thoughts on the conference

Was it worth it to go to the conference? Absolutely. Would I go again if I were invited again? Yes. Do I hope that I’ll be invited again? Yes.

Had I sworn two years ago that I would never do a conference again? Again, yes.

Contrandictory? Of course.

It always surprises me how amazingly difficult it is for me to be around people that intensely for a long period of time. It’s always been that way for me though.

If I had not been asked to speak, I would have not thought of going at all, but Jill Bradbury did ask and I did speak and I’m really glad I did go. It is always a heady experience not being alone in a room full of people, and experiencing that for a weekend was nothing short of a gift.

What was it like? Listening to a variety of people being passionate and articiulate and just plain interesting all day was extraordinary. We were all smart people with something to say, and I do believe that we are, or can be, part of something greater than the sum of our parts. Will we direct deaf culture? Of course not, but will we be a forum for discussing where deaf culture is going and how it is getting there? Absolutely.

It’s an amazing time to be a deaf person, with unprecedented access to deaf culture no matter where we are, and communication with other deaf people has never been easier.

Meeting these other deaf people, and seeing some old friends again, was an important reminder that we are all people with our own dreams, lives, personalities. There are so many ways to be a deaf person, so many ways to be alive.

It felt good to know that we all had the same goal, to find our place in the world as deaf people.