Friday Miscellany: Notes from Watermark

I spent much of today speaking at the Watermark Conference for Women (literally — I gave my speech three times!) The conference also sold out of my books, so that was nice.

I had a few take-aways. One is that — after I speak about time management — people often tell me that they make great plans, they just can’t stick to them. I think this may be due to one of a few things. First, they may not really like the plan. I generally believe that people do what they want in life, and maybe the plan seems like it’s fulfilling someone else’s goals, or an obligation they resent, or just isn’t for them. If you hate group aerobics classes, you won’t wake up at 5 a.m. to go to them, at least past the first day or two. But you might be willing to walk with a friend at lunch. An alternate explanation is that the plan is too ambitious. No one will stick with a plan that is unreasonable, or that doesn’t account for the fact that things will come up.

My after-lunch audience was as energetic as the morning audience, which I was grateful for. It can be such a hard slot, when everyone needs a nap. Friday afternoon too.

I got to meet Courtney Carver in person! She was a guest on Best of Both Worlds a few weeks ago, so that was fun. We were signing books next to each other.

The highlight of the conference for me was probably seeing Elaine Welteroth (formerly of Teen Vogue) interview Reese Witherspoon. Witherspoon is in an interesting place where she is fully realizing that she has money, and she has power, and not only can she use both, but her industry itself is totally shifting. The disappearance of Harvey Weinstein (and assorted other figures) is opening up a lot of space. I am fascinated to see what will happen in the next few years.

Witherspoon also put the question out there — what ambitious thing are you not aiming for? As I’ve thought about it, I’d really like to write something long. Probably fiction. I have what Virginia Woolf says are the requisites (money and a room of my own) so no reason not to. Witherspoon also talked about how she loves working with authors. Maybe some day she’ll make my epic into a movie!

Also, my 10-year-old is reading A Wrinkle in Time, and he is enjoying it quite a bit.

Other happenings this week: I went to the granite yard to view my potential kitchen counters. I have now picked out a slab. The warehouse was fascinating. Row after row of granite in different colors. Some were wacky enough to look more like something you’d put on a wall than something you’d put on a counter. Think mixes of green, orange, iridescence…

I finally made it to Lush in downtown Philly to use my spa gift card. My “synesthesia” treatment was somewhat funny – I was supposed to choose various scents, which were then wafted around the room during the massage. There was almost this ceremony before hand as I chose my scents from a list on a chalk board. Somewhat like Harry Potter and the sorting hat…

My church choir will be performing the Missa Gaia in April. I listened to it on the plane the other day, and it is a wee bit trippy. Perhaps Presbyterians are a bit more out there than I thought…

I am telling myself I am going to work on the plane on the way back to PHL, but I recognize that the plan might not be realistic. Perhaps I’ll hit the airport book store instead. Have a good weekend!

Photo: Signing books, with Courtney Carver