Top 8 Playa Moments of 2014

I'm throwing in another facet of succestication: perpetual experiences of awesome. 

In regards to self-improvement, I strongly believe that new experiences are the key to an open mind and a continuous yearning to go above and beyond what is known. An inspiring setting -- such as an open art gallery in the middle of the desert -- can certainly help.

On that note, here are my top moments at Burning Man 2014:

1) The never-ending drum circle at the Texas Souk.

2) Finding the Burning Man Ultra Marathon. I went to bed early our first night on playa and set my alarm for 6AM in hopes of catching at the last half of the Burning Man Ultra Marathon. Since I had no idea what the course would be, I laced up my running shoes and headed out into deep playa and looked for fast moving dots of humans in the distance. As I approached the trash fence,  I found a very loud bus with a swarm of people dancing around it. It was Robot Heart, an elusive set my friend had been describing the night before, and right beyond it were RUNNERS. I made a mad dash to catch up and met a few characters along the way (including one guy running completely naked, bare feet and all!). 

3) Spending White Out Wednesday in my wedding dress.  Aside from feeling absolutely beautiful in the airy white fabric, this dress seemed to hold some sort of enchantment. It was so much fun to dance in, too!

Not pictured: Burning Man

4) Being inside Embrace. This was one of my favorite art pieces -- a wooden sculpture that you could climb inside, passing large mechanical hearts up into the head of each figure. You could look out the eyes for a lovely view of the desert.

Photo courtesy of DUNCAN RAWLINSON.

5)  Seeing Saturday morning's sunrise. After Embrace burned on Friday morning, Justin and I had an amazing adventure out in deep playa that involved hours of observation of the blinky horizon dotted by ship masts, alien forms, and giant dragons.  We settled into our own coziness for what seemed like hours -- still in deep, deep playa -- and watched a neon red sun emerge. It was the most beautiful sunrise I ever witnessed.

6) Hanging out with the Neunzig family at Fire House. There's no better way to pass the heat of the day than hanging out with two generations of Neunzigs!

Try to spot Tim in this picture...

7) Not losing my fanny pack. After an 8+ hour adventure, I realized I was missing a critical component of my wardrobe: the fanny pack that contained both Justin's and my I.D.s. After wracking my brain for a good hour, I realized where I left it -- "some big playground-like structure along Esplanade".  Given that Esplanade is a mile long frontage of camps, I was very happy to find that my sense of direction was still in tact. Fanny pack found; identities saved.

8) The Temple burn. The Temple is an ornate structure located across from the man where people leave written memories or thoughts for loved ones who have passed. Some leave behind representations of what they want to remove from from their lives. When the Temple burned, everyone sat or stood silently out of respect. Its large dome fell with a graceful twist, and all the emotional heaviness it held became ashes, ultimately turned to dust. Needless to say, it was very cathartic.



I didn't take any pictures at the event, so if you need more visuals, check out this gallery (including the last photo -- the Shrine of the Crossroads -- an Austin-based project).

The Texas Souk Project

It's been a while, blog. I am back from the dust!

I am returning from a great adventure in the Nevada desert. Black Rock City, to be exact.

Our Texas Souk project went swimmingly. There were 29 stalls built around the base of The Man, most of them containing open-air "markets" or performance arenas representing different regions from around the globe. Each souk had a unique theme that encouraged interactivity.

Texas Souk's theme was "The Senses". We created an atmosphere meant to appeal to the five (or six, depending on your beliefs) senses. We had a drum circle space and a slew of gifts, some made from found materials acquired during our park clean ups. 

The photos below are courtesy of my friend, Snuggles:

When someone meandered into our souk space, we invited them to tell a story or ride one of our stick horses in exchange for a gift. Throughout the week, we heard heartwarming stories  -- some incredibly happy and others that were quite serious and moving-- and laughed as people raced stick horses around the Man.

