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	<title>WIRL Project &#187; Technology/Web</title>
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	<description>What It&#039;s Really Like.</description>
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		<title>Too Many Choices!</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/too-many-choices/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/too-many-choices/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2015 07:30:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Brody]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food/Drink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home/Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Style/Beauty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Choices Entitlements Decision Making Distractions Freestyle On Demand This and That This and This Too Many Choices]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=8359</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the last year my wife and I have attempted to emphasize the importance of making good choices with our toddler. It has been an extremely daunting task to not only teach him what a choice is, but help guide him toward decision making that we find acceptable. We both feel that the quickest way for him to learn is to have a high level of autonomy over minor situations so that he can practice the skill while we still make most of the major decisions for him controlling and modeling proper behavior. So far we have seen vast improvements in his understanding of choice, but like most children this age it is a test of wills between parent and child. So much of our lives are driven by choices. We make thousands of them each day. Even as an adult I find myself struggling with the ability to choose especially in a culture that now seems to demand entitlements of individualization and variety. Our culture seems to have shifted from a nation who wants this and that to a nation of this and this. Personalizing options are meant to help one feel in control, satisfied and fulfilled. These popular trends produce high pressure to keep up with demand.  How then, can I find the freedom to choose to feel so restricting? I get a restrictive, suffocating feeling when I am at Zaxby’s in front of a Coke Freestyle machine. If you have never seen one of these it is a touch-screen automated fountain machine that boasts over 100+ Coca-Cola brand selections. During each visit, in what feels like an excruciating eternity, I will eventually settle on a drink selection after flipping through the entire catalogue several times. This greatly frustrates my accompanying dining party as I am either made fun relentlessly of or told to get out of the way. This may seem funny to you that such an inconsequential decision would be so difficult to make, but for me taking a leap toward the perfect selection from a huge assortment is virtually paralyzing. Too many choices are distracting. Our good choices routine with our son backfires when we allow him to choose an episode of one of his favorite television shows to watch before going to bed. In addition to his decision making development he has also (finally) developed a diverse TV palette beyond Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He has learned the evil powers of the TV remote and the on-demand capabilities of the DVR. His frequent back-and-forth waffling on what to watch often leads to an unwanted outburst that inevitably delays bedtime. Much like his father in standing front of the Coke Freestyle machine, my son is distracted by too many choices. Some of the biggest fights between my wife and I have not been over money, household chores or child care responsibilities. A number of these conflicts have been over where to go to dinner/get take-out or what movie we want to watch on Netflix. It’s not every day we eat out or take a few hours to relax in front of the TV. We both try way too hard to choose the perfect selection to make it worth our while. Flipping through local restaurants on Google Maps and movies on the Netflix genre guide are eerily similar to the previous dilemma I described with the Zaxby’s Coke machine. Too many choices! I remember as a kid before satellite television we got the four local major network stations (six channels on a clear weather day!) from our roof-top antenna. Show listings were published in a paper TV Guide that came out weekly in the Sunday newspaper. If you missed an episode of your favorite sitcom you would not be able to watch it until it re-aired during the show’s off-season.  In addition, growing up in a small town we had very little selection when it came to dining out. The nearest trendy eateries were a 30 mile drive away. My father was never convinced any meal was worth that far of a drive. Back then food and entertainment selections were made easy due to a lack of choice. Ahh, the good old days. The next time you become frozen in the cereal aisle at the supermarket or break into a cold sweat when flipping through your satellite radio just remember that large selections are intended to make choices easier, not harder. I will try to keep telling myself that the next time I am in front of the Coke Freestyle machine…and I will continue to stand their motionless.]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What It&#8217;s Really Like to Be Me &#8211; Part 1</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/what-its-really-like-to-be-me-part-1/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/what-its-really-like-to-be-me-part-1/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2015 16:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sara Brennan]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Australia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charlotte]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Competitive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Erie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Famous Podcast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mercyhurst College]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mercyhurst University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Podcast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sara Brennan]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toddler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traveling with a Toddler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tv Williams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7815</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I had the privilege of being invited by T.v. Williams to be on his Famous Podcast a few weeks ago and it was a blast! It was my first podcast, so it was a new and very interesting experience for me and somehow T.v. lead me to talk about all kinds of things including my personal and professional life. I will be sharing bits and pieces of this podcast over the next few weeks and today I am sharing Part 1 which is about: What it was really like to live in one of the snowiest cities in America The CRAZY way I bought my house in Charlotte Australian slang and what it&#8217;s REALLY like to have a spouse with an accent Traveling on a plane for over 24 hours with a 7 month old My competitive nature and why my son is bound to also be competitive &#160; I was very honest and real in this podcast and can&#8217;t wait to share the whole thing with you. I love the idea of podcasting because not everyone has time to sit down and read an article, WIRL, or a post. However, a podcast is something you can play on your phone while you are driving or cleaning your kitchen or while you have a few minutes to sit on the couch and relax. Hopefully there will be more of these kinds of posts in my future! The video link is below, let me know what you think! &#160; Thanks for watching and thank you T.v. for having me on the Famous Podcast! &#160;]]></description>
