Our First Hay House Event

My wife and I attended the I CAN DO IT! Orlando today. We had no clue what to expect. She had seen or heard a couple of the presenters on YouTube or other web sites or shows and liked what they had to say, but we still did not know what to expect.

We arrived at the Orange County Convention Center at approximately 7:30 am. The doors to the first Keynote were not scheduled to open until 8:00 am. As we approached the show area, we were presently greeted and welcomed to the show and provided information regarding what we needed to do to get into the event.

The book store was setup so we started looking at books. We looked up and saw the lines to get into the theatre were getting long. Time to get in line. The doors opened promptly at 8:00 am. The line moved quickly as everyone's badges were scanned. We entered the theatre and quickly found a seat. The number of ushers in the theatre were more than sufficient and they were all helpful and friendly.

The first keynote speaker was Dr. Brian Weiss, talking about Many Lives, Many Masters:  Finding New Levels of Healing. Dr. Weiss is an excellent presenter offering a great deal of information which was right on target. The hour he spoke went by so fast we couldn't believe it was actually an hour. I would definitely attend future events where Dr. Weiss is speaking.

The second keynote speaker was Robert Holden, PhD. Talking about Life Loves You.  Robert is a very high energy and excellent presenter. The information provided and the stories told were great. We found several times where we were laughing quite a bit. A great feel good presentation.  We thought time flew with Dr. Weiss, this session seemed to last twenty minutes. I would definitely attend future events where Robert is speaking.

I have attended many keynote presentations at many conventions or conferences and don't normally go to most of them anymore. They all seem to be look at me, I am great, this is what I did to get here, look where you are...I must be better than you types of events. None of them follow the theme of the event and many of the keynote speakers can't even get the event name correct if they use it during their speech

This was absolutely not the case here. Both keynotes were very interesting.  The presenters were dynamic, interesting, experts in their field but did not come across as being better than anyone else in the room. Wow, what a breath of fresh air.

Next, we had a thirty minute break. This was not a sufficient amount of time to get to the restroom, grab a cup of coffee and get to our first breakout session. This is no fault of the meeting organizers. This is an issue that we often encounter at the convention center. 

The first breakout session was lead by John Holland with a topic of The Spirit Whisperer:  Power of the Soul. The breakout sessions were scheduled for ninety minutes.  The first part of this session was an informative presentation surrounding how John works and what he does. Basically setting the expectations for the second part of the session, where he performed readings  He was able to complete four readings. The first reading was also a medium and as someone not being read, it seemed that what he was saying was obvious, but it took a great deal of time to get the person to acknowledge the information being provided.  The second reading was another medium, who could have guessed, two mediums in a row...this reading went pretty good.  On to the third reading, this person was also a medium, how can you randomly select three participants in a row and all three are mediums. The fourth reading was......not a medium, what a surprise.  This is someone I would like to see again. 

Next was an hour and a half break for lunch. What a mess. The lines in the food court were long. The seating was minimal. Several of the people we bumped into, literally, we're so rude it was unacceptable. As we were looking for a table, a nice couple from Virginia offered to share their table with us. We had a nice conversation with them during our meal so things ended up working out.  Another case of the convention center not being prepared to handle the crowd that the organizers planned for. 

The first session of the afternoon was Kyle Gray with The Wings of Forgiveness as the topic. Each of the session rooms had a stage with a table where some of the presenters materials were displayed and a chair for them to use if they chose. Kyle would not use the stage. Basically his reason was that he is a person, no better than any of the rest of us.  If we were sitting on chairs on the floor, then he could stand on that same floor to talk to us. This session was also excellent with great stories and lots of information about making your life better by forgiving yourself and others. He was clear that forgiveness is not an acknowledgment that you accept or condone what was done or said, you are just telling yourself that you are moving on and you will no longer be held back by this life event.  There was a nice question and answer session with direct answers to the questions asked. This was a very refreshing presentation and I look forward to seeing more. 

