The Value of Play

How can "play" be used to improve wellbeing and productivity?

As adults, most of us have abandoned the idea of "play" being useful a long time ago. We might venture to play with a child or two, but for the most part we've become instructors, workers, and very serious souls who don't have time for such nonsense.

But what if play can actually improve health? Collaboration? Learning ability? And, dare I say it, enjoyment of life? This presentation will entertain and inspire as it also offers a juicy list of ways to integrate play into each and every part of our lives - to our betterment!

Cultivating the Creative Mind

Humans are creative beings. All of us. But, for many of us, our creativity has become stunted throughout years and years of LIFE. Doing creative activities feels like a luxury, and is often the thing to go, when LIFE comes knocking at our doors.

But what if planting the seeds of Constant Creative Response is all it takes to keep LIFE in a much more manageable lowercase "life" size?

This session redefines why it's life-affirming to acknowledge our creative selves. Offering ways to nurture our creativity through intentional activities, attendees will come away with their own ability to respond creatively the next time LIFE comes to call - and turn it into just plain ole "life" - filled with creativity.

Changing Careers: A Heroine's Journey

For many people, somewhere in life there will be a career change. Sometimes this occurs by choice, sometimes by circumstance. But in a world where we are often defined by what we "do for a living," how does doing something different change who we are? Perhaps we desire a change but are afraid of how this new occupation will alter our story of ourselves.

"A Hero's Journey" is often a way to refer to an arduous life-altering quest that one embarks upon in order to learn and grow and change into who they are meant to become. American writer Joseph Campbell, studied the stories of myth and religion in the world and highlighted each of these such adventures as depicted throughout the world over time.

Missing from this lexicon, however, are the stories of the women throughout time and space. In many ways, this is because women weren't in the workforce by choice, and they very rarely had the luxury of choosing their own careers. At this time, however, women are defining for themselves what they want to "do for a living" - and what that truly means.

This instructive story will offer a roadmap to what might be in store for this new generation of female storytellers who are living their own Heroine's Journeys. Also included are "tools" that can fix almost anything, and plenty of humor to hold it all together.

Caring for the Caregiver

In every family, there are caregivers. These are the individuals that show up with soup when someone has a cold, or put aside their plans to care for someone who fell and broke their arm and need help with even the simplest of life-tasks. Without caregivers, this world would fall apart. But, sadly, most caregivers don't receive the care they need to sustain themselves long-term.

But there's good news! Caring for caregivers isn't that hard! And it delivers enormous dividends that pay off exponentially!

This talk presents the necessary components of caring for our caregivers. Throughout there is also self-empowerment to be attained, as caring for one another is a true collaboration when it's at its best. Instead of stepping all over one another, we can dance beautifully together - which is a fun bonus.

The Dance of Life - Navigating Change Gracefully and with Rhythm

"The only thing constant is change." - Heraclitus of Ephesus (535-475 BCE)

This phrase was uttered eons ago, and yet, nothing could be truer. Weather changes, time of day changes, our age changes, as does our ability to do various activities. Humans are incredibly adept at changing, and yet, we hate it more than anything. We like things to stay the same.

Or do we?

Perhaps humans have come to believe something that we don't actually desire? We believe that we want things to stay constant, but we look forward to sunsets - which are a show of changing lights. Many of us enjoy surprises, which are a change in what we thought we knew. Around every corner are reminders that humans actually like change.

So why not get better at it?

This presentation will teach "The Change Cycle" and then re-choreograph it as "The Dance of Life." Attendees will come away with a framework to understand the Four Steps of Change, and how to dance them with grace, agility, and a playful spirit.