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		<title>When My Pastor Said &#8220;Follow Jesus&#8221;, Did He Mean on Social Media?</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/when-my-pastor-said-follow-jesus-did-he-mean-on-social-media/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/when-my-pastor-said-follow-jesus-did-he-mean-on-social-media/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Jun 2015 19:56:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sara Brennan]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Love/Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Be Real]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cleanse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Chadwick]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Filters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Image]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Instagram]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newsfeed]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Photoshop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pinterest]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Real You]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reputation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Status]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weeding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7340</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At church, my pastor, David Chadwick, was giving his awesome sermon and he was talking about &#8220;following Jesus&#8221;. Leave it to me, being so actively involved in the social media world, to think to myself, If Jesus were on social media or had a blog and he showed up in my newsfeed, what would that be like? I&#8217;m pretty sure this is not what David meant when he said &#8220;follow&#8221; Jesus, but it really got me thinking. I began to think about the people I &#8220;follow&#8221; on social media and what impact they might have on my daily life and I also thought of what I might look like to those who &#8220;follow&#8221; me; what image do I portray and does it align with the message I&#8217;m trying to send? I think defining yourself in the social media world can be quite difficult because you have such a limited amount of space, characters, pictures, etc. to represent YOU. You have to scrunch your entire message into one photo, a few hashtags, or a status update and there isn&#8217;t a whole lot of room to explain what you mean or talk about what you really think. And even if you did, would others accept you? We all have a voice (some voices are &#8220;louder&#8221; than others) and we all deserve a fair chance to be heard. It&#8217;s how you choose to use that voice that can really define your character. We all have a voice (some voices are &#8220;louder&#8221; than others) and we all deserve a fair chance to be heard. It&#8217;s how you choose to use that voice that can really define your character. So think about it. If you&#8217;re negative, constantly ranting, bitching, and complaining online, what do you think people think of you? You may be funny, but is your sarcasm aimed at someone else&#8217;s expense? I think you see where I&#8217;m going with this, right? Is that the image you want people to see? Are you negative because you&#8217;re behind a computer and don&#8217;t have to face the repercussions of being rude or disrespectful? Or do you put up a wall because you&#8217;re insecure or lonely and desperately want someone to pay attention to SOMETHING you thought or wrote, even if it&#8217;s negative? Or are you someone who is filled with positivity, strength, and happiness? Do people smile when they see what you&#8217;ve posted or shared online? Are you displaying how loving and caring you are towards your family and friends? Is the REAL you shining through your posts? When you start to think about how other people might perceive you (like it or not, people are judging you by what you do, say, AND post) it can be a little scary. But it can also be quite interesting because YOU ARE A BRAND and people are judging your personal brand based on what you&#8217;re showing them and telling them. I&#8217;ve always been very selective in who I follow or what I &#8220;like&#8221; on social media &#8211; if I don&#8217;t actually &#8220;like&#8221; it, I&#8217;m not going to pretend I do or &#8220;pity like&#8221; something &#8211; I hate that! I try to be as genuine as I can be, I want my &#8220;virtual&#8221; self to match my &#8220;authentic self&#8221; or &#8220;personal brand&#8221;. I don&#8217;t photoshop (I do occasionally use an Instagram filter), I don&#8217;t say things I don&#8217;t mean, I don&#8217;t post things that aren&#8217;t true, or have ulterior motives. I don&#8217;t tell my friends one thing and post something completely different because I have nothing to hide, and seriously, to those who do this, who are you trying to kid? Because of my selectivity, I follow many incredible, amazing people online and I actually get inspired and happy as I&#8217;m scrolling through photos on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook &#8211; I feel connected to these like-minded people and I love it. But, have you ever wanted to &#8220;unfollow&#8221; someone (and I actually do this quite often) because you&#8217;re sick of their annoying posts or messages? Yes! And sometimes I just laugh at the silly things they say about themselves, their hashtags, and their COUNTLESS selfies (and keep them in my feed strictly for entertainment purposes), but if I&#8217;m sick of their &#8220;brand&#8221; or I&#8217;m tired of them bringing me down &#8211; I get rid of them or click &#8220;unfollow&#8221; &#8211; I don&#8217;t need their crap in my universe! I try to be as genuine as I can be, I want my &#8220;virtual&#8221; self to match my &#8220;authentic self&#8221; or &#8220;personal brand&#8221;. I don&#8217;t photoshop (I do occasionally use an Instagram filter), I don&#8217;t say things I don&#8217;t mean, I don&#8217;t post things that aren&#8217;t true, or have ulterior motives. I don&#8217;t tell my friends one thing and post something completely different because I have nothing to hide, and seriously, to those who do this, who are you trying to kid? This brings me back to the &#8220;follow Jesus&#8221; idea. I was thinking about what Jesus (or whichever higher power you believe in) would post as a &#8220;status&#8221;, or even a WIRL, if He could and how positive and awesome His messages would probably be. It would be amazing to &#8220;follow&#8221; along as He touched lives and taught lessons in such a positive, loving, incredible way. Having His updates show up on my phone or computer would probably make me want to be a better person and it would help me to see his &#8220;good&#8221; more often than just on Sundays. Wow, just the thought seems cool, right? Then I thought, if I had the privilege to follow THE MAN himself, I&#8217;d want to keep my newsfeed clean, so not to &#8220;contaminate&#8221; or &#8220;dilute&#8221; His powerful messages, photos, and posts so they could have a greater, stronger impact on my life. So I would probably start to do some &#8220;weeding&#8221; of those who I follow  &#8211; I&#8217;d get rid of anyone who doesn&#8217;t share