Do you ever wish you could take a break from the constant notifications, interruptions by bots, and trying to keep up with the latest and greatest technology?

Have you had a moment when you said, “I wish I could just chill, take a breath, and connect with a human?“

Those questions were part of my intro for two Elevating the Human Experience Workshops.

The next line is something along the lines of, “If you said yes, you’re in the right place.”

There was no need for that line.
There were head nods half way through the first question.
There were 150 people saying “yes!” before the second question could be asked.

They were in the right place.

And connect with humans they did! For 75 minutes they talked through a series of facilitated questions and prompts about being intentional, recognizing the unhelpful and decidedly a-hole voices in their heads that need to get off me, and then explored who they were at their best and how to tap into that person.

The energy in the room was 🔥. I’m pretty sure they’d still be talking if I didn’t reign them in and keep them moving through the conversations. You could sense the release–the release of the stress they’re carrying from work, their lives, from this whack-o world we’re living in. Then the filling up of that space with conversation, support, and connection.

“The folks we shared with had a hard time thinking about what they did ‘as their best.’ But after we talked through things, we helped them see all that they did and how remarkable they are…it was like talking through it with them we could help them see what they couldn’t.”

GOOSE BUMP MOMENT brought by Morgan, a participant, who nailed it.

All the reflections in those two sessions made it clear: people need to be seen. We need to be able to see ourselves in the best light, to stop being so hard on ourselves. We need to be seen by each other.

You could feel it in the room. It was something to see strangers come together like that. The amount of hugs I got throughout the rest of the conference was the indicator that yes, something had clicked.

It made me think, it’s a funny thing about conferences. In theory, they’re designed to bring people together to learn and to connect. But how many just talk a well-meaning-good-game–like, “Look around! You’re not alone!” and how many intentionally create the space and the guidance on HOW to connect and really FEEL it? This conference did. These sessions were pre-game. Overheard on the way out, “I’ve never been to a conference where I actually met people and connected with them before the conference even started!”

Imagine.

I woke up this morning to multiple texts of footage from Stephen Colbert’s last episode last night. The clip: of him and the cast celebrating with a dance party, jumpin’ around to House of Pain.

Now, the member party of this conference might have had a DJ (they did) and then a band (they did) and it might have been on an aircraft carrier (it was) and they might have had fireworks (wait what?!) and all of that was my new standards for clients unbelievable, but when the band busted out that House of Pain banger on the boat…the BEST was seeing so many people jumping around with so much joy! So much energy! So much release!

There are similarities between that Colbert finale and that conference. When things are hard and unfair and heavy and there’s lots of feels, a dance party never fails to turn that frown upside down. (I said what I said.)

Which brings me back to those opening questions. We’re inundated with AI interruptions and automation and bots botting…shit seems heavy and there’s a lot going on…and yet when we make some space for real conversation, for reflecting what others can’t see in themselves, and for taking a breath and connecting with a real human, we open up space for joy and for dance parties.

What better way to elevate the human experience?

Literally elevating. By jumping around. 😉