Blissfully back ... for a few days

I swear I didn't mean to let all of last week slip by in between posts. Goodness gracious! But I also swear I have a good -- no, great -- excuse. I was off exercising my bloggy mind over at the Blissdom Blogging Conference in Nashville all weekend!

I had the great opportunity to hit up Blissdom on official business, and while I was busy meeting and greeting with bloggers both friendly and new, I also was able to attend some of the sessions and use my personal bloggy brain, too.

Never been to or heard of a blogging conference? Blissdom is one of the larger ones, so imagine hundreds and hundreds of bloggers (this year, over 700!), all convening in a huge conference center/hotel for 3-4 days, companies galore sponsoring booths and events, fun entertainment, social time and personal reflection all thrown into one big experience.

In the end, this conference was just what I needed to re-energize and get ready to share some truly inspired content with you.

To kick it all off, here are ten handy dandy lessons I learned from attending the conference. Both serious and fun :)

Where Passion Meets Purpose: 

My Blissdom 2012 Top Ten {Tuesday}List   

1. Paid passion = pressure. Pressure dilutes joy. When monetizing your hobbies, pressures arise. The hobby dissolves and the joy is (usually) diluted. Whether this means running an Etsy shop for your adorable handmade items, sewing placemats for all of your friends or simply monetizing your posts and ads on your blog, this is so, so true. Some hobbies are meant to be just that -- hobbies. "Just because you should monetize, doesn't mean you should." ~Blissdom speaker

2. Entrepreneurs need... a tolerance for risk, the ability to make decisions and yep, even the willingness to be wrong once in a while. Amen.

3. Mustaches (especially Lorax movie ones) make every happy hour that much more fun.

4. Iced chai is pretty much the best drink any breakfast buffet could serve. Why have I not seen this at events before?!

5. Rascal Flatts = amazingnesss. Seriously, this band brought me straight back to nights at Peachtree Tavern and Moondogs (Don't judge. They were/are GT bars), sipping beers and hanging out while country music blared. Speaking of which, I feel like a throwback night at the bars is in order. Who would be with me?!

6. Six-word memoirs are an amazing way to center yourself and grab on to the real meaning of whatever you are thinking about, feeling or wanting to say. Pick a question, and let yourself write for a few minutes, churning out six words at a time. One of mine from that workshop, a six-word description of how I was feeling in that moment: Energized, ready for a new adventure. Awesome :)

7. Joe Jonas? Pretty much Rob Kardashian's doppelganger. And not too bad of a singer, either, by the way. Even if he is like 11 years old.

8. Every blogger should meet with a lawyer and figure out what's needed to protect their assets, their name and their content. Haven't done so yet? Go. Do. This. Tomorrow. This is a great resource from one of the Blissdom speakers on the topic: Blog Law by Saving for Someday.

9. Jon Acuff, the opening keynote speaker, was one of the best speakers I have ever. heard. He was right up there with Jeff Immelt from GE (the fact that I remember the name of who spoke at my graduation proves he rocked), Barack (who visited GT while on his campaign trail in 2007) and a handful of homilies I have heard. Key things he focused on:

• We're becoming the "I'm, but" generation. "I'm a _____, but I want to be _____." Isn't this so true??
• Never compare your beginning to someone else's middle.
• Someday will never happen. Stop waiting.
• You will disappoint people - disappoint the right people. As in, disappoint that one random fan when you don't tweet out every single moment of your life but don't disappoint your spouse/S.O./kids by ignoring them/making them wait/taking advantage of their time...

His book Quitter (which we got a signed copy of!) is now at the top of my must-read list. Preach.

10. Working with people for months and years will never be as good as that ten minutes you get to spend with them face to face. Thanks, Blissdom, for helping me connect with all of my bloggy friends and colleagues!