the same message (notice I said &#8220;message&#8221; and not &#8220;beliefs&#8221;) as me (or Him), almost like a &#8220;social media cleanse&#8221; if you will, to get rid of the bad and start anew. Now, imagine this. You&#8217;ve cleansed yourself of the heavy weight of those who bring you down, you&#8217;ve shed the burden of the negativity, rants, and hate that appears on your usual social media feed and you&#8217;re only surrounded by those who share the same love, support, and inspiration for life and helping others as you do &#8211; wouldn&#8217;t that be awesome? Surrounding yourself with positive energy could really change your life &#8211; &#8220;follow&#8221; the good energy, toss away the bad. I mean, I&#8217;ve always been taught to &#8220;follow God&#8221;, but until I thought of it this way, it never really &#8220;hit home&#8221; for me. Call me crazy, stupid, or wacko, but sometimes you just have those &#8220;Ah-ha&#8221; moments where everything just falls into place. This was one of those moments for me. I mean, my whole life I&#8217;ve been taught to &#8220;follow God&#8221;, but until I thought of it this way, it never really &#8220;hit home&#8221; for me. Call me crazy, stupid, or wacko, but sometimes you just have those &#8220;Ah-ha&#8221; moments where everything just falls into place. This was one of those moments for me. So, this isn&#8217;t really about religion here, but it can be if that&#8217;s how you want to interpret it. What I&#8217;m saying is that if we look at the 21st century version of &#8220;following Jesus&#8221; and what that might actually mean if it were possible, it might mean that you would have &#8220;insider access&#8221; into the life of an incredible role model. We all have people we admire and we &#8220;follow&#8221; them online to peek into their lives and stay in the know. What we see on social media affects us, that&#8217;s why it&#8217;s such a powerful tool these days &#8211; it can make us happy, sad, jealous, frustrated, and even angry. Doesn&#8217;t it make sense to only surround yourself with people who build you up? &#8220;A rising tide lifts all boats&#8221;, right? What I took away from those two words at church last week was probably quite different than the intended message, but maybe not. I&#8217;m going to start shedding the negativity in my life by ridding of those who put it smack in front of my face everyday and I&#8217;m going to start following more people who I look up to. Truthfully, I think we should all do this and it&#8217;s so easy to do if you&#8217;re willing to make the change. So, if I &#8220;unfollow&#8221;, &#8220;unfriend&#8221;, or &#8220;unlike&#8221; you or something of yours &#8211; now you know why. You can chose to get mad or maybe you can chose to think twice about the messages you&#8217;re sending on social media. I challenge you to take a look at the life you&#8217;re portraying and ask yourself if it&#8217;s authentic. If it&#8217;s not, you might have some explaining to do, but don&#8217;t worry, I know just the platform to get you started! &#160;]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>BlogU Taught Me About Blogging and Powdered Alcohol</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-taught-me-about-blogging-and-powdered-alcohol/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-taught-me-about-blogging-and-powdered-alcohol/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 23:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Doughnuts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Powdered Alcohol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sleep]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge BlogU]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6988</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This past weekend was one that I had basically been counting down to since it was over last year, Blog U was finally here. This time was made even better by the fact that one of my real life besties was joining me this go round. Nicole and I headed up on Thursday and made it despite the dreary and seemingly never ending rain that fell from Durham all the way to Baltimore. We relaxed a little bit before heading out to eat and met up with a group at a nearby restaurant after bumping into two of my favorites, Frugie and Kerry. A few squeals and hugs may have transpired in the tiny Radisson elevator. It first it felt like we had intruded on a tight knit group, but by the end we were laughing hysterically and were so glad we decided to join them for dinner, even if we waited forever and all the days for our food. Just meant more conversation. We headed back to our hotel and joined the pow wow that was happening in the lobby and met even more fantastic ladies. Lots of the BluntMom crew and to put it bluntly (hardy har har) these were some of my favorite ladies of the weekend. I hearted them almost immediately. The next day was National Donut Day and who in the hades would I be not to participate? Ergo, Nicole and I stopped by the Fractured Prune and oh. my. heavens. Delicious.  Don&#8217;t just trust me, Melissa and Susanne agree also. The rest of the day went by fast, getting to catch up with so many of my favorite people (Tabatha!!!) and also turning Facebook friends into actual friends. There was also plenty of time spent confusing the hell out of people by saying Amanda Madison is my Facebook but please call me &#8216;Maddie&#8221;  Confused yet? Good. This year started off with a bang and we went right into sessions. I learned so much from the first two and am already putting Anna&#8217;s and Lynn&#8217;s tips to good use. I am already seeing a spike from Pinterest and I think I am using SEO properly. Being around this group of women (and men!) seems to just ignite something inside of you and you just jump into bettering yourself and your blog. I also ascertained (via the back of a bathroom stall, we were on a college campus, after all) that there is such a thing as powdered alcohol.  Apparently you can&#8217;t snort it or eat it, therefore I can only assume you just pinch it in your butt cheeks like they used to do for fun with chewing tobacco. Or you know, mix it with liquid but&#8230; how boring. This is not a conference you want to attend if you need to sleep. It is pretty much go time from the moment you arrive. Sessions on Friday and then an awesome event that night. Saturday morning after breakfast, which really is just social hour with people half awake, you head to hear amazing keynote speakers before participating in a full day of more sessions, cupcakes and then, the Saturday night fun&#8230;this year the theme was Middle School Awkward and it didn&#8217;t disappoint. Nicole and I just kept mentioning how pretty much every single person was dancing! There was just one drawback, my awesome roomie, Amy, wasn&#8217;t there this year. My partner in tea loving crime. Next year, friend! And you were certainly missed. You were the absolute first thing Foxy and I talked about upon seeing each other. And neither was Megan because of last minute emergency. I will see you very soon in NYC though, my friend! For now though, here&#8217;s a photo overload for you all. You&#8217;re so welcome. We had the middle school awkward dance on Saturday and I need better pictures because my acid wash jeans were legit&#8230;legitimately ugly as all hell. &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; Blog U was once again held at the beautiful Notre Dame of Maryland Campus and Nick Mom hosted the Saturday night festivities, they did a fantastic job and it was just as awesome as last year! I cannot emphasize enough how much knowledge I gained from attending this conference. Stephanie, Meredith and the rest of the Blog U faculty completely rock this whole shebang. There is plenty of socializing to be had, but what I learned is by far the best reason to attend, well, besides these (right). &#160; &#160; *This WIRL was originally published on The Whimsy One.  &#160; &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Madison Rae is a Southern girl from the country that fell in love with a Boston boy. You can usually find her sippin&#8217; sweet tea or bourbon, and reading books or watching a sporting event. She loves to travel with her husband and is a complete history groupie. She blogs @ The Whimsy One and The ThankFull Tummy &#160;]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Why Flying Home From BlogU Nearly Killed Me</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/why-flying-home-from-blogu-nearly-killed-me/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/why-flying-home-from-blogu-nearly-killed-me/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 22:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Missed Flight]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge BlogU]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6990</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every year I try to attend at least one conference where I will hone my skill of writing, and network with others in the same genre. This year I attended an amazing conference called BlogU – short for University. It is held on the beautiful campus of the all girls college Notre Dame University in Baltimore, Maryland. The panels were made up ‘faculty’ who are all successful in their own areas, and are humor bloggers. Leaving the scope of this function to be perfectly aligned with my own interests, unlike other conferences I have attended. The conference itself was wonderful, the networking was awesome, and as always reuniting and meeting (and it feels so good – please tell me you know that song) with other bloggers I know and admire is a big part of what makes this a fantastic weekend away from my family (besides the obvious weekend away from my family). I attended sessions about Writing and Editing, Branding, Getting a Byline, Building Online Communities, Building My Book, and How to Make Money. All were informative and had many takeaways. Previous conferences I’ve attended always left me overwhelmed, annoyed, and unsatisfied. I would leave wondering why I spent the time and money to go, but BlogU was worth the low cost admission. I truly can’t recommend it enough except to say if you are a blogger, or are considering becoming one, THIS IS THE CONFERENCE TO GO TO. Yes I am screaming, but well it was that good. To make it even better I didn’t have a panic attack, nor did I make an ass of myself (that I know of), and most importantly I didn’t drink too much meaning I was functioning at all events and breakout sessions. YAY me. The issue came (you know there is always one) when I traveled home. My flight was Sunday at 1 pm out of BWI to Detroit. I had a 3 hour layover in Detroit before my flight to my final resting place, home. I was pushing it when I arrived  to the airport, for my 1 pm flight, 50 minutes prior to departure. My hubs woulda had a shit fit if he was traveling with me. He is a road warrior and likes to be at the airport at least an hour and a half prior to departure. I am more an hour before departure kinda gal so even for me this was cutting it close, but I made it (avoiding all shit I woulda got if I missed my flight…phew) thank god for no real lines in security. The flight into Detroit was fine, and I didn’t have to sit next to the shitter! YAY me again! The issue came in Detroit. I trolled around the airport trying to kill three hours. I bought a new small purple roller bag for my daughter’s upcoming trip, I spent a good twenty minutes in one eclectic home shop trying to find something cool and cheap – by the way those two things do not exist in an airport. I enjoyed a lovely meal at PF Changs and one 20 ounce beer before heading to my gate. I arrived with an hour and twenty minutes before take off. After using the restroom I settled in with my book to wait but then shit went south. I fell asleep, I shit you not A-SLEEP! This is insane since I can’t sleep sitting up anywhere. I never sleep in the car, on the couch, or on a plane. I can only sleep lying down in my bed. But apparently the Gods of Travel said Fuck YOU and sprinkled sleeping dust on me because boom! out like a light. I awoke at 5:55 to a boarding area devoid of people. It was one minute after the doors closed for my plane had closed and I couldn’t get on it. I missed the announcements, the boarding, the reminder announcements, everything. I was sitting where two gates use the same area so I suppose the counter people thought I was part of the other gate, or just a homeless person sleeping in a chair. I rushed to the counter flailing and shrieking, “Please, please, please open the doors up!” I have no idea why I thought they would, they NEVER do and they didn’t. I was screwed. I had to call my husband and tell him I had fallen asleep in the damn airport and missed my plane. Crickets could be heard, along with him running his hand through the front of his hair which he only does when he’s so annoyed he can’t stand it. Yup this was an epic fuckup. There are not a lot of flights into our town so missing a flight is kinda a major issue. I stood at the counter crying while the lovely ladies got me on the next and last flight – two hours later. This required a supervisor’s assistance who had little compassion for me when I explained I had just fallen asleep after waiting three hours. Thanks buddy, you’re a doll. My two new besties kept me calm explaining  “things happen for a reason”, “God works in mysterious ways”, “not to overthink it”, “all would work out”, “relax it’s fine”, and every other calming phrase as I cried. After finagling the system they got me on the 8 pm out of Detroit as a standby passenger. You can be damn sure I would bolt myself to the fucking door if necessary, I was not missing this flight no matter what. Good thing I was well rested now. I did make the flight and arrived home just a mere 10 hours after my airport journey day started vs. the 7 it should have been but well what could I do? The only option is to laugh and wait to hear about it for the rest of my life because my husband will beat this horse so much it will rival American Pharoah’s triple crown performance. All I can say is I truly can’t make this shit up even if I tried. Oh and go to BlogU next year! I am but I’m bringing No Doz for the flight home. &#160; *This WIRL was originally posted on The Shitastrophy  Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Originally from NJ, Alyson Herzig lives in the Midwest but has kept her sarcastic cynical Jersey attitude. She has been described as the Andy Rooney of Stay-at-Home Moms. You can find her blogging about the many disasters and observations of her life at TheShitastrophy.com. She is the co-creator of the anthology Surviving Mental Illness Through Humor that will be released in April 2015. Alyson is also a contributor to the anthology My Other Ex: Women’s True Stories of Leaving and Losing Friends and the sequel I Still Just Want to Pee Alone. She has had works featured at Scary Mommy, Huffington Post, Mamapedia, and others. You can find Alyson on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +. &#160; &#160;]]></description>
