Rob Bell at Wanderlust Hollywood 11/19/2016
What were the odds that I would just happen to be in the Los Angeles area for the final stop of Rob Bell’s “How To Be Here Experience” in West Hollywood? What a fabulous stroke of luck!
I was in the front row for this talk. Rob is an amazing speaker and I wanted the up-close-and-personal experience.
Rob said that he decided on this in-the-round configuration because he wanted it to feel like a big living room. I wasn’t more than three feet away from him for seven hours. But how do I describe this riveting one-man show?
He didn’t use any notes and I didn’t take any. I wanted to soak in the experience. I just let the information wash over me. A week later, I feel ready to write about it.
Below is one of the cryptic slides that were the only visual anchors for the day.
Rob validated many of the concepts I have been thinking about in this part of the talk. He spoke about how you need to start to say no to more opportunities and events in order to have time to devote to the things that have meaning for you.
I loved the term “inevitable narrowing” that will happen in your life as you get more focused on what is important to you. Negative and draining people will fall away. Projects that feel like a time suck will not be continued.
Choosing will become more and more important. You can’t do everything. And why would you want to?
You find focus and joy as you create the things you were meant to create.
Some people talk about the things they are going to do some day, and some people do the things they were meant to do.
Sometimes those things are successful, and sometimes they fail. That’s not the important part. What’s important is that you created something.
We tend to learn much more from our failures than our successes. And, they make much better stories at the dinner table.
Here is Rob’s wrap-up of the tour with some of the great stories he told. It’s magic. And a balm for your spirit. I may listen to it once a week.
If you don’t know Rob Bell, you might want to check him out here, and his podcast The RobCast is one of my favorites.
“The inevitable narrowing” – I like that, Catherine! Yes, getting more focused is important. (And if those negative, draining people fall away, so much the better.)
CatherineJohns So true, Catherine. One of the benefits of middle age as well: You just don’t have time for that. It’s like trying to battle with internet trolls. There are SO MANY better things you could do with your time and energy.