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Each year, Muse Conference brings together an amazing array of visionaries, artists, global thought leaders, and every-day activists. This year was no different. In the morning we heard from an 11 year old journalist in Palestine, and we closed the afternoon with a 96 year old activist who is still going strong. Each year, I am in awe of all the ways our presenters are creating positive change in their lives, in their communities and in our the world. Some are front-line activists, others are artists, teachers, athletes, student leaders. Each year, I leave Muse Conference feeling more hopeful about the future, more committed to this work, and more grateful to be surrounded by so many who inspire me. Here is a brief recap of some of the inspiration shared by our Muse Conference 2018 presenters:

We muse be grateful for our ancestors.
Then find our passions, find our peeps, use our voice.
As long as we are breathing, we belong anywhere we damn well please.
We have to remember that we do have a voice, we just need to speak louder.
And show up.
And stick our big ass into places where people say we don’t belong.
As our teens reminded us, it’s their lives on the line.
Can we let the message of an 11 year old Palestinian activist fill our heart?
Women have voices that need to be heard.
Here I am a fiery girl, an honest and kind girl, underestimated, overjudged, my own hero at the end of the movie.
Many of us were awkward teens with awkward dreams.
Your voice doesn’t speak in proverbs on the first try.
Just meet, eat, and activate.
It ain’t nothing but a step for a stepper; you gotta keep on stepping.
Ask yourself this: where does your greatest joy intersect with the world’s greatest need…go there.
And be the light of kindness in the shitty, dark internet; indeed in the shitty, dark world.
We need human connection.
I wish when you were lonely, I could show you the astonishing light of your being.
We need to be loving to do this work.
This is a movement of mass healing.
We must keep a repository of joy because
Sometimes this work is overwhelming,
but we learn more when we make mistakes.
In the end as Betty says, “I think the secret is to live in the now…at 96 years old, I am continually living in a state of surprise.”