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		<title>BlogU Taught Me About Myself</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-taught-me-about-myself/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/blogu-taught-me-about-myself/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 20:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6998</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I’m sure that many others will blog about the amazingness that was Blog U 2015 this past weekend. Blog U was a great conference which packed about a month of information into 48 hours. I got excellent information which will improve TND, help us expand our reach, AND help us chart the next step beyond. I highly recommend it for any blogger looking to up their game. But I’m not going to talk about any of that. Rather, I’m going to talk about what Blog U taught me about myself: 1) I’m not only too old to stay in a dorm, but also too old to eat in a cafeteria. My stomach just can’t handle dining hall food any more. My eyes won’t even allow me to put most of it on my plate. Especially not “vegan meat.” Of course, I did still manage to eat the cupcakes. 2) I’m too socially anxious to play well with others. (Ok, I already knew this). Networking events for me were like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube blindfolded while suffering from malaria. After the first few minutes I began fantasizing that the room would suddenly be seized by militants, which would certainly decrease my anxiety levels. The dining room felt like Middle School all over again. If I didn’t see an open seat at a table populated mainly by the 6 or 7 folks I “know,” I made a beeline for a small table off to the side where no one would notice the losers (as Momus was my ever companion) eating alone. Worst of all, I skipped the headline “Middle School Dance” entirely in order to avoid my deep-seated costume trauma and the possibility that I would have no one to talk to. I am of course regretting all of the above now. There were so many amazing people that I failed to meet, and so many missed connections. I’m now determined to either A) never go to another conference again as long as I live, or B) finally get that treatment for social phobia that I’ve been avoiding my whole life. Let’s be honest: probably A – and that’s only because C) never leave the fucking house again is likely implausible. 3) I have Nervdar – the ability to spot another anxious soul at as much as 80 yards away. These kindred souls (you know who you are) provided me an oasis, as I was able to approach them almost like a genuine member of the human race. 4) I still have no idea what I want to do when I grow up. I went from session to session creating different lives for myself. One session convinced me that I wanted to move from blogging into journalism, the next that I would be a really kick-ass copywriter, and yet another that I really should be writing a book. I went to dinner Saturday evening with my head spinning as I tried to figure out what path I want to move down with my writing. I have a feeling that this is going to take more than a little time to figure out. At least I know that Idon’t want to be a data analyst. Oops. 5) I want to be Jen Mann. That is all. 6) I will never master Pinterest. I just don’t have the time or graphical savvy to do what it takes to make me Pinterest Perfect.  I guess I’ll just have to settle for Pinterest Passable. &#160; These are my personal lessons learned. I can guarantee that everyone who went to this event has her own set of lessons. I can also just about guarantee that none of them are as pathetic as mine. &#160; *This WIRL was originally published on The Next Deslusion &#160; &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Cassandra is in her mid-forties with two children. She works as a research consultant and data analyst despite her love of words and deep mistrust of all things numeric. Her writing has been featured on The Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop, Great Moments in Parenting, and Project Underblog. She blogs with her partner in crime, Momus, at www.TheNextDelusion.com. She can also be found on Facebook, Twitter (@TheNextDelusion), and Pinterest. &#160;]]></description>
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		<title>No Rest for the Wicked(ly Awesome) at BlogU15</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/no-rest-for-the-wickedly-awesome-at-blogu15/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/no-rest-for-the-wickedly-awesome-at-blogu15/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 19:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7001</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s always best to begin at the beginning. From the moment I decided to attend BlogU15 in Baltimore I was terrified and thrilled. The “bitch in my head” started to take over my brain and I did my best to quiet her. My flight would be leaving Florida at 6 am on Friday, which meant I needed to be awake at 3 am and in a cab to the airport by 4. Mornings and I are not the best of friends so when I sat straight up in bed at 1 am I decided it best to get dressed, add my last minutes things to my suitcase, and wait. That Tom Petty is spot fucking on because the waiting is the hardest part. I watched a Harry Potter movie as the time ticked by. Because I was so afraid I would sleep through my cab honking his horn outside my window, I actually ended up pulling out one of the most epic 24 hours without sleep my adult life has ever seen. I’m gonna blame lack of sleep that day on all the biggest unfortunate incident that followed. My complete clumsiness had no bearing on anything – yeah right, on a good day I’m like a baby giraffe learning to walk. My arrival on the Notre Dame of Maryland campus was a bit of a blur. Except for this amazing story with Audrey, of Sass Mouth. Southern lady, my ass. I finally got to meet (in the flesh) a group of people I’ve been interacting with on the internet for about a year. These women, these glorious and brilliant women, were all I expected and more, as my online world collided with my real life. Surreal would be putting it mildly. I pounded some 5-hour Energy as I would not, could not, miss one second of the precious 48 hours I would have at BlogU. “Sleep is for pussies. I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” was the battle cry on loop in my maxed out brain. And I was doing it too. I attended classes that afternoon, went to dinner, then a party and a fabulous open mic reading. I watched as some of the greatest bloggers of my generation read their masterpieces aloud in front of large crowds. I watched Allen Ginsberg do a live reading in Greenwich Village 21 years ago. The stories I heard at BlogU made Ginsberg seem like a hack. The energy was palpable. My decision to stay awake was the right one. At least until it wasn’t. When the open mic finished I found myself with my girl, Toni Hammer, as we took an elevator to our respective dorm rooms. As the elevator door opened I fished my small metal room key out of my neck lanyard. While stepping out of the elevator onto my floor I said, “Night, bitch,” and attempted to flourish my right hand in some sort of strangely odd wave. Blame it on the sleep deprivation, or the excitement of where I was and what I was doing, or the fact that I have the coordination of a bear learning the pachanga… my key flew out of my Vulcan death grip and was now airborne. Toni and I watched in slow motion as that silver flash flew through the air and fell… right into the small gap that separated the elevator from the floor. We heard a little ping as it settled at the bottom of the old