Getting out of your comfort zone and life lessons

I know there are a gajillion blog posts floating around about the blog conference SNAP. I have already posted my talk and music video I shared there. And I am sure all of you who did not go are probably sick of hearing about it. But my recap is a little different.

A couple months after I started blogging I made a promise that I would be open to new things and be willing to step outside my comfort zone. As a stay at home mom I had fallen into a rut. I had a very comfy comfort zone that included my painting clothes, pony tails, never leaving the house except for Walmart, and never putting myself out there. And I started to see that blogging had potential to change that.

This was my first time speaking at a conference. I have done television and spoken to small groups but this was different. On TV there was either no audience or it was a very small one. I could pretend that I was just talking to the host and the camera men. But at the conference I had to stare out at all these faces. Plus, I was showing my music video!!! I have posted a music video on my blog before but I didn’t have to sit in the same room with my readers and see their reaction. I was a nervous wreck! You can ask my roommates. I was a mess the night before and all morning leading up to it. So thank you if you were there and laughed. It made me giving my talk that much easier :)

I realized when the conference was almost done that I had not taken very many pictures with my camera. This was my third conference and at the first two I was so concerned with getting pictures with everyone. This time I was more concerned with experiencing everything. I was just there and in the moment. It was good :)

The biggest life lesson was a fear I conquered. It is hard for me to talk about and I almost didn’t include this in my post. It has to do with dancing…….

When I was in Jr. High and High School I weighed 100-110 pounds and had the same size boobs I have now…… BIG. You can imagine the kind of negative attention I got from boys. I took weight training class there at the Jr. High and High School. I loved it. But as part of our circuit training we had to run around the track. The guy’s weight room was across the basement from the girl’s. There would be a guy that was on “look out”. When I came out to run my laps he would alert the other guys and they came out and watched. It made me feel sick. It was painful. And it kind of scarred me for life. It also happened out on the dance floor in Jr. High. So I stopped dancing.

I have not jogged, danced, or done anything else that involves movement in front of other people since High School. Seriously.

When I hear people talk about being bullied and how it has been crippling in certain aspects of their life I cry with them. I know that gut wrenching feeling. Every time I would go to a dance in college or at a blogging conference I would have a panic attack. I would want to join in but get sweaty and sick at the thought. And every time I get invited to go jogging or running with friends I always say no. It also comes to mind every day when I get dressed and I try to make my boobs look smaller by wearing cardigans and other things I can “hide” in.

At EVO (blog conference) last year I almost danced. I got on the dance floor and moved a little and then saw a few guys standing around and couldn’t breathe. I left. So this year while at SNAP I decided I was just going to do it. I was not going to over think it. I would just go through the motions until I started having fun. I don’t know how I did it, but I made up my mind and just went with it. And guess what!?!?

I had a BLAST! It was so freeing. I can’t even tell you how much fun it was. I was sweaty but it was because I was shakin’ my booty not because I was having a panic attack.

Here is a picture courtesy of Destiny. Not the most flattering but at least it proves I got my groove on :)

Can you spot me???

I came away from SNAP having learned a lot from the sessions, but also having learned a lot about ME. :)

Here are the few pictures I did take……

My roommates :) Who I kept up until 4am Staci, Amanda, Michelle, me

Some of my favorite DIY buddies…. a few I met for the first time in real life! Kate, me, Rhoda, Traci, Beth, Wendy

Brittany! We spoke together there at SNAP about power tools. This was taken right before I went on the dance floor. I think that is why I look cross eyed :P

More of my favorite “home” girls!!! Emily, Shelley, me, Destiny (Thanks Desitny for another picture!)

If you are a blogger, I really encourage you to attend a blog conference. I know they cost money and in some cases you have to travel. But for me, the first blogging conference was a HUGE pivotal point in my blogging career. I learned so much about blogging, social media, and photography. I made connections with other bloggers that are amazing. And I stepped outside my comfort zone a million times and never regretted it. I have grown as a person and as a blogger.

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