Inspire and Motivate

Wow, I can say this week has truly been about inspiration, leadership and motivation.  I think someone is trying to tell me sometihng.  Something?  Not sure what that something is...yet.

Ok, wrap up my week for you and its only Wednesday.  You heard me talk about Escalate Live 2010 right?  I'm not kidding, it was amazing and so inspiring.  It was a must for every photograher and inspiring ones.  The messasge was "be for one another."  Dane Sanders http://danesanders.com/  is an amazing speaker as is Becker http://www/thebecker.com , Jasmine Star http://www.jasminestarblog.com/, Jeremy Cowart http://www.jeremycowart.com/ and Jessica Claire http://www.jessicaclaire.net/ .  I learned a little about Photoshop CS5 with Julianne Kost, all though working on a presentation and trying to pay attention to geek speak isn't exactly easy.  Jerry Ghionis http://www.jerryghionisphotography.com/  is my newest hero and I have a serious crush on his sexy Austrailian accent.  David Jay http://davidjay.com/  , who I did not know about before was just awesome.  I love his peace and love vibe.  Each speaker gave a little piece of themselves and each had a message whether it was to slow down, be more positive, be more passionate, be yourself or be there for each other it was a=Ahmazing.  I truly hope I can attend Escalate Live 2011 in person next year. I am in no way close to their league and that's ok, I just want to be better than I am now.



Today I had to honor of attending Leadership Rockwall's graduation luncheon that was held at the gorgeous Hilton Bella Harbor.  The keynote speaker was Emmy award winning CBS news coorespondent Don Teague.  Don has covered stories as varied as the war in Iraq, hurricane Katrina, and the seizure of children from a polygamist ranch in Texas. Don didn't talk about those stories though, well he did talk about the war in Iraq but a different story than you'd expect.

Don was there when we deliverd "Shock and Awe."  He told a story of a girl he met there who was raised to hate the U.S. since birth.  After Sadam was brought out of hiding, everything fell.  The economy fell and let her family with no money.  A well educated Iraqi makes $5 a month.  The girl he met named Rafraf lived in a house with I think he said 14 people and together they survived on $65 a month.  She learned English as a child and because of this she was able to work for CBS as a translator.  Translators make $1000 a month so her family agreed even though they were Shiites.  After Rafraf noticed the Americans were helping her, she started to become conflicted on what to believe.  They learned that the insurgents had a death warrant for Rafraf because she was a translator, or in their eyes a traitor.  Don told about the bomb going off 100 feet from him and how they narrowly escaped death.  I was hanging on his every word I swear.  He painted a picture so vivid I felt like I was watching a movie.  He felt he was put there for a reason and whether it be the hand of God or luck, he knew he could not just forget about Rafraf and go home.  He made a call to his wife and together, they agreed they had to help her.  Seven months, a kidnapping, multiple more near deaths, Raf Raf was brought to the US on a scholarship and lived with Don and his family.  She became a Christian and now attends Southern Florida University working on her Masters.  Rafraf was taught to hate America but now embraces it.

Don told his story on every airplane ride and each time he was told you should write a book, so he did.  I highly recommend you buy it and read the entire story.  I have heard there is a movie in the works as well.
http://www.don-teague.com/index.html Don is an amazing person and God is working through him.

Now if that is not inspiring, I don't know what is. I'm only excited to see what the rest of the week holds.

~Suzie