The most incredible souk moment I had was while we were tearing it down in preparation for The Man to burn. There was a huge dust storm that day -- I could barely see five feet in front of me! Everyone was frantically taking down decor while a drum circle lingered in the middle of our souk stall. The drumming seemed to get more intense as our space was deconstructed. It got to the point where all that was left were the rugs on which the drummers were sitting, their instruments, and our team standing in awe. You just can't take Texas down easily, ya'll. 

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Up next: More Burning Man adventures.

Confessions of slacking

It's been over two weeks since I last updated, so I'm kicking myself for not being persistent. I can't be too hard on myself considering the mega amounts or productivity that has happened in the meantime.

While excuses are lame, I have been quite busy fundraising and preparing for a trip into the desert. This will be my first year ever going to Burning Man, and I'm quite stoked about all the projects our camp has planned.

I have fallen in with the Texas Souk camp, which is a collaboration of other CORE camps within Texas. To give some background on the Souk project, check out http://souk.burningman.com/.

The Texas Souk is themed around the five senses. As mentioned in my last post, my gifts are massage bars made of cocoa butter, shea butter, beeswax, and essential oils. To date, I've made over 300 of them each the size of an ice cube. I'm so excited to share these!

On the fundraising front, our camp threw a benefit Little Black Dress party that performed exceptionally well. I have nothing but deep appreciation for everyone who contributed time, talents, funds, and other donations to the event.

Weekend Successticated Meter

I declare this weekend a 9.5/10 on the succesticated meter.

It started with brews in celebration of our favorite Cajun, Lance Laurent, and continued with a dip in this little bit of paradise known as Krause Springs:

The best news: I didn't get sunburned!

On Sunday, I made 150 massage bars to donate to the Texas Souk project at Burning Man. Oh, and I made a really delicious curry. The only thing that would have made this weekend better would have been a nice, long bike ride. There's always next weekend. :)

8 Words and Phrases That Are Now an Inherent Part of My Vocabulary

Before I became a sales person, these words hardly ever -- or even never -- came out of my mouth:

"Cadence" - Refers to a rhythmical cycle of the sales process. Calls and emails to prospects should happen regularly, and proper cadence can establish a flow for closing deals.

"Follow Up" - Following up refers to the tried and true "just checking in" approach, and it can also be used to set the stage for another conversation. See also "Circle Back" and "Touch Base."

"Next Steps" - One should always be thinking about what the next step will be -- even if it's just a follow up. Ideally, the next step will get you one step closer to that contract.

"Go Forward" - Similar to "Next Steps", this one can be used to push the momentum of a deal.

"Scalability" - This isn't even a real word, but EVERYONE in the C-Suite loves to use it. To use it in a sentence, "Why, yes, our solution can meet scalability requirements to increase your returns on an exponential scale!"

"ROI" - Apparently this is all you need to prove to get a signature.

CATBEARD

I'm having a hard time staying focused this week (yay, post-vacay!). To spread the distraction, here is an adorable picture of my cat with our friend:

Persistance pays.

I had the lovely opportunity of spending this weekend with my father and childhood friend, Kristen.  I get to see these two simultaneously about once a year, and without fail the same conversation always comes up: 

"Emily seriously had a Phoebe run growing up. You should have seen how awkward she was!"

The Friends reference is pretty accurate. I was lanky and uncoordinated well into my twenties -- but I didn't let that stop me from running. Every day I would wake up hellbent on getting my miles in and my speed eventually increased and my runs got longer. 

With four decently-timed marathons under my belt, I must admit it's pretty cool to think how far I've come since my first shuffles around the block. 

My running "career" can also be applied to my actual career. Sure, plenty of people are naturally good at sales, but practice can definitely paid off. I'm at a point right now where I'm determined to stick with selling and hope to see major improvements as my skills mature.

Cheers to persistence, learning, and self-improvement!

Life's not a sprint -- it's a marathon.