Storyline Reflections // Part 1

Last week I flew to Chicago to attend a conference called "Storyline." This conference has been held annually for the past 8 years. You may associate Storyline with the author Donald Miller who has written works such as Blue Like Jazz, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and most recently Scary Close. Back in college we were required to read Blue Like Jazz for a film class I took. I didn't read it. I had this bad habit of not reading things that I was told I had to read. Of course, this wasn't true for all assigned readings, but if I could get by I would do the least reading I could. I wasn't a fan of reading until I graduated college. Now, I can't put some of my books down and have the problem of reading multiple books at once. You will almost always find one in my purse. If I'm out on the road and eating alone sitting at a table for one or at the bar with my headphones in, you will always find a book in front of me and a pen in my right hand.

A friend of mine passed along her copy of Scary Close to me before she moved to South Africa. I flipped open the front cover and devoured it. Shortly after I signed up to receive the Storyline Blog by email and that's when I heard about the conference. I watched a video about it. I read about it. Still a bit unsure of what it was about I decided that I wanted to go. If it had anything to do with storytelling, art, dreams, faith and if Don would be speaking, I was there. I didn't spend much time contemplating it, I prayed about the financial commitment and time off work and you know what...I came back from two weeks on the road from work and the Lord completely surprised me financially...I cried. Confirmation. I was confident and excited. I booked my ticket. Didn't look back.

I have quite a few friends in the Chicago area so I definitely had accommodations. It was a little exciting to feel like such an adult. I travel alone for work all the time but I had never done anything quite like this. I flew, picked up a rental from the airport, drove to my friends home, drove to the conference, and with empty journal in hand, confidently stepped onto the Willow Creek Campus. I had a friend tell me from prior attendance at Storyline to get up close on the action so I placed myself in third row toward center. Although I was traveling alone, me being me, I made connections and friends with those around me. Everyone had their own story to tell of how they ended up at Storyline. Mine was...I'm not entirely sure what this is or why I'm here but I'm expectant and excited.

For two days I had the privilege of hearing from people like Donald Miller, Bob Goff (Pepperdine Law Professor, Hon. Consul for the Republic of Uganda, author of Love Does) , Shauna Niequist (author: Bittersweet, Bread & Wine, Cold Tangerines), Miles Adcox (CEO Onsite Workshops) , and Jeremy Cowart (photographer). If you have yet to hear of any of these people I would highly recommend checking them out! Each person shared their life story, their passions, their dreams, their struggles and triumphs. I want to say that I appreciated their transparency. I valued their vulnerability. I cherish their wisdom. They did everything they could to make sure they showed their humanity.

I have quite a bit to share from the conference but for now I will leave you with this little gem. I ran into Bob Goff just as he walked in the back of the end of the conference on Day 1. He gave me a hug and said "Hi, I'm Bob! I like your hat! Here let's take a selfie!" ‪ My admiration for these humans stretches a thousand miles and a million years.