Blimey, but I feel knackered. In a good way I'm happy to say, but knackered all the same. Its not because I've done anything silly like running a marathon or doing the ironing. Its more of an emotionally exhausted kind of cream crackered.
I blame it on BritMums Live.
You might be wondering what on earth I got up to to feel this way... after all its hardly the UN is it? We weren't deciding on the fate of Syria or massing armies to descend on an oil laden principality.If you had seen the blogger delegates waiting to go into the conference you might have been forgiven for thinking we were all queuing up for a PTFA cake sale. To be honest, having been witness to the amount of cake consumed this weekend, the PTFA would have been dead chuffed to have held a sale this popular.
No. We were just bloggers.Mostly women, some men ... all shapes and sizes ... all linked by our love of writing, of sharing our lives, our fears, our skills.
I had decided this year to be chilled about my trip to BritMums Live, and I was. The last thing I wanted was to end up a sniveling snotty wreck like I did last year. I know I set off last year with the hope that I'd have a fab time, but I had ended up eating my bodyweight in chips and mayonnaise, sitting alone in my hotel room, surrounded by tear and mascara stained tissues.
This year, as I rounded the corner to The Brewery where BritMums Live is held, my heart started to beat faster and I felt the tears well in my eyes ... It wasn't a bad feeling, not the dreadful lonely feeling I had last year ... it was the feeling of excitement. I could see women heading like bees to their hive, some alone, some in small groups, some on their phones, some lugging huge bags ... all a riot of colour, nerves and smiles.
This year I didn't even get into the Hub before I had met 2 welcoming faces - the gorgeous Selena from Oh the Places We Will Go! and Michelle from Mummy from the Heart both of whom knew me, welcomed me, made me feel like a superstar!!! Thank you ladies!!! From that moment I didn't look back. I was on my own and I didn't know anybody in real life, but I was determined to look at badges without embarrassment and say hello to all. This might sound a bit naff, but I thought that if I could stop anyone feeling like I did last year,then that would be fab ...
There was not a single person in the whole 2 days whose eye I caught who didn't smile at me. The fact that I experienced that feeling this weekend is enough of a fix to last me a while!
This year I was brave enough to actually go up and talk to people - a massive improvement on last year and I was just blown away by how nice people were. This may not sound like rocket science to you, but for me it was just wonderful. There were lots of people who were just lovely and it struck me how very genuine they were ... unafraid to put their emotions out there and write about what really matters to them.
The theme of BritMums Live, for me, seemed to be summed up by the workshop "Blogging from the Heart". It confirmed for me that I was on the right track with my writing, but it also made me decide to do more ... more for other people, more for charities. I have to consider this, but I really think that while I can still write about my life I want to expand and somehow be more than just ... me.
Hayley from DownSideUp and Pippa from StoryofMum really struck me with their openness and their huge desire to be part of a community. For them blogging seemed to be more than just sharing about their lives ... it was about blogging for the greater good. Maybe I can try to be a little bit more like them ...
Of course the chances are that I will continue to moan about my children and bore everyone to death with endless photos of my allotment, but you never know ..
So, having decided to become a better person and a better blogger why am I so shattered?? You would think I'd be full of energy ... It could be the emotional roller coaster, or the late nights, or thecopious amount very reasonable quantity of free champers I consumed at the BiBs. I spent the weekend laughing - thanks to Selena and Gina and crying, then laughing, then being inspired thanks to the brilliant Katie Piper. I had my heart beat like a hammer as I waited to see if I had won the Lifestyle BiB and felt relief as the fabulous Mama Syder was awarded it. (Really?? ..... me on stage attempting an articulate acceptance speech after 2 glasses of free champagne??? It would have been a snotty, sweary mess!!)
Maybe I'm knackered because its over ... maybe because its so exhilarating to be with people who really understand the joy of blogging and now that I am back living my normal life its ... its ... well its still lovely, but I have so much to do!! So many blogs to read, posts to write... I need to master Google+ and leeks ... I have leeks to set ...
Did I mention I have an allotment?
I blame it on BritMums Live.
You might be wondering what on earth I got up to to feel this way... after all its hardly the UN is it? We weren't deciding on the fate of Syria or massing armies to descend on an oil laden principality.If you had seen the blogger delegates waiting to go into the conference you might have been forgiven for thinking we were all queuing up for a PTFA cake sale. To be honest, having been witness to the amount of cake consumed this weekend, the PTFA would have been dead chuffed to have held a sale this popular.
No. We were just bloggers.Mostly women, some men ... all shapes and sizes ... all linked by our love of writing, of sharing our lives, our fears, our skills.
I had decided this year to be chilled about my trip to BritMums Live, and I was. The last thing I wanted was to end up a sniveling snotty wreck like I did last year. I know I set off last year with the hope that I'd have a fab time, but I had ended up eating my bodyweight in chips and mayonnaise, sitting alone in my hotel room, surrounded by tear and mascara stained tissues.
This year, as I rounded the corner to The Brewery where BritMums Live is held, my heart started to beat faster and I felt the tears well in my eyes ... It wasn't a bad feeling, not the dreadful lonely feeling I had last year ... it was the feeling of excitement. I could see women heading like bees to their hive, some alone, some in small groups, some on their phones, some lugging huge bags ... all a riot of colour, nerves and smiles.
This year I didn't even get into the Hub before I had met 2 welcoming faces - the gorgeous Selena from Oh the Places We Will Go! and Michelle from Mummy from the Heart both of whom knew me, welcomed me, made me feel like a superstar!!! Thank you ladies!!! From that moment I didn't look back. I was on my own and I didn't know anybody in real life, but I was determined to look at badges without embarrassment and say hello to all. This might sound a bit naff, but I thought that if I could stop anyone feeling like I did last year,then that would be fab ...
There was not a single person in the whole 2 days whose eye I caught who didn't smile at me. The fact that I experienced that feeling this weekend is enough of a fix to last me a while!
This year I was brave enough to actually go up and talk to people - a massive improvement on last year and I was just blown away by how nice people were. This may not sound like rocket science to you, but for me it was just wonderful. There were lots of people who were just lovely and it struck me how very genuine they were ... unafraid to put their emotions out there and write about what really matters to them.
The theme of BritMums Live, for me, seemed to be summed up by the workshop "Blogging from the Heart". It confirmed for me that I was on the right track with my writing, but it also made me decide to do more ... more for other people, more for charities. I have to consider this, but I really think that while I can still write about my life I want to expand and somehow be more than just ... me.
Hayley from DownSideUp and Pippa from StoryofMum really struck me with their openness and their huge desire to be part of a community. For them blogging seemed to be more than just sharing about their lives ... it was about blogging for the greater good. Maybe I can try to be a little bit more like them ...
Of course the chances are that I will continue to moan about my children and bore everyone to death with endless photos of my allotment, but you never know ..
So, having decided to become a better person and a better blogger why am I so shattered?? You would think I'd be full of energy ... It could be the emotional roller coaster, or the late nights, or the
Maybe I'm knackered because its over ... maybe because its so exhilarating to be with people who really understand the joy of blogging and now that I am back living my normal life its ... its ... well its still lovely, but I have so much to do!! So many blogs to read, posts to write... I need to master Google+ and leeks ... I have leeks to set ...
Did I mention I have an allotment?
