Apparently I made many of you cry.  My work here is done! Well, not really.  I am thankful my words are in print, and that I got to share my journeys to Ireland with you. I tend to be a very private person, so to share something so intensely personal was quite a journey in and of itself for me. You've made it a bit less painful. Many thanks!

I attended the Sacred Space conference in Maryland a few weeks ago. and presented my workshop on Building Community Among Solitary Practitioners.  I have presented this workshop before, tailoring it to the communities I was presenting it to, in different settings. I was actually happy my workshop was scheduled for the last day, as it gave me time to really experience the conference and soak it in.  First rule of Community Building?  Have a great conference.  And it was, full stop. One of my passions has always been community building.  I have always been a steady networker, because I find people fascinating, and love connecting those with similar interests together.  This workshop builds upon that concept, with ways to get us all connected, even if someone prefers to remain introverted and non-social (I have those days myself).

The attendees of the workshop were lovely, contributing and brainstorming about ways to connect with community.  What I heard was, "life is busy!" but underneath, a true longing for connection.  Happy to say that several people there connected, with plans to meet up again in the future.

A few weeks later, I was pleased to learn this workshop was also accepted for the Mystic South conference in July. Not sure where this road is leading me, except to spreading the word about community building, and how we an do that among our groups.  There are solitary practitioners in all areas of life, no matter the practice, so it's a joy for me to help in building community with some ideas and tips to further that along.

If you had asked me a year ago about giving workshops, I probably would have laughed.  Yet I am thankful for the opportunities afforded me, and look forward to more in my future.