World Domination Summit Post-Game
18 days to 50. I came to WDS this year excited and apprehensive. Last year I came by myself and was forced to step way outside my comfort zone and interact with all kinds of people. This was terrifying and exhilarating.
This year I brought a friend so I knew I had a safe space to land in the sea of, "Hello, my name is Laura, what brought you to WDS?" and the unnerving, "So, Laura, what huge changes do you plan on making in your life to make the world a better place?" I talked to a lot of people. Yes, people who want to quit their jobs to sail around the world, but also people who are just struggling trying to discover their true selves, finding the jewels within themselves that are uniquely theirs so that they can figure out the best ways to use themselves to serve others.
The best thing about WDS is that almost everyone is positive. Certainly, the world has many challenges right now, but mainly people want to be optimistic about the future. They want to believe that 3,000 of us really can go out and make an impact on our world. Some will do huge things. Some might just change a little piece of their own communities, but I know that all 3,000 attendees left wanting to do SOMETHING. The cumulative impact of this conference surely could be world changing.
The hardest part about a conference like this, especially at my age, is that I felt like everyone I spoke to was looking at me for answers. I was certainly not the oldest attendee there but I could see younger people looking up to me expecting me to have it all together, to have some big plan of how I will affect world domination in the future based on my vast life experience.
The thing is, I don't feel like I'm much closer to having all the answers than any of them. I came out of this conference inspired by the speakers we saw and all the stories I heard from the people I connected with but I don't feel like I'm much closer to knowing what or how I can use the skills I have now to be of service in a more powerful way.
I flew back this morning with a serious WDS hangover. I kept looking at people next to me in the airport hopefully thinking I could just strike up a conversation since it was the norm all weekend. Out in the real world, of course, people avert their eyes, start fiddling with their phones, or even get engrossed in reading the nutritional information on the orange juice bottle at Starbucks.
I left my car at my friends' house in Burbank not realizing that street cleaning started at 8 am on that side of the street. I came back to this note on my car. Some kind stranger in the neighborhood posted a note on my car so the police wouldn't give me a ticket. I have no idea who did this. So now I am cautiously optimistic again. People are good. The world is filled with hope and opportunity. I will take the time, I will do the work, to find my own truth and share this with the world. This is my current plan for World Domination.