There are mountains of words that I can see in the distance spilling over one another like an avalanche. They move in slow motion as I stand far away but I know that up close they tumble like a frantic waterfall pushing dead leaves over the edge. I am moving toward it, scared of being trapped under it, wondering if I’ll suffocate or break free. This is how I feel in the aftermath.

Promoting Passion 2016 has just ended. I road tripped home for two days when it came to a close and this is my first day settling into my new self. Have you ever attended an event that changed you so utterly? My inside are breathing heavy. They want to break free from my body. I want to let them.

To be moved and to move. To hold close and look strangers in the tears. To know that you are the same and different. To embrace those similarities and differences. This is what the Promoting Passion Convention has been to me. For three days myself and 140 other creatives gathered in a castle in between red rocks and Aspens to commune. We attended workshops where we were filled with courage to let our creativity break free. We listened to lectures where we were empowered by other people’s stories. We partook in panel discussions where silly anecdotes turned into magical handouts of permission to be ourselves. We took pictures, we made pictures, we wrote stories and we told stories. We were like one moving body and 140 moving minds, working together to inform each individual of the life that could be waiting.

Planning the event was hard work made easier from knowing that my dream is to inspire. Attending the event was more confronting than I imagined. I found myself asking the difficult questions, like: How do I move on from the superficial creating process to the soul-burning way of making art that makes me genuinely uncomfortable? What do I want to say? What do I need to say? How do I need to say it?

I am home now with so many new paths lined up. I don’t know which I’ll take or if I will take a different one. What I know is this: they are clear to me now when before there were walls. I will move forward in my bravery unlike any other time in my life. I will strike my chord on the greatest journey.

Thank you to the moving speakers who made our attendees dance and squirm: Alejandro Molina, Joel McKerrow, Amy Parrish, Jess Catorc, Ksenia Anske, Lindsay Adler, and Joel Grimes.

Thank you to our sponsors who made the event possible: White House Custom Color, Zeiss, X-Rite, and Spider Holster.

Behind the Scenes images by Kim Winey.

Until next year, my friends.