Learning to Be a Linchpin: I Photographed the Seth Godin Conference, Chicago 2010!
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Yup, this photograph (and all of 'em in this post) by yours truly. I had so much fun being Photo Girl!
Are you indispensable?
Do you want to be?
Start by reading Linchpin by Seth Godin. And following his blog every day. Then, sign up for the next stop on his road trip where you can hear him speak, get together with other linchpin-minded entrepreneurs and artists, and enjoy the beauty that happens when people gather to dream big.
You'll find out how you can beat your own Lizard Mind (that part of you that resists taking risk and stepping out of your comfort zone), how you can set great goals and meet them (Seth calls it "shipping"), and how to enjoy great vegan food including sushi and cupcakes!
Me and the man of the hour: Seth Godin himself! Here we are outside the beautiful Harris Theater downtown.
What I loved most about the Wednesday night dinner, all-day conference, and various Seth speeches and Q&A sessions was the chance they gave me to really consider my passions, talents and goals.
Like how much I want to grow this blog, finish Bikram Teacher Training, and continue to create a community around the yoga I've grown to love so much.
And how my truest, deepest passion is writing. How I need to be sure that poetry, editing, and changing lives through my editing with editZING! clients continues in my future, whether's it's the next few months or the next ten years.
Seth has that aura and that urgency about him -- when you're close, you begin to see that the time is now and if you've been waiting around all your life to do what it takes to make you happy, you're wasting time.
After I practiced at Bikram Yoga Chicago's Lincoln Park studio for the first time, I adventured over to Karyn's On Green, the lovely vegan restaurant where the volunteers dined with Seth and his talented assistant, Ishita. Within minutes, I could sense the goodness and creativity radiating from both of them.
I quickly fell in love with the restaurant's chill atmosphere, delicious dishes, and this rare opportunity to get to know some really brilliant people. Plus, my friend Shuling and I teamed up as videographer/photographer duo, so it was awesome to catch up with her.
Wonderful people, tasty food: what more could you ask for in life, really?
It was a breathtaking evening: stimulating conversation about dreams and life goals, surviving the economic recession (and what Seth calls the end of the industrial era itself), surviving on low salaries as recent graduates, using the Shazam app to look up songs (Seth's totally an expert), and coming together with other enthusiastic entrepreneurs ready to make a difference in the world.
I ate hummus, I drank a ridiculously wonderful fizzy berry drink (no alcohol woo!), and I sat back, relaxed and photographed the beautiful crew, the beautiful Chicago night. Oh, and our sweet treats like this one:
Amazing volunteer team gets briefed before the attendees begin to arrive.
Demonstrations during the presentations included props like this rubber chicken, a toy shark and a Star Wars light saber!
Kind enough to sign books after a long, but rewarding, day.
One last thought to leave you with as you reconsider your purpose, focus and drive based on Seth's inspiring day...
As he says, it's important to remember that you'll never be satisfied (or successful, really) if you let everyone's opinions get in the way of your own determination. You can never please everybody, so you have to let go of something.
As singer/songwriter Ryan Adams so eloquently put it in a Paste magazine interview,
"The only way the art I make is gonna be any good is if I keep it between me and the canvas, and what hits the canvas."
The same goes for your yoga! It's the best when you learn to see that it's just you and the mirror, body and mind drawn together, your movements and the teacher's words. Nothing else.
Thanks to Seth and fellow Linchpins for an awesome day!
