The most important conference of the year – and things that are even more important…

KMWorld (Knowledge Management World) and ESDDC (Enterprise Search and Discovery) are two conferences co-hosted the same week, same location in Washington DC every year. Without any doubt, this is the most important professional event of every year: all the thought leaders are there, and it is always a great opportunity to see fellow colleagues, partners, clients, have outstanding and deep discussions, make new connections…

This year is not an exception… KMWorld and ESDDC are this week, and I am honored again to have two half-day workshops and a session on the schedule…

Except that first time after so many years, I cannot be there…

Why? – you might ask…

A sick child…

Long story short, my youngest son has pneumonia, and has been sick for almost two weeks by now… He seemed to feel better a few days before my planned departure, and I thought I would be good to go… but then he felt much worse again…

Yes, we had been there many times earlier… I was traveling several times while one of my children was sick back home… and while it is possible to have a “village” who helps while I’m abroad, I have to admit motherguilt is a real thing! And a very painful one!…

A sick me…

And then I also got sick…

But a headcold and coughing could not stop me… it should not… at least, in the past… but now I am super cautious about others’ health as well, especially since the pandemic… I might be able to do the workshops and my session with some Ibuprofen and/or Coldrex, but do I really want to mingle with hundreds of people while not feeling well? – I don’t think so!..

A broken toe…

And if this combination would not be enough, I also have a broken toe…

But again, Ibuprofen works, at least I thought so… I thought I can do the conference, walking and standing all day long… but honestly, being able to rest on the coach in our home, I am glad now that I don’t have to…

More than enough!

Long story short, this combination together made me to decide staying home. Especially when my son started to feel worse again. And especially when I started to feel worse as well…

Feeling guilty?

Making the decision to stay home was not easy at all…

But then I have to accept that, sometimes, life throws things on us. And if we don’t notice or recognize or respect them, we get even more and more from the Universe… until we learn the lesson finally.

Slow down… Health first… words and expressions that I have been using a lot – for others.

But now it’s me who needs to slow down…

It’s me who needs to learn this lesson…

Because there are things that are even more important than the most important conference of the year…

And honestly… After cancelling my DC trip, I have a week with an (almost) empty calendar now…

But my days are full of important activities…

I have to take care of what’s the most important now…

And no, I’m not feeling guilty this time at all!

Originally posted on agnesmolnar.com