dormitory. It was a one in a million shot made by the whitest of white girls. I sure picked the wrong time to do a LeBron James impression. The hour that followed was spent sitting outside my locked dorm room door, waiting for a security guard to let me in. He was a portly fellow who didn’t seem to appreciate the humor of the whole situation. Imagine that? Finally, after a great deal of begging on my part he let me into my room, I fell into my bed and passed out. The next day, between classes, I ran to the basement of the building hoping to find my sweet little key sitting there waiting for me. Even a broken clock tells the right time twice a day, but no. Lady luck had decided to flip me the finger as I was able to see my key, about 4 feet lower than where I stood. In the elevator shaft. Fuck. Campus security made it a point to let me know the elevator company would be coming by to retrieve my key long after the conference was over, so I kept my door unlocked for the rest of the weekend and, not to my surprise, all of my valuables stayed safe and sound. Although, I do think someone stole the chocolate out of my swag bag. Which makes total sense because chocolate and coffee are more valuable to bloggers then someone else’s laptop and cash money. In 48 hours I made a million amazing memories. My sides and face ached from smiling and laughter. Surrounded by women (and a couple of brave men) I was in my element. These people got me. And I got them. The relationships I solidified in such a short period astound me. I even won the class clown award, which is very surprising because I’m a really serious person who rarely jokes around ever – Ahem. My only complaint? There wasn’t enough time. Until next year, BlogU. Adieu. &#160; *This WIRL was originally published on The Outnumbered Mother  Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Amy Hunter grew up in the suburbs of Long Island singing Barbara Streisand hits into her hairbrush.  When she’s not writing her hilarity fueled parenting memoir as The Outnumbered Mother, she’s a Florida living, butt wiping, soccer team carting, gourmet chef attempting, tennis skirt wearing, non-tennis playing, self-proclaimed bad mamma jamma to 3 sons and a very understanding husband. You can find Amy’s work as a featured writer for Scary Mommy, The Mid, The Huffington Post, and In The Powder Room. You can find Amy on her blog, The Outnumbered Mother, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;]]></description>
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		<title>The 10 Things That BlogU Taught Me</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-10-things-that-blogu-taught-me/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/the-10-things-that-blogu-taught-me/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 18:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6996</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Guys, I’m not gonna lie. Going to a conference is hard work. But if you’re dedicated, like me, this is what you have to do. This weekend I went to the BlogU blogging conference where they run a pretty tight ship. They keep you going the whole damn time. I guess they want people to get their money’s worth or something, but I’m like, “Hold up, Ladies. I’m gonna need a nap now.” Unfortunately, this year they did not build nap time in the schedule, but all that’s gonna change next year with their new added group nap session. Nicole Leigh Shaw said so and I’m gonna hold her to it. It’s pretty much the only conference in the world that will have a nap session, which automatically makes it the best conference (even though it was already the best conference). I know not everybody who wanted to go got to go, which is why I’ve written up the Top 10 Things I Learned at BlogU15 highlighting the key elements from the weekend. It will feel like you where there. Top 10 Things I Learned at BlogU15 10. Talk to people while in line in the bathroom. You never know who you’ll meet, and it totally speeds up the waiting process. I’ve met some of my best friends in bathrooms. At BlogU15 that’s were I ran into The Dusty Parachute at long last. (Another good strategy is to talk to people at the bar. That’s where I found Orange and Silver, but she’s lush.) 9. Bring your A game to the Saturday Night Dance ParTAY, but know that you will always be shown up by Susan Mclean. She had on her badass, ORIGINAL, circa 1985, straight-out-of-her-parent’s-attic, teal and black (because that’s always a winning color combination) New Kids on The Block jacket. And roller skates. ROLLER SKATES. Anyone who shows up to a middle school party, or any party for that matter, in roller skates is the automatic winner. That’s just how it works. The woman simply will not be outdone. 8. I can no longer party like it’s 1999. This is rather upsetting news for me. I woke up the morning after the party sore, and all I did was dance. I’m still recovering and this is Day 3. Now I’m too old to even dance? How is that possible? This is not okay, Universe. I want it rectified! 7. Do whatever Jen Mann says. That’s my new motto in life. Also, marry her husband. I’ve been plotting a way to get Jen’s husband to marry me ever since I learned he is her super fan and her #1 pimp, and he doesn’t even require sexual favors. I mean I’m sure he’ll accept them, but he doesn’t require them and that’s key. My husband’s good and all, and he cooks for me, but what I really need is someone to schedule my Facebook posts, make graphics and get me an agent. I don’t know if Jen’s into sister wives or anything, but this could be another revenue stream for the business. Think about it, Jen. Here’s my little montage of Professor Mann in action. 6. Make sure posts on your own page and anything you’ve written elsewhere link back to your main post on the topic. The more links you have to a post the more credibility it has in Google’s eyes and the better it ranks. If you syndicate a post have the article link back to your original post NOT your page URL. Again, better for Google rank. 5. Say hello to everybody. Turns out people like that. Friendliness is not frowned upon. Plus, that’s what you’re there for. To meet people. And how are you going to meet people if you don’t meet people? It took a little while for me to internalize that one. About a year. Last year even though everyone was super friendly and welcoming and accessible, I was nervous, and I didn’t want to look like a idiot or know what to say so I didn’t say anything. You know what that did for me? Nothing. This year I said, “This is one of very limited opportunities to actually meet people I know online, and God dammit I’m going to meet them.” So you know what I did? I met them. It worked out so much better that way. 4. If you compliment someone on the 80’s jelly bracelets you wanted to wear because it reminded you of your Madonna period in 6th grade and that person who is another blogger you greatly admire and may or may not be Julianna Miner so generously rips them off her arm to give to you, you will forever share an unbreakable bond. 3. Make your pins on Pinterest “rich pins.” Sadly, I have no idea what that is or how to do it. If you want to know more, you should have gone to BlogU15. I can’t do everything for you, Ok? I think it might mean adding a description of the pin with key words, though. You should also make a spread sheet for your pins so you know when you posted them and can plan when to repin them in about a month or two. Oh, and you should also have a “blog” board on Pinterest for all your blog posts, which I did not know and which I currently do not have. 2. To thine own self be true. I got that from the truly inspiring Keynote speech by Nikki Knepper. While there were a ton of informative classes at BlogU and wonderful people to meet and chat with, Nikki’s speech fed the soul. It was real and honest and what I needed to hear. So often at conferences you get the down and dirty details and the technical information, which is great and necessary, but you don’t get the sustenance you need to forge ahead. It’s so easy to get distracted and overwhelmed and paralyzed by all the information and things you should be doing that you can’t possibly do. It was so refreshing amid the million and one technical things I’m always doing wrong to have some affirmation that, yes, if you keep your head down, continue doing what you’re doing, follow your gut, you will be on the right path. Because you know what? We can’t control the Internet. All we can do is continue to do what we believe in. Otherwise, what’s the point? 