rising strong in nashville
Rising Strong Day, the official book launch of Brené's book, Rising Strong, was an unmitigated success: the day began with a trio from the Grand Ole Opry playing amazing bluegrass, and then Brené welcomed the crowd of about 800 (!) people, and gave an overview of her new book (to a standing ovation, of course). After lunch, I shared with the audience how my journaling practice helps me directly incorporate Brené's teachings into my life. The charming Miles Adcox, CEO of Onsite, spoke about trust and boundaries. The Grammy-award winning songwriter and Nashville native Josh Kear performed a few songs, many of which you likely know. And finally, the lovely Jenna Walker and Katie Thurmes of Artifact Uprising (the hands-down best company for printing photographs that there is -- I've been using them for ages), spoke about the importance of photography.
It was a beautiful, inspiring day. I'm so grateful to Brené for including me in her celebration, to Miles, Josh, Jenna and Katie for making it such a fun time, and to all of you who attended, especially those who made a point to come up and introduce yourselves to me. Your doing so made this absolutely one of the best days of my year.
Soon after my talk, a car service showed up to take me to the airport so I could head home. On the way, I mentioned to the driver that even though this was my second trip to Nashville, I had yet to actually see the city. "I've always been either at the hotel or working," I moaned. "And I hear Nashville's a great town -- yet I've never gotten to see it."
"Oh, that won't do," he said immediately. "What time is your flight?"
I told him.
"Okay, so you've got time. I'm going to take you the scenic route, down Broadway, so you can at least see the city. It'll only take you about 10 minutes out of the way, and you'll see where tons of famous country musicians got their starts."
And so said, so done. While I didn't have time to get out of the car and sightsee, I certainly did have time to stick my arm with my camera out of the window above the SUV we were riding in so that I could take a few photos.
Thanks to my lovely driver for the impromptu tour. And have a great week, friends.
Soundtrack: Josh Kear, performing one of those Grammy-award-winning songs that he wrote, Need You Now. Josh is a truly lovely soul, and I think it really shows here. Click here or the image below to watch.