A few weeks ago I submitted a video to SITS Girls for a chance to be a speaker at one of their Bloggy Boot camps. I wanted to win, of course, but what I really wanted was a chance to speak at a blog conference.
I will fully admit that it was really tough to put myself out there and admit that I wanted this and ask people to support me by voting. The other finalists have been blogging longer and I knew my chances were pretty slim. So many of my friends re-tweeted my pleas for votes and posted the link on Facebook asking their friends to support me. That was totally overwhelming. I really can’t even begin to express how much that meant to me.
It was also a lot of pressure.
Voting closed last Wednesday and I had, quite honestly, totally forgotten about it until people started asking me while at BlogHer if I’d heard anything. And then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The announcement of the winner was supposed to be made on Friday but the SITS site was down. Friday came and went. I figured they wouldn’t post it over the weekend, which was fine because I was busy at the conference and then travelling home.
Then Monday came. And went, with no announcement.
I might have started going a little crazy.
Tuesday morning Connor came in early so I peeked at my computer to see if they had announced the results. Nope. I went back to sleep.
When I woke up a couple of hours later (yay for sleep-ins!) I saw some tweets congratulating me. I went to the post to see the results…
I didn’t win.
But I got a speaker spot anyway!
I’m absolutely thrilled that they’ve given me a spot at one of the 2012 boot camps. Sure, I wanted to win, but the item on my life list isn’t “win the SITS contest”. It’s “speak at a blog conference.”
And I get to do that.
So even though I knew putting myself out there was a risk, that it might result in me having what some might consider a #fail, I did it anyway. Because I’d rather have a life of oh wells than what ifs.
And that what if was totally worth it.
I would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone who supported me in this effort. Your enthusiasm and encouragement is worth as much to me, if not more, as the result itself.
xo
***
Speaking of doing things that matter to me, I’m thrilled to be a contributor to a new site called Just.Be.Enough, which is about carrying the weight of empowerment instead of the weight of our flaws . It was started by the amazing Elena, who I met at BlogHer, and my post there today is about why the message of Just.Be.Enough. matters to me. I’d love it if you’d come visit over there too!
