Happy Tuesday
We're back from
the World
Domination Summit in Portland, OR. That's me in the
orange blouse giving my two-minute talk to almost 3,000 creative,
unconventional attendees. w00t!
I’ve given many, many speeches and keynotes over the past decade, but
none that resonated more strongly than this one about taking a Gap Year After Sixty with
my husband Sam.
I spent hours rewriting and paring it down and rehearsed dozens of times.
Still, I was astonished by the number of people who came up to me
afterwards to say, “Were you the lady in orange? I loved your talk and
here’s what it meant to me… “
That’s the part
that was so gratifying. Not that WDS attendees liked my talk but that
they wanted to connect and share their own story.
It seems
everyone (whether they are 30, 40, 50 or 60) is longing for a gap year or
planning a radical change in their lives or knows someone who
intentionally left their job to explore other options for work.
In several cases (Caroline and Josh of Traveling9to5; Brittany and Drew of
MrandMrsAdventure)
they are traveling around the world for a year.
It was clear
that I tapped into something that this group, and so many other people,
are hungering for: CHANGE.
One of the main
stage speakers reminded us that, according to a recent Gallup poll, 70 percent of U.S. employees are
unhappy or disengaged at work.
Floating in the (cold) Willamette River to set a Guinness
World Record
In other WDS
news, Sam and I were among the 620 who broke a world record of "most
people in a floating chain."
Yes, it was as cool and cloudy as it looks in this photo. We sat in the
river in our tubes for an hour-and-a-half while they got everyone lined
up. We were hypothermic by the time we scrambled out.
But hey, how many world records do you get to be a part of?
Rebooting with a book
What are you reading this summer? I'm dipping into Letters of E.B. White,
written over a period of 73 years and many penned from the coast of
Maine.
E.B. White, as you recall, was the famed New Yorker editor and also the
author of Charlotte's
Web, Stuart
Little, The Elements of Style and other classics.
His writing, a model of economy and wit, is inspiring and soothing
as Sam and I settle into our cottage in Stonington, ME.
I'm still not ready to say that I have permanently "moved" to
the coast of Maine. For now, it's an experiment. And a lovely one given
the sunny summer weather we're having (finally).
I'd love to hear from you, especially if you have a summer writing
project.
Keep writing,
even if it's only 15 minutes a day.
Yours in change and in taking
a summer time out.
Debbie
Useful Links
VID of my WDS talk on Gap Year After Sixty
New blog posts by Sam and Debbie on GYA60
Round-up of posts on World Domination Summit 2013 [Tickets
for 2014 go on sale in September. Will keep you posted.]
Letters of E.B. White (Revised Edition)
Debbie Weil
Founder & CEO, Voxie Media
Big Ideas. Short
Books.™
{eBook publishing and programs for up-and-coming business authors}
email: debbie@voxiemedia.com
mobile: 202.255.1467
voxiemedia.com
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@debbieweil
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