LeakyCon - An Amazing Weekend

This weekend I went to LeakyCon 2009.

I expected to have an awesome, amazingly fun time, but not one that blew me away. I'm speaking of one particular moment though that hasn't left my mind since. I hadn't planned on sitting in the Imperial Ballroom for nearly 4 hours that day. I had planned on hopping around to different presentations, but when this one began I didn't want to leave. Andrew was so kind to arrange this panel with his former professor, Maury Stein. What an awe-inspiring person. You can tell he's one of those people who you could sit down with and talk for hours. I love people like that. :)

He prompted us through meditation. Now, I meditate on occasion, when I feel like I need it, but have never been prompted while I was doing it. What an extraordinary experience.

We went through different stages. I don't remember everything exactly. At first we had our eyes closed. When I hear meditation, that's what I think about. Closing your eyes and centering yourself.

He then asked us to pick a partner and look into their eyes. Eyes are a wonderful thing. So much can be said just by looking into someone's eyes. My partner was Doris, and at one point I cried. Then she started crying, then we both cried. All while looking into each other's eyes. It was beautiful. I really can't describe how amazing it was. So many emotions spilled out of me. It was just intense. It's something that everyone should do.

But that's not all. Thanks to Andrew, again, we had another presentation right afterward. This time with Peter Gould. Author of Burnt Toast and Write Naked. Another wonderful person who I could sit and listen to for hours. As a writer this inspired me to quit my bad habits. One of which is to edit as I write. I've tried Nanowrimo and other things, but I can't quit the habit. I just don't let it out. After this weekend I think I'll have a better shot at it. Just thinking about the experience I had that day and what I learned makes me want to just write without editing myself as I go. It's something I constantly work on.

Why, though? Why do I edit myself? He had asked the audience what we think sets us back from writing naked and I answered, "because I think my writing sucks." Again, why? Maybe the first draft does, but who cares. That's why we continue writing. There were five things that he said that keeps people from writing naked. Unfortunately I don't remember them at the moment. Hopefully, someone can refresh my memory.

I feel like a scatterbrain right now. There's so much information from this con just swirling through my head that I can't remember it all. After a few days things will come to me, I'm sure. I really can't describe how wonderful both of these presentations were.

I'll probably post again, with info from other experiences I had at LC. I just wanted to share the one afternoon that meant a lot to me.

I also want to thank Andrew, Mr. Stein and Mr. Gould for coming together and sharing their information with everyone. It was amazing. :)

Tags: 2009, Burnt, Gould, Maury, Naked, Peter, Stein, Toast, Write, leakcon, More…meditation

Next Post >

Comment

You need to be a member of The Harry Potter Alliance to add comments!

Join The Harry Potter Alliance

Comment by Malory on June 1, 2009 at 4:55am: The meditation was extremely intense and amazing! I'm so glad that Andrew was able to bring in his teacher.

Comment by Delana on May 31, 2009 at 12:28pm: That is an interesting article. That would be so great if schools across the country implement it as an assembly once or twice a year. Could you imagine the effect?

Hope you feel better soon, Doris! Boo to the Leakyflu!

Comment by Doris Herrmann on May 29, 2009 at 5:38pm: It was the meditation of compassion. (I think) I've been doing a little research on it since it was such an enlightening experience. (And I've been sick since returning home so I'm bored)

Here is an interesting article on Compassion Meditation Here is a quote from the article ...

The research suggests that individuals -- from children who may engage in bullying to people prone to recurring depression -- and society in general could benefit from such meditative practices, says study director Richard Davidson, professor of psychiatry and psychology at UW-Madison.

Once I'm over the LeakyFlu I'm going to try it again. Right now I'm trying to avoid getting to close to anyone else.

Comment by Delana on May 27, 2009 at 4:38pm: Yes! I forgot to mention that. Feeling each others feelings. Didn't Mr. Stein call it the meditation of compassion? Something like that. *sigh* It was just awesome!

Comment by Doris Herrmann on May 27, 2009 at 3:46pm: What wonderful thoughts - and exactly how I feel about that presentation. I've tried blogging over and over, and I can't get it all from my head to my fingers.

The one thing that sticks in my head the most about that moment, is feeling your feelings. It a world filled with "ego" I felt your pain, joy, love , you felt mine. I have so many things I need to add to my blog, but that one moment of this weekend really helped me understand/grasp (the right word is just not there right now) the universal nature of mankind.

LeakyCon was truly a magic weekend. Now, we just need LeakyCon 2011!

Doris

Comment by Karen Bernstein on May 27, 2009 at 7:25am: I came in and out of this session due to being double booked, but this session is one that stuck with me, too. The meditation was so intense and forced me to think so much. I am so glad I had the opportunity to go to this!

Comment by veganwrocker on May 27, 2009 at 4:21am: Wow. I feel terrible that I missed that one. That sounds like an absolutely extraordinary experience.

LeakyCon was amazing, but my biggest regret is that I missed so much. I was running around doing things constantly all weekend, but with only two days of programming, and my time-turner broken, I ended up missing a lot.