Integrating our Geekiness

I had so much fun at the She's Geeky unconference earlier this week - another reason I love living in the Bay Area! So many cool she-geeks doing awesome work, from films on cyber-bullying to radical life extension to user experience design to crocheting a Sierpinski carpet fractal pattern. In the user-generated portion of the event, I organized a roundtable on how to balance being a mom and a geek.

The biggest takeaway message for me, touched on by speaking coach Lura Dolas and sketchblogger Elizabeth Perry, was the theme of how to integrate all the different aspects of your life into a single, unified, authentic YOU. We have a tendency to fragment ourselves into our various parts and lose the cohesion and groundedness of being whole.

For me, this means rolling together all my tags: tech-geekiness, molecular genetics, attachment parenting, Taoist Tai Chi, startups, homebirth, unschooling, life extension, service learning, travel, simple living, Zen, nature observation, non-violent communication, gifted overexcitabilities, painting, poetry, crochet, running around laughing with kids, creative destruction, blogging, environmental preservation, entelechy, futurism, optimal nutrition, exposure to new ideas, contributing my unique talents to improving life on Earth.

It really boils down to not being afraid to be yourself. Feeling free to talk about homebirth with a biotech crowd and life extension with an attachment parenting crowd. Being me and loving who I am.

Thanks and kudos to organizers Kaliya Hamlin, Mary Hodder, Julia French, Susan Mernit, Sylvia Paull, heathervescent, Laurie Rae, Danese Cooper, Deb Roby, and Melanie Swan, and the 200 fabulous women who attended. Count me in for the next one - with a bunch of geeky friends!