Wow, wow, wow with a healthy dose of Ohhh. Emm. Gee!!
I had the sublime pleasure of seeing this beauty in the flesh on Tuesday night at the Art Gallery of NSW. I also had the sublime pleasure of giving her a hug as well. Everyone else in the line up was thanking her for speaking and changing their lives etc. etc. and like the dork I am, I told her she smelt great – she thanked me and told me it was simply Rose water and Geranium. And, that was that, a very surreal moment for us both I think!
Let’s start at the beginning …
I’d seen Danielle announce on her Facebook page that she had arranged a relatively last minute event in Sydney. It piqued my interest but I didn’t buy a ticket. I actually decided to let Ruby know that we’ll go see her in the States or Canada next year as one of our big goals or BHAGs.
At this point I’ll admit something as I know I’m amongst friends … I’ve never listened to one of Danielle’s podcasts, so up until this point, I’d never heard her speak. I get her #truthbombs every day in my inbox and check out her blog posts in between as well. I think she’s a cool lady and she knows her shit, but I was happy to wait and share the experience of seeing her for the first time with Ruby who adores Danielle.
All that changed when the beautiful Cora tagged me in a post – I read the topic Danielle was talking on and felt compelled to go. I texted Ruby apologising for backing tracking so quickly and letting her know I was about to buy my ticket – she understood (and had thought me a bit mad for not having a ticket already!) and it was lucky I acted so fast as tickets sold out in 5 hours flat!
The lead up to Danielle taking the Stage
Danielle’s talk, Be willing to start over, was sponsored by The Wake Up Project who celebrate mindful leadership and living and have compassion at their core.
It was hosted at the Art Gallery NSW, which is nestled in the Domain in Sydney and provided a stunning setting for this event.
I’d confessed to Cora as we walked to the event, that I’m a crier. I cry because I feel and I’m ok with that. I’m not usually ok with crying in public and I also know not everyone is ok if the person they’re with started to cry, so I felt it was only fair to warn Cora to expect tears. Luckily she’s a very cool chick, so I knew it would be no biggie.
The evening started with two beautiful songs, sung by a gentleman who I sadly didn’t take note of his name. His voice was deep, manly, rich and incredibly soulful. I got instant goosebumps, which happens to me when I hear a voice so soulful it goes right through me and I feel the music.
We then had a lovely lady, with a silky smooth voice, take us through a guided meditation, again I sadly didn’t take note of her name. She got us to envision a Golden Ball of Light flowing through us and out of both our feet and the top of our head. My Golden Light turned in to a pretty funky Golden Cloud, which I thought was a cool interpretation and went with it! The vision filled me with peace – if you can imagine storm clouds when they’re rolling in, that was my Golden Cloud rolling through me and out of me.
Jono Fisher (yay I made note of a name!) the founder of Wake Up, was next to the stage to introduce Danielle. Firstly he provided a bit of back-story to the project he’d founded and how being a leader didn’t sit comfortably on him. The advice he was given resonated and I knew the evening was going to be pretty epic:
The only job you have is to be true to yourself
He then introduced the lady we were all there to see, saying she was a permission giver and shared her core essence with everyone. Ah-mazing!
Be willing to start over
Danielle took to the stage in a crescendo of claps. Everyone in the audience was super excited and you could feel the energy coursing through the crowd.
Her time on stage was a mix of storytelling, Q&A and perfectly described on the event ticket as: part sermon, part pep talk, and a spoken word performance.
Now a little side-note for you, I took 3 pages of notes (front & back!!) so I have plenty of content to share. What I chose to write down was what at the time resonated with me. Reading back through all my notes, I’ve decide to pull out all the quotes and share those with you.
Quotes & Live #truthbombs
Leaning in to the uncertainty is where the magic is & the answers are
[the] Paradox of wanting something is: want not push. Being fierce & flexible
Think clearly & behave in “feelings”
Fear always comes bearing info
Success is what you say NO to & courage to be disliked
Trust is a form of strength – a trusting heart is a strong heart
Comparison equals poison. Healthy Envy is where it’s at
Me being sick, doesn’t make others well
Generosity is the next frontier
Quit earlier! Winners quit early
Never hold back creativity – keep your insatiable edge & feel the rapture of the gratitude, of the learning and of the experience.
Inner betrayal will come up and rupture somewhere else until you speak your truth
Be REAL. Remember we can’t be Beyonce every day!
Rise up, rise up (& here comes the tears)
Danielle wrapped up her evening with a spoken word performance about ‘rising up’ and the ‘desire to rise’.
Her words were beautiful and I was moved to tears. Gentle tears that just ran down my face and left small tracks, because her words connected with what I’d been feeling.
They were words I needed to hear and most importantly, words I was willing to listen to.
“Good Minute” & Vino
To end the event and before the bar opened, we were asked to take a “good minute”. A minute where you close your eyes and listen. Listen to yourself, what resonated and replay the best bits of the night to yourself. I closed my eyes and more pesky tears leaked out – I let them and it felt good. After opening my eyes, giggling with Cora, we headed back upstairs and grabbed a glass of vino. We stayed a while, chatted and then danced our way out of the gallery together ’cause we felt like it!
The night ended with a beautiful, crisp, fresh walk back through the Domain to catch our ferry home – bliss.
Thank YOU Danielle
I am truly thankful I got a ticket, I got to see her, it was just what I needed and was a highlight of my week.
Thank you Danielle for your beautiful dulcet tones, for the epic amount of belly laughs and giggles throughout the evening, for your words that resonated so wonderfully to let the tears escape and for being totally frickin’ AWESOME! xo
