I hope this finds you basking in the same kind of glorious sunshine we are enjoying here in the south of England. I am just back from a few days at the Hay Festival (of books), and How The Light Gets In, a festival of ideas and philosophy, both held in the sweet Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye.
My mind was left buzzing so much from the events that I have hardly slept since I got back. Today I’m going to share a few pictures and thoughts from Hay, and next week I’ll share some insight into the fascinating ideas festival.
The Hay Festival is one of the most famous literary festivals in the UK. It pulls in big name authors and crowds of 1000+ people to hear them talk, but it also has smaller intimate events where you can ask your favourite authors anything you like. I went to a wide range of events, from a Q&A with Sarah Bakewell, author of ‘At The Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails‘, to a session with Anthony Lester QC, author of ‘Five ideas to fight for: How our freedom is under threat and why it matters’ and the barrister at the heart of the thirty year campaign that resulted in the Human Rights Act.
As you can see there is a bit of a theme going on here… no surprise that I was interested in talks on the theme of freedom with my own book deadline just around the corner, and freedom on my mind…
All the talks were interesting but the one which really blew me away was Ruby Wax on mindfulness. She was hilarious, powerful, knowledgeable, down-to-earth and very real. If I can ever hold a room the way she did, I’ll be proud! I’m looking forward to reading her book, ‘Frazzled‘.
The main thing I learnt was that it takes all sorts to be an author. The most important thing is to write a really good book, but after that it helps if you can talk about it in a compelling way, with a touch of humour and a bucketload of humanity.
Depending on your view of books, spending several days at a literary festival may seem like a luxury or a trial, but to me it was a fantastic opportunity to think deeply about certain ideas, to interact with authors and have a lot of fun people watching! It was refreshment for the brain.
This week I challenge you to take yourself to some kind of event which takes you out of your comfort zone and pushes you to think differently about something you are interested in.
Have a good one!
Beth
PS: We have another ‘Mastermind Week’ coming up next week in ‘Reach. Teach. Profit. The E-Course Creation Masterclass’ so if you want the opportunity to pick my brain about anything e-course related, make sure you are signed up to class by Monday June 13! You can register here.
