“There are no guarantees in the arena. We will
struggle. We will even fail. There will be darkness.
But if we are clear about the values that guide
us in our efforts to show up and be seen, we will
always be able to find the light. We will know
what it means to live brave.”
— Best-selling Author and 2016 ISPA Conference & Expo
Keynote Speaker Brené Brown
Brown for years—since her highly viewed TedX Talk on vulnerability
took the Twitterverse by storm. I wanted to experience her presence
firsthand and see what the buzz was all about, so I recently enrolled in
her Living Brave semester, COURAGEworks, which has fueled my excitement
for her opening keynote presentation at this year’s ISPA Conference & Expo.
Brené describes COURAGEworks as exercises that will encourage vulnerability, becoming braver, more daring, and courageous. I love the way Brené
explains the experience, “imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in
this together.”
I knew after the first few exercises that I was hooked. To kick off our class, Brené shared an
excerpt from a 1910 Teddy Roosevelt speech which I had never heard before but helped set the
stage for what it means to live brave and dare greatly:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man
stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs
to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and
blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because
there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do
the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself
in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
We are truly blessed. When I think of all the brave leaders we have in the spa community
who are living bravely and daring greatly every day, it reminds me and the ISPA staff how
honored we are to be in their company.
How are you living bravely every day and when was the last time you failed while daring
greatly?
—LYNNE McNEES, ISPA PRESIDENT
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March/April 2016
STYLING & PHOTO BY ECHOSTARMAKER.COM
I
f you are like me, you have been hearing a lot about author Brené