#jubileeconference15

Hours before my midterm and here I am again, and I'm going to tell you why. This past Saturday, on August 15th, 2015, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Jubilee Project Conference, and I am beyond grateful and incredibly inspired.

They had speakers from the founder of Jubilee Project, Jason Y. Lee, to NBA pro basketball player, Jeremy Lin, Wong Fu Productions, comedian Jenny Yang, blogger / beauty guru, Jen Chae, pastor, Dave Gibbons, and so many more incredible speakers. If there was ever a time in my life where I felt star struck, this would probably be it.

I was so in awe of these people. The main thing which brought us all together was the fact that we all are interested in taking the road less traveled. This theme focused on how sometimes our paths in life are not as clear, especially when we want to work in the creative field. For mostly everyone, the future was very uncertain, however our passion and the thing that fueled our very souls was something we can't avoid. As Robert Frost once said, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." These people had the courage to pursue the path less traveled, and they were all gathered at one conference to encourage us who are currently at forks in the road trying to figure out where to go in life.

The purpose of the conference is to encourage each other to take chances and risks, realize that there are other people who have also taken the path less traveled by and through hard work have come out the other end fulfilled and in joy, and to come together as a community of individuals who will start a movement of change in the world. I've learned through this conference the value of the relationships we form with people, and how God, our family, our loved ones, and friends play a vital role in our lives and are so important. These people are what make life worth living, and no amount of money or items can replace these connections. These connections add meaning to our lives and help us raise each other to the places where we never even dreamed of. It is in fostering, building, and strengthening these bonds where we find our true success. Through this, we can follow our passions, reach our dreams, overcome our fears, have adventures, create everlasting memories, and live life.

Life is a challenge, and what makes it hard is our own personal fears. One thing that stuck out to me was the story Jason Y. Lee said about this large elephant who was tied and held to the ground by a tiny stick and small rope. The 500+ pound elephant could have easily broken free and escaped, so why didn't it? Turns out, the elephant was tied to that same stick when it was merely a child. Being smaller and a kid, the baby elephant tried for days to escape, fighting and pulling. However, with every attempt the elephant got bruised from the rope, leaving scars and incredible pain. Eventually, the baby elephant gave up. Years later, the elephant grew up and it still remembers the pain and hurt from that rope, and despite it's large size and capabilities, it's past fear and pain has made it paralyzed. Similarly, we all have a story and pain from our past. Our pain is what stops us from trying to escape the ropes which tie us down. However, our pain can also be our source of power. It is through our pain in which we can fuel ourselves to find our greater purpose in life and to make a difference in our society. Pain is not weakness, and acknoweldging it is the first step towards healing. Together as a community, with our family, loved ones, and friends, we can come together and help each other through our past and struggles to emerge from the ashes like a phoenix, and soar to new heights.

We were told that this conference may have given us clarity, however we were also told that we might leave with more questions. There's always more questions to be asked, and if there's one more thing I've learned from this amazing conference is that the answers to these questions can become more clear if we stay strong with our faith, keep working hard, never give up, and surround ourselves with the loving support of our family/friends/loved ones and with positive people who inspire us along the way.

I'm so grateful to have attended this conference. I was able to hear from great speakers and meet some pretty awesome people! I've got a lot of soul searching to do about my own life purpose and dreams regarding art and blogging (which is honestly my dream).