#PromotingWellness -- A Series of Outcomes: Steve Lopez

"Come hear from a journalist who has presented lived experiences and stories of homelessness from LA's Skid Row through his book The Soloist and the LA Times article series From Skid Row."

This is what was printed on the agenda for the Keynote Speech.

I've been looking at my notes from the conference.  All 15 pages of them.  I was flabbergasted to find that I only had 3/4's of a page of notes on Steve Lopez's talk.

I'm flabbergasted because I was heavily impressed with Mr. Lopez's sharing.  I expected to have pages and pages of notes on what he said.

If you're involved with music you know the feeling of "being in the groove".  Others will speak of "being in the flow".  Athletes "get their game on".  In yoga, t'ai chi chu'an, chi kung and meditation there are phrases people use for the experiential sense they come across.

Your sense of passion is kindled.  You "feel" the "entirety".

It's that sense of magick.

That's what happened for me listening to Steve Lopez.

Marketers try to create this sensation in people, because it's what makes people "buy-in".

To understand what was so impressive about Steve Lopez's dialogue you needed to be present for the nonverbal communication.  It's not what you say, it's how you say it, so to speak. Only about 7% of our communication is words, the other 93 to 94% is nonverbal.  Mr. Lopez is brilliantly coherent in both his verbal and nonverbal communication.

When the verbal and nonverbal communication are saying the same thing and you feel they are genuine -- you are in the presence of power.  Those are opportune moments to safely learn and transform/accept yourself.

Such was the gift of Mr. Lopez's sharing.

Everyone got something different from what Mr. Lopez said.  This is what his sharing enabled me to find language to express (these tell more about me than they do about Mr. Lopez -- one of the gifts of a talented presenter is to let you find out what's important to you, by sharing what's important to them):

Keep your eyes and ears open.

How do you root for someone?

Are you a safe human connection?

Are you a friend or are you just trying to fix someone?

Assess the situation. 

You need patience.

If you keep at it you can make a difference.

We wring our hands -- as if we're surprised that something happened.

Are you taking someone back to a place where it's difficult for them to be?

It's always an adventure.

You spin the wheel of life -- who knows what you're going to get?

Does someone inspire you?

I found myself wishing Mr. Steve Lopez was my friend.  I found myself inspired.

Mr. Lopez's keynote speech let me recognize what I want to be as a friend.

Conversely, it let me be aware that I have the right to establish what friendship from others is for me.  A life-altering concept because the adults in my childhood life pounded into me the belief I had no right to expectations and needs -- I was there to take care of them.

This may not have been the exact thing Mr. Lopez wanted a person to take away from his keynote.

But, who knows what you're going to get?

If you have the opportunity to see/hear Steve Lopez speak ... take it in a heartbeat.

Here's how to follow Mr. Lopez on Twitter:
LATstevelopez

Here's how to read some of Mr. Lopez's journalistic articles:
Steve Lopez

And here is his Facebook page you can "Like"
Steve Lopez Facebook

What would happen if you rooted for someone?