1. And the #1 thing I learned is I need to go away more often. My husband texted me like 20 times asking when I was coming home and if I could move up my departure time because he couldn’t take the kids anymore. When I did get home, he had dinner made for me AND cleaned all the bathrooms. Now that’s a man who appreciates his woman. And the kids? Well, Crazy didn’t miss me at all, but The Kid acted like I’d been gone for a whole month. She was nice to me. I’ve never had that experience before. I kinda liked it. *This was WIRL originally posted on One Funny Motha &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Stacey Gill is an award-winning journalist, the mastermind behind the humor blog, One FunnyMotha, and co-author of I Still Just Want to Pee Alone,the third book in The New York Times best-selling series. Her work has appeared on such sites as The Huffington Post; BlogHer; Babble; Brain, Child; Scary Mommy; Mom365; The Good Men Project; and Mommyish. In 2014 she was named one of the Top 10 Funny Parent Bloggers of the Year by VoiceBoks. Perhaps most importantly, she is the proud founder of the Detached Parenting Movement, a child-rearing model she single-handedly developed without any guidance or advanced degrees in child psychology. Currently, she’s at work on a memoir based on this radical theory. For a good time, find her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. &#160;]]></description>
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		<title>I Left My Shy Self At Home This Year: BlogU15</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/i-left-my-shy-self-at-home-this-year-blogu15/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/i-left-my-shy-self-at-home-this-year-blogu15/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 17:00:54 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Write]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Last year I went to The Blog University known as #BlogU. Hashtag getschooled. And there was definitely a lot of schooling to be had there. Writing, promoting, making money, social media, &#8220;branding&#8221; your blog, treating your blog like a business. A lot. And despite the notion that one should go to a blogging conference to learn about blogging, I actually learned more about myself last year. I learned that in a large group of people that are not my family or friends, I will revert back to my introverted and shy younger self. It prevented me from meeting a lot of fellow bloggers that I was quite comfortable with chatting online in various writing groups. People who share my love for this medium and who understand what it means to want and to need to do this. I wasn&#8217;t 100% sure I should even be going to BlogU since until then I hadn&#8217;t considered my blog to be much more than a hobby and an outlet for me to write. (Of course, this might be a bit of an understatement since I do have a facebook page and twitter account under my blog name&#8211;but I guess part of the vanity of writing is wanting people to actually read what you write.) I didn&#8217;t know if I could justify spending the time or money on what was (for me) the huge luxury of a conference. I had dabbled with a few small social media campaigns and a sponsored post that helped offset the cost, so that sort of sealed the deal for me in my mind &#8212; if I had already invested the time and energy in those efforts, maybe there was more to my whole experience as a blogger than writing every once in a while and begging my friends to read it. At it&#8217;s most basic, blogging is writing and I&#8217;ve been doing it ever since I can remember. I am certainly not the best, and I am definitely not prolific, but I believe I am a good writer&#8211;even if I might be a crappy blogger. I felt that I had a unique &#8220;brand&#8221;, but not necessarily a unique perspective&#8211;which seems to be a key to blogging success. But then, success is defined differently for all of us. The main reason that I feel BlogU is for me is that it is approachable. No one there is keeping tabs on how often (or not) I&#8217;m posting. They don&#8217;t care if I don&#8217;t have some sponsorship deal with a brand. They care about me because I care to be there. I want to learn whatever it is that will elevate me as a blogger and a writer&#8211;whether that&#8217;s writing for money or simply writing for myself. It is about our craft and how we can do it better: for ourselves, for our readers and for our families (as a potential source of income). I was determined to have a more successful year at #BlogU15 this year. My shy, introverted (and coincidentally Middle-School-aged) self was nowhere to be found. (Except on the bulletin board full of #MiddleSchoolAwkward pictures for the Nickelodeon-sponsored #MiddleSchooltotheMax dance party on Saturday night.) But despite the previous year&#8217;s shyness, I really made an effort to meet and talk to more of the little people from inside my computer&#8230; &#160; But enough about me, there are SO many things to know and do depending on what your goals are for your blog or yourself as a professional writer. I did make an effort to focus on my blog and what I wanted to take away from #BlogU15 as a writer and a blogger. The things I learned about blogging are these: Blogging is work. If you think this shit writes itself, you&#8217;re crazy. I&#8217;m sure some people can sit down and bang out a post in 15 minutes but it takes me some serious time. (In fact, a good bit of THIS post was started last year after #BlogU14. I never finished it then, but a lot of the thoughts stuck with me this year.) Blogging is not merely writing.  Writing is just the beginning of it. There is design, analytics and social media involved. All of which are time consuming and necessary to different degrees, depending on your goals. Blogging is universal. The heart of blogging is communication. We write to share, to teach, and to reach out&#8211;regardless of the topic. You can be a parenting blogger, a fashion blogger, a food blogger or a lifestyle blogger but no matter your genre, you are speaking to an audience. And they are listening. That is communication. &#160;  *This was originally published on TheNotSoSuperMom Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Melanie Madamba is The Not so Super Mom: recovering nerd, mother of three, and coffee addict. She would never want to be confused with a Super Mom or anyone else who seems to have it together. She’s not trying to do it all–she’s not even trying to do it right. She’s just trying to get something, ANYTHING, done. She writes to escape the laundry and to pretend someone is listening to her. If you are trying to avoid your laundry, you can kill some time checking her out on Facebook or twitter.]]></description>
