BlogHer

I started writing this post on my flight home while I was somewhere in the air over Arizona. It’s hard to wrap my head around the weekend at BlogHer and what exactly it meant for me and this little space on the internet.

What made this a great experience for me wasn’t the sessions. It wasn’t the swag. It wasn’t the scenery. Even though all of those things were amazing.

It was stepping outside my comfort zone and doing something different.

I was so nervous on the way to the airport. I was scared. I felt like country mouse goes to the city. I was dumped into the airport with other travelers from public transit and had no idea where I was going or what I was doing. I felt so out of my element, all wide-eyed and scared.

I almost cried when my plane and gate were changed and I lost my window seat and got stuck next to a surfer hippie man in a skort who laughed out loud at random while scratching himself and then did Downward Dog in the seat next to me. (Yes. That happened.)

By the end of the trip, I was navigating myself and others around San Diego and I only got lost once. I maneuvered my way through the airports with ease and even gave advice to an older lady sitting on the return flight next to me. I felt seasoned. A part of something instead of apart FROM something.

It was the people.

Being surrounded by like-minded people who “get it” is always a little surreal. On this level? I mean, what’s a word for “beyond surreal.” Because it was that.

Seeing people and going “Oh, hey…I know you!” when I don’t technically know that person at all? Amazing. But that’s what this blogging thing feels like. It feels like getting to know people. When I spotted Katie from the walkway above baggage claim, I knew her. Or it was like I’d known her for as long as I can remember knowing anyone. Meeting Suz and Alena and Diana was like meeting up with old friends for a girl’s weekend.

Sitting down with women like Nichole and Sherri and talking blogging and life and shared experience was time better spent than any time spent in sessions.

Maybe this seems like a lame recap, (don’t worry, I have more (fun) things to talk about up my dashboard), but I think this is the bulk of what BlogHer comes down to for me–I grew as a person by doing something different and meeting new people, both of which are opportunities in short supply in my real life.

I’m glad I went despite my fears.