I am still decompressing and sorting through the past week I spent in Arizona with a bundle of bloggers from across North America at the mom2summit and event.

I need to be honest here, this event was a little out of my league, both in terms of “bloggers” and “expenses”  It was a flashy sort of affair, one that required this chicken farmer to shave her legs and scrub off the dirt off her feet.

But I knew I needed something to excite me. So I went.

See, I have been in a bit of a funk.  The “blogging blahs” had taken over.  I felt that I had spent the last year OVER working, investing every little bit of myself into my business and darn it, I was TIRED.

I had had success, explored new things, been awarded terrific opportunities, but I felt spent.  My post coital of blogging wasn’t a flattering glow anymore and my drive to return to the sheets was waning.

So, I went to mom2. The “big guns” of American blogging conferences. My fingers were crossed she would woo me under the covers again.

And she did.

First she relaxed me with her warm sunshine, cool pool water and bottles of prosecco.  Then we talked.  Conversations with leaders and passionate women.  Ideas starting pinging in my brain, and I started to see that, perhaps, there is more for me here.

And then she schooled me. And she schooled me hard.

She didn’t hold anything back and she made me realize that no matter how hard I thought I had been working, there were people out there working HARDER.

It was like walking into your grade 3 science fair with your project on Hamsters realizing that the other kids were creating solar powered cars, and cloning the last African Rhino.

My hamster project had a long way to go.

At this point it would have been reasonable to consider giving up and giving in. Possibly drowning myself in prosecco by the pool.

But this chick is too tough for that.

I slid into my big girl panties, threw myself into one or two uncomfortable situations and took the challenge.

I came home eager to dive in again, done with resting on my laurels, passionate that YES this industry is good, and it IS creative and GOOD stuff, amazing stuff is being made every day.

And that if I want to play in that pool, I am going to need to toss myself in.

So, Mom2. Thank you… thank you for reminding me I am part of a bigger thing than my desk, my window and a (slightly sticky) laptop.  Thank you for inspiring me to be better, and do greater things. Thank you for letting me know that I have MUCH farther to go . . . and that I should aspire to do so.

And thank you for the Prosecco, which took the pain of ALL those realizations away for a few days.

My ticket is bought for next year, and I am hoping I can bring MORE of myself to share in 2016.