My Blissdom Experience
I’ve been mulling over what I wanted to say about Blissdom. The main thing I want to express is how impressed I was with the team that put the conference together. Seriously amazing. They did an incredible job and I can’t even begin to imagine how much sleep they lost while working on it. It was beautifully done.
I met amazing people, I learned so much that I will never remember it all, it was everything I expected and more.
But it wasn’t for me. Like going to the mall. I don’t go to the mall. I don’t fit there. I felt the same way at Blissdom. There wasn’t a thing wrong with it, it was me. It was a square peg, round hole kind of thing.
On the first day I realized that my goals are different. I don’t think I really care about growing The Pennington Point into something huge. I just want to bless others and connect with them. I just want to share what the Lord has done for us. So I guess looking back, I found my own way by going to Blissdom and seeing that I don’t actually want that. The pressure is lifted to try to grow and I feel released from it.
The best part was meeting so many gorgeous, talented, loving and generous women. My favorites were those that would sit and talk with me about themselves, not just their blogs. They blessed me with their thoughts on everything from God to family to business.
Cha Cha and Kellie. I couldn’t have asked for better roommates. We gave each other room to breathe. We left each other alone when we needed it and hung together when we needed it. It couldn’t have been better.
Cha Cha, me and Kellie
Cyndi, from Walking in His Grace, would have to be my number one favorite person that I met there. She was the opposite of me….bubbly and energetic, adorable and a little feisty. I hope you’ll check out her bog, it is uplifting and joyful.
Me, Cyndi and Cha Cha
I fell crazy in love with Gina, from The Shabby Chic Cottage. Besides being talented and beautiful, she didn’t come across like she had anything to prove. She was by far my favorite speaker. She gave me extra time and helped me with my etsy questions. I’m so glad to be her new friend! I am inspired by her.
Laryssa, at Heaven in the Home, and I had a wonderful conversation over lunch. She blessed me with her honesty and love of the Lord.
Kristi at Pink and Polka Dot was really fun to meet. She made me feel right at home, like it was the two of us. I really liked her and can’t wait to read more of her blog and learn from her many slip cover ideas.
I met so, so many other bloggers. I have a stack of business cards to sort through. I was in the home blogger tribe and they were a great group, very supportive. I’ll be sharing their blogs with you as I go through them.
I’m glad I went. It was worth the time and effort. I won’t wonder what it’s like any more. I can check it off of my list of things I want to do in my life.
It seems odd that going and discovering that it isn’t my cup of tea has helped me understand myself better. I know what it is that I really want and what I don’t.
Blissdom has given me the confidence to know who I want to be in my blog and in my life. It helped me meet new friends that I would never have known otherwise. It showed me that no matter what, I should be myself and not worry about what others think.
That may not be what the other bloggers took away from it, but for me…..it was just perfect.
A friend of mine told me about your blog. She said we have a lot in common. After reading this post, I can see why she thought so. I appreciate your focus on just connecting. I am often reminded, in this context, about a principle Bill Gothard taught when I heard him speak years ago. He said, “It’s our job to deepen our message, it’s the Lord’s job to expand our ministry.” I keep telling Him this is His deal and if He wants me to pull the plug right now, I will. But if He wants to use anything written in my little corner of the blog world, He just needs to send the right person to read it. Thank you for letting me peak into your heart.
first off…how are you feeling?
did you hear that tons of people are now sick that attended blissdom? i’ve heard of at least 20+. i’m so hoping you are feeling better.
i couldn’t agree more about what you said about our relationship & being roomies. i so appreciated the freedom we gave each other & also the “coming together” when we wanted to be together or didn’t want to be alone. even though i invaded cha cha’s time to herself.
i’m thinking your take-away from blissdom was different then what they probably wanted for you, but it still was a reallygood thing. being able to just be yourself is pure bliss in my opinion.
xoxo
kellie
Antbed, I LOVE that! Thanks you for sharing that quote. It is exactly what I was trying to say!
Kellie, you are so right. I guess that’s why I hesitated to say it because I know that wasn’t the goal of the Blissdom team and I don’t want to be disrespectful to all of their hard work. But you are right….it was a really good thing for me and I am glad I learned it. I had not heard about all of the sickness. Thanks for telling me. Lisa~
I kind of came away with some of the same feelings. By FAR, my favorite part of the whole thing was meeting with, and talking with other bloggers…learning about who they are, and sharing. I told my daughter that I would love a smaller, more intimate “retreat” environment, where we could have leisurely time to sit, and visit, learn from each other, and build more friendships. I DO want to continue to improve my blog, and develop new friendships through blogging, but I am also very aware that it can be the kind of thing that takes over a person’s life, and I DON’T want that. I don’t want to let things that are my real priorities get pushed aside by my computer! 🙂
christiswritingthewaves.blogspot.com
Christi, that’s a great point! I did come away with ideas for approving my blog and I definitely want to do that. I love the idea of a retreat setting, smaller groups and some fellowship time. I liked that they did the tribes. But I don’t solidly identify with any one tribe so that was different for me also. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I love hearing what others experienced. Lisa~
I am glad you found the experience enlightening if not for the reasons you thought you would! Life’s like that sometimes.
