Be Fully Expressed. Be the Spark.

This weekend I attended a conference called Spark of Awesome in northern Minnesota. Yes, I drove through a blizzard—literally—on my way home, but it was worth it. I got to meet an amazing group of women from around the country, including the extraordinary Danielle LaPorte. I’m back in Michigan with some new revelations about myself, my work and my life. We all need pauses in our regular lives to carry ourselves higher. Perhaps that’s what spring break provided to you.

I think folks—my scholars, my friends, my family—know that I find Danielle’s work utterly inspiring on many levels. It’s the reason I started weaving her work into our work with our McNair students. From feedback I’ve received so far, I think you guys are enjoying this exposure and opportunity for exploration.

Danielle and me

I spent an entire day with Danielle and we covered a lot of things. Did we ever! Looking over my many notations, the one speaking most to me is this concept of self expression. Danielle said, “Being fully expressed is the greatest gift I can give my child.” Taking this further, being fully expressed is the greatest gift we can give any (and every) person we come in contact with.

We are in the business of self expression—on a scholarly and intellectual level and on a personal level. It takes great courage to express yourself. We all do it in varying degrees. I know that I often hold back out of fear. What I’m coming back with from this experience is the desire and resolve to live each day fully expressed. I’m not sure what that might look like exactly for me each day, but I want to find out!

It was funny, at the conference, others were referring to our group as the “sparkly people” and at breakfast I heard someone say, “oh, that’s the sparkler group.” To this I say---SWEET! I love being part of the sparkler group. To me, living fully expressed means being confident in myself and being willing to show my spark. So, I challenge you to let your spark out so that others can see and benefit---from YOU. Be the spark. Be fully expressed every day. I guarantee you will grow and change in some unexpected and remarkable ways…