I flew out to Knoxville TN to my first national conference for work. I’m excited to attend the Denise Amberlee Conference and choose the different training tracks they have available. Currently Adrianna and I are sitting at the airport waiting to board our first flight to Atlanta. Unfortunately there weren’t any direct flights to Knoxville.
Our first flight was about 4 hours long. There was some turbulence but not too bad. I watch Top Gun Maverick and Started The Hill. Our next flight was delayed 3 hours so we ate at a restaurant then walked the airport for about 2 miles then went to our gate. Our connecting flight was a small puddle jumper that was all over the place. Good thing our flight was only 35 minutes. We got our rental car, a Nissan Altima and drove to the Hilton which was right around the corner from the convention center.
So far the conference has been amazing. One the of the stories that were said in a stress class was a famous Zen story called "The Parable of the Raft." In this story, a monk helps a princess cross a river by carrying her on his back. The servant accompanying the monk is perplexed by his action and questions him about it. The monk then responds with a teaching about letting go of the raft once it has served its purpose, signifying the idea of not clinging to even spiritual teachings once they have fulfilled their purpose. It's a story often used to illustrate the concept of non-attachment in Buddhist philosophy. This made me think of what I am still holding onto that I cannot let go, specifically in regards to Stephanie and Heather. Another thing that stuck out was “you are free to make a choice but you are not free from the consequences of that choice.” It was also interesting to listen to Denise’s story told through the eyes of her husband and to hear from her youngest son.
The closing ceremony was full of laughter, inspirational words and dancing. The closing speech was awesome. This conference was well planned out and filled with beneficial sessions pertinent to the work.
Our flights home were on time with little to no turbulence. It was nice to get home early but I was super tired after waking up at 01:15 Utah time to make it to the airport on time.
