I recently attended problogger, a blogging conference in Melbourne. I was curious to learn more about blogging as a medium for expression, as well as for business, and what better way to do so than to hit a gorgeous city and the best blogging event the country’s got, to do that. I love community, and being in one and getting a sense of mutual desire and purpose of a room. It’s a wonderful thing. The older I get, the more I feel it important to strive towards achieving things in groups – harnessing collective power to do great things, as opposed to worrying too much about the me show. That’s possibly an ironic thing to say in a post of self observation, and I accept that.
While I started this blog in March, it’s not my first. The first was started end of 2010 about real food and low tox living. It had a name. It was started because I wanted to share on the topics similar to those I write about now… And then I discovered the gorgeous Lee Holmes’ blog and site superchargedfood.com... and then I discovered the fabulous Sarah Wilson’s blog. As I navigated these beautiful sites, with fab content and depth, I thought to myself ‘there are clearly amazing people good at this out there and I’m not going to be able to add anything’. Have you ever thought that when assessing your sector, interest or business or just finding people who you think rock, therefore you can’t? Silly isn’t it, yet so common! Lee has since become a gorgeous friend and collaborator and I’m pretty sure Sarah and I shall have a fab chat over a tea when our paths cross.
So, lucky that after letting ‘blog A’ go and starting ‘blog B’, which you now know, I came across some amazing people, new friends, mentors and the like, who have – as a product of being surrounded by their wisdom and generosity – encouraged me to have a voice. To be supported and nurtured by people you love, to express rather than impress, is just about one of the best gifts you can give someone. With that new found trust in my voice, I learnt a few things. I learnt that if you really remove the noise and write from your heart, then there’s never going to be anyone like you. Ever.
When you don’t use your voice, you actually do yourself a rather great disservice. When you are doing things to be safe or to please, the stifling nature of that manifests itself through sluggish health, so-so mood, lack of success and poor energy levels. So, was I talking about a blogging conference at some point there? Yes.
Sarah Wilson turned out to be one of the keynotes at the problogger conference, sharing some insights into both her personal and commercial journey. She shared her story from leaving a highly successful career in traditional media, to running her own successful personal brand & her i quit sugar brand. Something I truly loved that she said, was that she could tell when she started to stink, she had to back off from that thought, that interaction or that avenue. ‘Stinking’ in this sense, did not mean she had to run off to the loo and pop deodorant on. It meant, when she could feel she was stepping off from her true voice – being fake. She knew when it happened, she had to nip ‘it’ in the bud quick smart- for health, well being and success alike. Such a great metaphor!
Something that makes me stink is educating people about spirits and champagnes. It’s not in my heart. I’m great at it and it’s a good bit of fun on occasion, but it’s not what I’m here to do and I don’t feel 100% authentic doing it. There are many more people for which it’s a tremendous passion, and I love that. I love my business, particularly the journey of how to build it into a good business and making clients happy with beautiful experiences that inspire their teams and clients, but as of next year, I shall no longer be the expert front and centre. I shall leave that to the amazing experts in our Luxury Tastings family and concentrate my ‘speaking / educating’ efforts when outside of my business, to matters where head and heart collide. If I get up in front of a group of people to talk, it has to be with the aim of empowering people, helping people be a better them and of course, talking about the benefits of real food and low tox living. I’ve made that promise to myself. That’s the stuff that makes me smell like roses. This blog feels very sweet smelling too. Everything I write is out of discovery, sharing, geeky expertise from way too much research, a desire to activate ideas, new ways of doing things as a collective for us and our planet – that all feels like really awesome stuff. It’s so rewarding, and believe me that every comment, like, tweet and share is so valued and noticed. It’s like leaving a tip, for writers, I think. Thank you.
So, let me ask you now, do you sometimes get a bit stinky? Try applying some deodorant (aluminium free of course!) to your soul this week and see what needs to go in the next wash?
Happy weekend all,
