God Bless Texas

Okay...so after my sorta cathartic post about my life and how it isn't what I expected, which occurred (well, it did occur well before I landed in Dallas for this conference) while I was at an education conference in Dallas. I am so thrilled to have met some fabulous folks, I mean some REAL folks who were really honest about their lives, who they are and what they have been through. 

While we all had different stories, the story that resonates is the fact that we've all been through some "stuff". My stuff might not be your "stuff" but still, "your stuff" might be just as daunting as "my stuff". What I really appreciated was the honesty that was shared as I met these people from different walks of life, different life circumstances and just different. 

Boy...do I feel excited to know that I can actually meet people who are *true*, who aren't afraid of telling you or showing you who they really are. This is absolutely refreshing. I have been struggling to have real friendships over the last year. Part of it is because I telecommute and the other part is that I really just don't give many people the *time of day*.

We, as individuals, spend so much time trying to make ourselves look good to people we meet that we sometimes forget that we are just *people* (and, no, I'm not going to break out in a Barbra Streisand medley about people), who really do need to identify with other people (okay, so that's a little bit Barbra and I am hearing "people who need people" in my head) however, it's just fabulous to meet folks who are just real. 

When was the last time that you met someone for the first time and it was just *real*? Yeah...I don't have a whole lot of timeline stories with that until this business trip. 

So...I want to give a big *shout out* to the REAL people that I had the distinct privilege of meeting here in Dallas in April 2014. I met folks who were here for the education conference, folks who were here for Southwest Airlines and folks who were here for a tech presentation (a little hush-hush, but still fabulous to chat with) and then just others. This has probably been one of THE BEST business trips I have had the pleasure of being able to go for a very long time because I really got to meet people. 

It might be that it was because this trip was in Texas and like Alabama, they are known for their southern hospitality so it just exudes itself (the atmosphere) to people who visit or it might just be the timing of things for me...the need to move forward. Regardless...I'm totally agreeing with the artwork at the House of Blues tonight...*God  Bless Texas*!