Blissdom: Clicks vs.Cliques

So, people have been asking for two days to post about Blissdom... so here goes. If Blissdom isn't your thing or you are even wondering what Blissdom is, I promise there is other GOODe stuff in this post...

Truth be told, I have been struggling to put into words what the Blissdom experience has meant to me-- in a way that would:

a) Do it justice

b) Have some value to my awesome loyal readers who perhaps could care less about Blissdom.

c) Not seem like a bunch of wisdom vomit (pardon the gross analogy--but if you have came within a 10 ft radius of me since leaving Blissdom, I am sure you would describe it that way too-- I am so full of things I want to share, do, change, be a part of, make happen, put into action, that I am literally spewing it out all over the place! Ain't that right Aunt Lou?)

I have tried to write this post a hundred times and the one word that keeps going off in my head is CLICK.

Which is ironic since the one word I was scared of (read: terrified beyond measure) was CLIQUE. 

Going to Blissdom was BEYOND outside my comfort zone. I didn't know anyone IRL that was going to be there and beyond that I only knew one (very kind) person who was going to be there and would actually know who I was...

I would log on to twitter and watch the twitter stream fill up with ladies making plans to see each other and wonder just where I was going to fit in.

At the risk of belaboring the point... I was scared sick. My stomach was in knots and my nerves were shot. I had no choice but to just push through and see what would happen and past experiences had me ill at the thought.

All my crutches were gone.

I didn't have my amazing charismatic, uber-funny, uber-social husband there so that I could go on auto-pilot.

I didn't have my social butterfly of a sister --who is fiercely protective of me-- there to make it through connected to her hip (although I did have several texts/calls from her... cause that's how she rolls).

I didn't have my professional speaking/facilitating hat on that would allow me to "facilitate and lead" right through.

I didn't even have the AMAZING group of women that I blog with locally there to be my tribe and have my back.

Nope. It was just me. 

And, I was going to have to be enough. 

And, I was skeered.

It was at that time that I knew how blessed I was back home. I had a girlfriend on the phone with me (and my mom and my sister) psyching me up. A colleague helping me look for other new people on Twitter and I even had a girlfriend stopping by folks' blogs thanking them for hanging out with me.

AMAZING. If nothing else, I knew I was going to walk away with a new appreciation for those back home. 

You guys ROCK... just sayin'

But then, I met these ladies (and a few not pictured)...

And, I began to learn one of many things I would come to learn... Bloggers tend to be kindred spirits. When you meet another blogger you realize that they just get you-- a very important part of your life is something--a piece of them-- that they embrace as well.

Despite my pre-Blissdom terror, I was looking forward to going to there. I was intrigued to walk among blogging giants and soak up every bit of knowledge I could.

What caught me off guard was that the overwhelming environment of love, acceptance and YOU are enough...

Led to very emotional, spiritual and professional discoveries throughout the week, in addition to the basic knowledge of ways to improve your blog, build your community and how to use your camera.

If I had to define the whole experience in one word, it would be "click" not "clique".

Dictionary.com has many definitions for "click": 

Click: to fit together; function well together

Click: A slight sharp sound, such as that heard from the heart during systole.

Click: to make or cause to make a clicking sound: to click one's heels

Click: a small device for preventing backward movement of a mechanism

Click: computing  an act of pressing and releasing a button on a mouse

Click: to catch on with someone; to intrigue someone; 

Click: to become intelligible.

Click: to become suddenly clear

So thank you Blissdom. 

You helped me regain a piece of myself that I have been missing for 15 years.

And, to my untribe... Thank you girls for an amazing--life altering time. 

Without your acceptance, I am not sure that I would have had nearly the same experience.

Just sayin'

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