The Hero's Journey (Write/Speak/Code 2019)

I took a sabbatical in October 2018 after a very difficult year, both personally and professionally. I stopped working and traveled by myself for three months, during which I started the slow and deep process of healing. This talk (which might feel more like poetry at times) aims to share some wisdom I have gathered on this journey -- that this industry, this world, wounds us and that we need to heal and transform ourselves in order to transform anything else.

Transcript

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27. founder
    

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28. founder director
    

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29. founder director
    public speaker
    

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30. founder director
    public speaker
    social justice warrior
    

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31. founder director
    public speaker
    social justice warrior
    BADASS
    

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32. founder director
    public speaker
    social justice warrior
    BADASS
    workaholic
    

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33. founder director
    public speaker
    social justice warrior
    BADASS
    workaholic
    party girl
    

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34. founder director
    public speaker
    social justice warrior
    BADASS
    workaholic
    party girl
    coding icon
    

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39. trauma
    

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41. burnout
    

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43. divorce
    

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45. rage
    

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47. fear
    

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50. suicidal
    

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51. “I drove him, drove them all, 

    to be first, be bold, be perfect—be the greatest. 

    What I did not do was drive them 

    to be whole, to be free. ” 

    Casey Gerald
    

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57. “My question at the time was simply: What is
    wrong with me? Ever wonder that? If so, my final
    admonition is this: Stop. Drop whatever's in your
    hand. Leave your basket in the aisle. Retrace your
    steps out the door. Find the crack. Try to find its
    source, understand its reason, excuse or not. Try.
    That is all I knew to do.” 

    Casey Gerald
    

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62. “I don’t want us to have to work twice as hard
    to have to prove our humanity.
    I don’t want to die for social change like our
    ancestors did.”
    

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91. “I realized I wasn’t upholding my end of the
    sacred bargain: My life is a miracle that cannot
    be recreated. I can never get these hours, weeks,
    years back.

    

    Each day should be lived on purpose.” 

    adrienne maree brown
    

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96. founder director
    public speaker
    social justice warrior
    BADASS
    workaholic
    party girl
    coding icon
    

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97. founder director
    public speaker
    social justice warrior
    BADASS
    workaholic
    party girl
    

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98. founder director
    public speaker
    social justice warrior
    BADASS
    workaholic
    

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99. founder director
    public speaker
    social justice warrior
    BADASS
    

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100. founder director
     public speaker
     social justice warrior
     

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101. founder director
     public speaker
     

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102. founder director
     

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103. founder
     

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107. “Small is good, small is all.
     (The large is a reflection of the small.)” 

     adrienne maree brown
     

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110. where are my motives?

     

     what would I do if no one was watching?

     how do I act out of love for myself?

     does this get me closer to being whole & free?
     

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111. “Nothing is required of me more than being,
     and creating. Simultaneously being present
     with who I am, who we are as a species...
     and creating who we must become, and
     within that who I must become.” 

     adrienne maree brown
     

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113. “I drove him, drove them all, 

     to be first, be bold, be perfect—be the greatest. 

     What I did not do was drive them 

     to be whole, to be free. ” 

     Casey Gerald
     

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114. “We heal ourselves, 

     and we heal in relationship, 

     and from that place, simultaneously, 

     we create more space for healed communities,
     healed movements, 

     healed worlds.” 

     adrienne maree brown
     

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115. “The only way to deal with an unfree world
     is to become so absolutely free that 

     your very existence is an act of rebellion.” 

     Albert Camus
     

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116. “Transform yourself to transform the world”

     

     Grace Lee Boggs
     

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121. “I have a radio. It picks up only two
     stations: Life and Death. 

     I turn the death off, now that I know the
     sound. 

     The diddy bop of death. 

     I sit in silence if I have to.” 

     Casey Gerald
     

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123. “Not trying to get by
     I’m trying to get free” 

     Mereba
     

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124. @alexqin
     @withdrawin.gs
     

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125. @alexqin
     @withdrawin.gs
     

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