Just saw that you had left a comment on my blog about gluten-free meals. I recently wrote a post about a site that has saved my sanity when it comes to meal planning around Caylie’s need to eat gluten-free. Maybe it would be useful to you too.
http://christiswritingthewaves.blogspot.com/2011/01/great-meal-planning-resource.html
I think that I actually might do some posts about our favorite gf recipes. I would love to read other people’s best gf recipes too! 🙂
Glad you are feeling some better…..I think its interesting that you are able to say, without reservations, that the meeting was not your cup of tea……Most people would go with the flow, afraid they would offended people if they didn’t pretend to like everything about Blissdom. I’m sure you were able to bring some good back to the table but not everything worked for you….you sound like a honest and very sincere person.
Charlotte, I was hesitant to write this because I really don’t want to insult Blissdom or offend anyone. I brought a LOT of good back and learned many things that I will use to improve my blog. Thanks for the compliment. I hope it comes across that I have nothing but good things to say about Blissdom. It’s just different strokes for different folks. 🙂 Lisa~
Obviously, as an event geared straight at women, I wasn’t in attendance 🙂 But from reading this post, it sounds to me like you got out of blissdom what was just right for you to get out of it! I remember reading a post over at BeneathMyHeart by Traci after she came back from Blissdom last year and realized that God had called her to spend time first and foremost with her family, and only secondarily on the blog. As a member of a family that spends time working on two blogs (as you know!) I can certainly relate to her sentiment. And I can relate to yours. Kim (my other half), I think, knows that to grow a really big site fast she’d have to write about things that she really doesn’t want to write about or enjoy writing about. But she writes with such passion about the topics he chooses, I can’t blame her. I’d rather run a small blog with a pound of passion than a large blog that only provides an ounce of satisfaction, too.
I always wonder how people would describe me and now I know. You made me laugh! (I am a little feisty aren’t I?)
What a blessing it was to meet you. God is so good to place people in our lives isn’t he? You amaze me !!!
Blessings,
Cyndi
I’m so glad to have met you. Your friendship and encouragement mean so much.
I’m sure this was difficult for you to post, but I don’t think it came off sounding bad at all. It gives those of us who haven’t been but think it might be fun some insight. I’m sure I’d love the socializing part (even though I’m 3/4ths hermit) and I like the IDEA of growing my blog, but I know I don’t want to put the effort required into it. My family needs me more, and I need them more than a big ol’ blog.
Thanks for the honesty and keep being you. That’s why we love ya!
☺ Celeste
Thanks Celeste! I keep thinking how much more I would enjoy a small gathering. Wouldn’t it be lovely to just have 10-12 of us do a little retreat? We could help each other learn blog ideas PLUS have deeper, richer fellowship. Now that sounds like something I could get into! Lisa~
my oh my didn’t I live in an ant bead say it well. I have felt much of the same way you did about my experience. But after talking with other people about other types of conferences I am finding connecting with people is alway the best thing you learn. So I am thankful for the connections I made, the time I got to spend with you and others and will use tid bits of knowledge I gleaned as or if God uses my blog in ways they could be important, otherwise I will be happy with the helpful knowledge I learned “on the side”
Love you,
Cha Cha.
I have started to post a comment three different times, but stopped because I couldn’t think of anything profound to say…but I came back because this post affected me profoundly . Your words reveal your heart.
Lisa,
I think you have uncovered the secret as to why I really have never moved heaven and earth to go to Blissdom. Because I am happy to write a little ole blog about what I love and adore. That people read it is just icing on the cake.
That and well I know I will never be with the “in group” here on earth. I love the underdog. Always will because that group happily includes me.
Be blessed.
I love Laura’s comment above. That is exactly how I feel. I just started blogging a couple of months ago. I find some of the blogosphere to be very competitive and a little bit intimidating. As time progresses I hope to figure out more things about the technical end of blogging (i.e. improve my layout and my photography skills) but first I would like to really find my “voice” and improve my writing. But I will never let blogging take precedence over my “real life”. I have read numerous accounts of Blissdom but yours just seemed very real and honest. I totally appreciate that! Best wishes, Karen
Amen, Lisa. And Fred said it best: I choose the pound of passion.