happy little fish in an increasingly large pond

What are my odds of getting to TEDWomen 2016?  Who knows.  It's not as simple as saying, "I scrounged up $2,500 for the cost of attending," or somehow getting together funding for air fare, lodgings & meals.

Everyone has to fill out an application.

And the people at TED are looking for leaders.  People who will bring as much value to TED as TED does to them.  

So, I don't know if I'll actually make it to TEDWomen this October, although it's certain that if my application is accepted, I'll find a way.

Before beginning the application process, which I will fill out tomorrow, they suggest clearing the computer of all other open windows & apps.  So it will be just me & the TEDWomen application.  Fill out the application & if it is accepted, they bill your credit card within two days for the $2,495 fee for the Oct 26-28 gathering.   Gulp.

While there's no knowing if I'll get a green light or "Sorry, try again in '17," there is one thing I absolutely positively know for sure, right now.  Just filling out the application, just imagining in my heart, down to the very marrow of my bones & sinews of my being, BEING there - just doing that will have changed my life.  

Before TEDWomen, I only dreamed about going to a TED talk.  Since finding out about October's confab, I've been to one.  And I'm going to another next Thursday.  

Okay, so they're not the hot ticket TED events, but after what I experienced last night at TEDx Solebury School, the excitement of "ideas worth spreading" isn't confined to Vancouver or San Francisco or Long Beach.  The buzz doesn't have to cost $17,000 (the only way to buy yourself into the Big Kahuna is by coughing up a donor contribution, and there's a limit to THOSE pricy passes) or $6,000 or a comparatively bargain basement $2,495.  We felt it last night & it was free.  

What will be priceless is filling out the application, imagining all the others doing the same, holding the same hopes of getting a YES.  If I was the accomplished Gay Hanna, the awesome Marie Genne, or epic Wendy Miller, would be a lock.  I am a revolutionary, an instigator, a guerilla fighter in the fight against our nation's wretched attitudes toward aging.  They are leaders, recognized internationally, lauded for their aging creatively accomplishments.

Marie Genne rocks!

TED seeks applicants who can be of value to the organization.  In that, I have full confidence, in spite of my small fishy status.  Have come to value my off-beat breadth & depth of experience, my weird & wonderful mix of energies!  In a sea of brilliant specialists, my multipotential self links the intently focused to the bigger, broader picture.  

In just THINKING about TEDWomen over the past few days, my world has broadened & deepened in ways I never could have imagined.  

Will I or won't I?  All I know for sure is that the impact of just imagining it to BE has been a complete win.  Haven't a clue what anyone looking at my application might think, but for right now it is such joy to fully embrace that I am a very happy fish swimming around in an increasingly large pond.  Just keep swimming!  Just keep swimming!