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		<title>Blog Conferences: What They&#8217;re Really Like</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/blog-conferences-what-theyre-really-like/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/blog-conferences-what-theyre-really-like/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2015 15:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Guest WIRL]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology/Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baltimore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Find your Tribe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friends]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My People]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stop Second Guessing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge BlogU]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=7015</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was a first time attendee at BlogU last weekend in Baltimore. When I checked in, the guy at the front desk asked whether I was traveling for business or pleasure and I wasn’t sure what to say— obviously this is all very fun, but I also want to write for a living. I navigated this dichotomy by saying something along the lines of “I’m drunk right now!” Thankfully I’d been driven there by McCall of the Wild, a kind soul who had the misfortune of trusting me with her GPS and who answered “no, it’s okay” when I offered to shake my fist at someone in the parking lot. I quickly met up with a slew of strange people I’ve been talking to on the internet for the last 18 months. I was hoping some of them would prove to terrible humans so I wouldn&#8217;t feel bad blogging about them.  But unfortunately for my blog fodder, they were all badass and wonderful. Being back on a college campus was a little weird, since I associate that time of my life with depression and loneliness. Thankfully the only time I felt that way was when I wandered around the dorm hallways at 1AM looking for “friends to have fun with” and was pretty sure everyone was hiding in their rooms enjoying contraband without me. Turns out they were doing what sane people do at 1AM, which is sleep.  The next morning they got to wake up to messages and Snapchats like “hey why you no like me?”  I was told to prepare an elevator pitch about myself and my blog. Thankfully I never had to actually use it because the conference was so small it felt like I already knew everyone. For those people I forced myself upon without the warning of an elevator pitch, I am truly sorry. I was too busy talking about underwear and trying to remember the Hail Mary prayer to tell anyone about my niche.  A lot of hugging happened, which is strange for a girl who didn’t learn how to hug until she was 24 years old. I used to let people think I had some sort of personal space issue and didn’t like to be touched. The truth was I didn’t know how it all worked— You press your body up against another body? Which parts are supposed to touch? Is there anything I shouldn’t touch? How long does this touching go on? In addition to getting lost, watching Chrissy bleed, and taking offensive photos with Jeff&#8217;s bizznass cards, I did actually learn a few things. It turns out Jen Mann is a freaking boss who tells it like it is&#8211; with no fluff or bullshit. She walked us through her entire process of writing a book and how she navigated getting published and finding an agent. She even topped it off with an obscene hand gesture. Not getting this on video is my biggest regret from the conference. There were so many people I finally got to meet— like Samantha from Scary Mommy who is so kind when she both rejects and accepts my submissions. (She also made me feel less disgusting about the fact I live in a flea infested home.) I’m hesitant to admit that I roomed with Jana from Stop Me If I Told You This because now she knows all my secrets and has seen how neurotic I am right before I pretend like I have self confidence and any clue what I’m doing. I could go on forever about all the amazing people I got to hang out with, but I don’t want to lose you on a TLDR because I’m just about to get to the good stuff. Behold, I give you the overall takeaway from this weekend: Do Yo Thang and Be Generous With Each Other. It’s tempting to try and copy whatever’s working for someone else, or to modify your own style in order to become something you think more people will find appealing. We need to cut that shit out. Every single one of us has something to offer by virtue of being the only one with our story and our way of seeing the world. Stop second guessing yourself. If you want to say “fuck” say fuck. If you want to say “bag of cunts,” that’s okay too. Especially if you’re Nicole Leigh Shaw  and/or a dolphin. It was repeatedly said that &#8220;a rising tide lifts all boats.&#8221;  Bloggers&#8211; and people in general&#8211; need to stop viewing each other as competition and realize the value of finding your tribe and building each other up.  The reason this weekend was so damn fun (despite occasional social anxiety and &#8220;oh my gah does anyone want to sit with me&#8221; moments in the cafeteria) is because these are my people.  The value of that is not lost on me and I plan to work harder at making sure I&#8217;m contributing something towards that rising tide. Bloggers&#8211; and people in general&#8211; need to stop viewing each other as competition and realize the value of finding your tribe and building each other up. After this weekend, there are a lot of photos on the internet that will probably prevent me from being employed at some point in the future. Speaking of employment— I apologize to everyone who casually asked where I’m from and had to listen to me stumble over some sort of vague and ambiguous answer. I try to conceal my location so as not to get fired (though I’m sure I will still be fired eventually). It makes me feel deceptive, and I don’t want to lie to you because you’re all my favorite people. Someday when I’m finally terminated or incarcerated and my workplace makes the news for all it’s bullshit, they will make a Wikipedia page about me and it will list my birthplace and we can all laugh about the good old days when I thought I could keep a secret. For those of you who were there this weekend, it was awesome to meet you and/or stare at you awkwardly from a distance because I was too intimidated to approach you. If we didn’t get to meet then that’s a damn shame and we will need to rectify this first thing at BlogU16. For the rest, I need you to do one of three things: 1. Come to BlogHer in a month.  I should be there because I&#8217;m not pregnant with an alien/don&#8217;t have cancer.  Huzzah!2. Come to BlogU next year.3. Send me your address and stock up on Nutella. I’m coming to visit and I can’t bring my own jar because the TSA confiscated it, those bastards. &#160; Join The Conversation! Easily contribute your story here. &#160; About the Author… Aussa Lorens is author of the blog Hacker.Ninja.Hooker.Spy. where some mistakes are too good not to share. Her work has been featured on Cosmopolitan, The Huffington Post, Thought Catalog, Narrative.ly, and Scary Mommy. She is a BlogHer Voice of the Year Readers Choice Award and an Indie Chicks Badass Blog Award winner for 2014 and 2015. You can find Aussa on her blog, AussaLorens.com, on Facebook, or Twitter: @AussaLorens. &#160;]]></description>
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