by Emily Murray, DTM District Director
My work desk is filled with Halloween decorations. I have skeletons, bats, coffins, black cats, zombies and more. I love Halloween! Last year in September, we hired a lovely man named Mike who really enjoyed all my decorations for the season. Halloween came and went. In early November he mentioned how excited he was to see how I decorated my cubicle for Christmas since I went all out for Halloween. He had a moment of confusion when I told him it was already decorated for ALL the holidays; Halloween is my year-round decoration!
After considering that for a while, Mike returned and said, “I haven’t known you very long, but honestly it makes sense that you would have Halloween decorations all year round. You are just so authentically YOU and not worried to just be you.”
I did find a little black Christmas tree to add to the desk collection for Mike too – it is also now permanent!
If you ever have the chance to visit my house, you’ll see I’m not fully decorated for Halloween year-round, but my skeleton collection IS in the garden year-round and there are definitely things going on inside all the time. I do have other seasonal & holiday decorations that go up when appropriate though; it’s not ONLY Halloween, just MOSTLY Halloween.
My point here is this: Don’t be afraid to be you! Everyone is quirky, and that’s exciting. That’s what makes you YOU and not me. Own it. Celebrate it. Share it. Your quirks and passions are your Sunshine. Don’t dim your sunshine just because it’s different, or weird, or unexpected, or quirky. Be you. Be Brilliant. Shine. Share your Sunshine!
If you need help with that, no problem. That’s what all your fellow Toastmasters, including myself, are here for! If you don’t need help, also awesome, let’s see what you got!
Speaking of what you’ve got … D25 what have you got right now?
-
- Golden Triangle just celebrated their FORTIETH anniversary! That’s an impressive feat!
- Our ADs and DDs came together for an absolute blast at the second DEC training on October 14 They are rip-roaring and ready to serve you with enthusiasm and knowledge.
- Our VPPR Facebook and VPE Facebook groups are thriving, and our D25 Bulletin Board on Facebook is busier than I’ve ever seen it!
- There are constant opportunities offered for those seeking to do the Nemileta Networking or 5×5 Evaluation personal incentives on the D25 Facebook Bulletin Board. It’s a font of useful information for what’s going on in the district, often with things offered in other districts you may find interesting, or help you grow as well. Make sure you’ve joined it. Another font of fantastic information is our internationally recognized website https://www.d25toastmasters.org! You can check the calendar for upcoming events, and there is a wealth of up-to-date resources and material available for you anytime. I recommend visiting often to see what’s going on or coming up. It’s also where you can get your tickets to events like the Summit!
- On October 20th we are offering a special Halloween-themed mock contest and training. Come learn how to pull a contest together, see how they go, or get in a practice round before contest season starts! Training from 7-8pm, contest from 8-9pm. No registration required. The Zoom link is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84570492977 and also listed on the D25 calendar.
- The Summit Raffle baskets are top notch this year. One is worth over $850 alone! You don’t have to be present to win (though I hope you would want to be so you can get the full benefit of the Summit!). These are put together by each of our division teams, as well as the trio, and we love getting creative with these for you.
- Summit is coming on November 11. It’s one of my absolute favorite events of the year as every single person, from Keynotes speakers, to Education Session Presenters, to DTM to registration to raffle organizer is a D25 member! Every. Single. One. It’s such a special event, and to know that each person started as just a regular, nervous member in a club somewhere…and to see what they’ve grown into and how they can share and inspire and help others Ignite their Shine…it’s a PERFECT example of Sharing Your Sunshine.
- There is also an Area Council the morning of the Summit; separate event but same location and date. If you are a club officer or interested member, feel free to join us for that. It’s free and there is food, but you must register! Find out more details and register here.
Y’all continue to amaze me, please keep doing ah-maze-ing things!
