Yesterday in Long Beach, California’s First Lady Maria Shriver held a barnburner of a conference. The theme for Monday was: A Day of Health, Wellness, and Transformation.
The day started (at the Center for the Performing Arts) with a lecture by Deepak Chopra, the mind-body health guru and author. He spoke on the topic of “Be An Architect for Change.” It was one of the most incredible lectures I have heard at a conference—so terrific Mr. Chopra deserves a blog of his own (coming soon).
The day ended with an exhibition in the main Convention Center called “Night at the Village” with over 200 booths. There was a diverse group of vendors—from Dove Soap to bank/travel/insurance companies to jewelry/shoes/sunglasses to Jones of New York to Visa to books to Barbie to Lancombe to McDonald’s. It was like a giant girly carnival with lots of free stuff and food, music, shopping, cocktails, fashion, live interviews, cooking information, and book signings.
In between these two events were several other lectures on topics such as having a successful love life, care-giving, finding your voice, using the web, and leadership.
The best one was by Martha Beck—author, life coach, and regular contributor to O Magazine. You know you put on a good show when all the women in the ladies room were buzzing about how incredible you are.
Martha was so witty and wise, funny and real, insightful and inspirational. While listening to her I was thinking of how I could get her to be my new BFF! I wonder where she lives? Is the house next door for sale?
Her topic was: “Challenging the Architect in Each of Us.” She talked about how she had a feeling at a young age that her life was to supposed to be about “helping something”—even though she did not know what that thing was for decades.
I would LOVE to tell you about it. But I am trapped in Orange County with my Dad and he is driving me berserk here at the Apple Store in Fashion Island where I have to go because my Dad has no computer or Internet and I can’t think straight right now because I have to keep an eye on him and yell at him to sit still because he is hard of hearing and he tends to wander and I have to go grab him…
The Apple guy is giving me the stink eye. I think he is going to throw us out any minute…
To be continued…
Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it.