Okay so I wrote this post in May of 2017 after attending the Create and Cultivate conference in New York City. I am clueless on why I never posted it. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there is not really a take away for all of you. (or that I don't think I ever really finished it?) Either way, I think its something that still rings true. I'll let you read it first and then explain my thoughts.
Gloria Steinem spoke at the conference I attended a few weeks ago and she totally blew my mind. Throughout the day, when speakers were presenting, people were still dilly dallying and talking in the background at different booths. It was irritating but I understood that every speaker was not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I was just hoping that by the time Ms. Steinem took the stage, the other women would quiet down and boy was I pleased because the moment her name was announced, the several hundred women went silent. She has an incredible stage presence that draws you in. We were clinging to every word she said.
I had a few takeaways from her time on stage. A major key was that it is okay to be a "hopeaholic." You can hang on to hope and believe in yourself and others because sometimes, that really is the only way you're going to make it through (whatever it is your stuck in). You have to have hope that the future is brighter and that change will happen if you believe in it. Steinem called herself a hopeaholic and I am pretty sure I am one as well.
Another key that Steinem spoke of really hit home for me. She said "even birds need nests." And boy did I almost cry. For some reason I have been extra emotional lately and her saying that struck that cord in me. You may interpret what she means differently than I did and that is great however, this is what I got out of it; it is okay to go home. Wherever or whomever you call home, it is okay to miss it. Home is the place you feel safe and sheltered and sometimes, that is all you need. You can fly anywhere you want and explore the world but you will always have a place to go back to.
Besides the fact that I am indeed a "hopeaholic," I think I was trying to get at that it's okay to miss home and want to go home. It is human nature (or bird nature? not sure) to have a home base. You can be a nomad, a traveler, and explorer, but there is always that place or those people that you will want to go back to. Even birds need nests.