Our next session was Sonia Choquette, Walking Home. This session started out with music, dancing and singing....what did we get ourselves into. Then it progressed into a very high energy interactive session....oh no, time to get out of here...then on to a nice meditation. This was all followed by more of Sonia's life story which lead her to where she is today.  The session end with another interactive session of music.  This was an interesting and informative session, but I am not sure we would do it again, but we are happy to have completed the full session. 

The Last keynote of the day was Caroline Myss, Standing at the Crossroads. The presentation started out very slow and after everything we had attended for the day, we could not manage to sit through the entire presentation. The topic was interesting and she had the full attention of the audience and was talking about an interesting topic, we just could not sit any longer. 

We had a great day.  This was one of the best organized events we have ever been to.  The organizers did a great job.  The presenters were great.  The topics were on target and interesting. What a great day.  We actually wish we had purchased the entire conference package and the additional pre-conference workshop. 

Thanks to Hay House for the great day.  We are already making plans to attend I CAN DO IT! In Ft. Lauderdale next year.  

As en editorial note, if you are thinking this event is anything like the various psychic medium shows on TV, you couldn't be more incorrect. This group is a very diverse group of professionals interested in the self help and self improvement of their participants. They offer a very diverse set of options and choices that should meet most anyone's needs. 

Podcasts - A Way to grow or a time sink

I have been listening to podcasts for several years. As I built my list of casts, I noticed that I had picked technology casts primarily from a single network. In doing so, I was getting a single focused view of technology and its impact on society.

I determined that everything I was listening to was technology focused. As a result there was no room for growth and the information I was getting was limited. 

I had roughly fifty podcasts that I was subscribed to, with frequencies ranging from daily to monthly. The episode lengths ranged from five minutes to two hours.  As things progressed I was falling more and more behind on episodes and it was beginning to create more and more stress. 

Is it worth it, I am not sure.

As I started thinking about this, I ran into a self help / inspirational podcast and added it to my subscription list as a priority so it was always at the top of the list. As I listened to this cast, I became more aware of the fact that I had been too focused on a single network and a single topic.  

I started reviewing my subscriptions and removing casts that were redundant. I began diversifying the networks where I was getting my information, which started giving me varyious views on how the technology world was perceived. In my professional life as a technology professional this seemed to be a better fit for my career. Then I got back into the stage where there were to many episodes and not enough time. Back to the stress of not listening to everything and a growing list of unlisteened to episodes. 

As I got through the inspirational casts, I started to realize that I was not paying attention to the fact that self imposed stress is really crazy and I needed to do something again. 

I ran into another podcast with a personal growth theme. Another wake up call. I pruned out a few more subscriptions from my list. As I moved along. I kept tuning my list and now I am up to sixty three subscriptions, more than ever. I am still have roughly one hundred twenty episodes to listen to, but the stress to complete everything is gone. I am getting a nice mix of technology, entertainment, travel and personal growth.

I am looking forward to each episode and very few of them are time sensitive like my original list, so the stress to keep up with the backlog is gone. 

For those episodes which are time sensitive, I set them as a priority and get to them once a day while walking the dog. After they are done, I start on a cast from the backlog. By time it is done, it is a new day and I start over.  More information, more entertainment, more learning, less stress.

I am at a point now where podcasts are now back to a way to learn and less of a time sink. I have also learned that to continue to grow I will need to revaluate the list of casts I am listening to periodically as I grow and as things change. 

It is interesting how the changes in technology that are supposed to help us place us in the same position we were in the years before it was so widely available. Which books to read, which tv shows to watch, which movies to watch, which courses to take, etc.  

Also here we go on a new endeavor using podcasts as an entertainment and educational tool. No more time sink and back to a way to learn.

Maybe this will be of use to some, maybe not.  I just fealt this was one more way for me to better understand what I am doing and will be a reminder to keep re-evaluating the tools I use and making timely adjustments.