Who is Megan Elizabeth Morris

This application process has been constructed to be 1001% Megan Safe. This means that Megan M. has devised a wily plan that will allow her to come to New York without any negative effects on her life, relationships, finances, or existing works in progress. She worked hard to come up with this plan, and it's a great one. It has been certified Super Duper Bonafide Megan M. Approved to create ultra-positive lasting change in the lives of Megan and those around her. She has also determined that it absolutely must - MUST! - be of use to someone other than herself, and has taken steps to make it so. She is quite proud of herself.

Change of tense: If you want more information, my reasoning is here, my final decision is here, and my grand plan is here.

Required bits and pieces: My English is excellent. Smoke is gross. Don't even get me started on bacon.

I Poke People.

I jolt them out of their stupor. I want them (and me) to change and grow. Growth is my overarching theme: real personal growth and growth as communities, growth as a species. Learning from ourselves and others, helping where we can, changing into something better, more intelligent, compassionate, flexible, understanding, wise. Every one of us is responsible for pushing to meet (or exceed) our potential, because that's how the world gets to grow.

I experiment on myself, am generous with my results. Some people get really uncomfortable, which challenges me to deal with discomfort. Some people get inspired! (That's a lot of fun.)

I Write to Change People.

I write to help people gain clarity and perspective about their own lives by reading about mine. I encourage them to step out of their shells and try something new. Sometimes I beg them to do something different, something worthy of their potential. (I video blog and use various other media as the urge arises.)

I Design Things and Ideas.

I started out as a web and print designer. In the last six months I stopped taking on projects just for the money. (SCARY!) Now I only take on projects I believe in, like Martin Whitmore and Pace and Kyeli Smith. For these folks (and more) I do whatever I can to ensure their success (and thereby assist mine). Best guess list: Web design, print design for small and large-scale materials, hosting & domain management, project management, ecommerce, friendly sales copy, social media, marketing brainstorms, idea generation, optimism, encouragement, determination, success persuasion (you CAN do this!), I'm probably leaving out something fantastic. ;}

I don't do all of these things officially, and don't sell the services I don't excel at. But when I really want to see something succeed, especially if there's no budget for contractors, I do whatever it takes.

One of the ideas that I came up with, developed and pushed through was Marty's Community Commission project. We sold shares ($10-$50) and the top donors put two or three words in the pot. Marty had to create artwork using the contributed words, and everyone got prints of the final product. The first time (slight nudity) we raised $350 in less than a month. The second time (using a slightly different setup) we raised over $800 in the same time period. Money from thin air, anyone?

I believe in these folks as people and as catalysts, and that's why I work so hard on their behalf. This work holds meaning for me, and that's the kind of work that matters most.

I Sing Classically.

I learned early on that by singing I can make people feel good, inspire them, and change them. I have had direct, personal experience with using music to connect people to themselves and to others. I can tell stories that mean something (even when it's not about the words). Music can jolt a listener out of her fugue state. (Fugue state! I'm funny.)

It's also something I've worked hard at over many years, and really enjoy.

(Opens player in new page: Spring Benefit Concert in Niles Ohio, 2003)


I Learn and Grow!

This is my favorite! Can't help others if I don't help myself. I read tons of books and large portions of internet - whatever is relevant and supports me in my quest. I love to THINK! and CHALLENGE! (myself and others). I develop new skills and projects and ideas constantly, identify the ones that can have positive impact and push them. I love to teach the things I learn to others. It is such a thrill to see an effect, to give information that makes lives better, inspires them to push! I love to interact (especially on the web, where people options are vast), meet people, connect, learn about one another, understand each other, grow together! Together, we are unstoppable!

I do all these things as often as possible, and try to use each one to assist and augment the efforts of another. In fact, I do a lot more -- but these are the really important bits!

If you want yet more information about exactly what I do, you can find it here.

Megan Buzzwords: Growth. Change. Diversity. Potential. Happiness. Courage. Determination.

My policy: If I think something needs to be done, if I feel powerfully about it, I have a responsibility to step up and do it. So I do.

This is what drives me. I choose projects that show everyone who sees them for what they are that none of us has to be trapped in a job we hate, or follow rules that don't make sense. We can do what we love. Anyone can. Sometimes it takes more, every situation is different - but it's always possible. More people need to know that. I need more people to know that.

Pushing people to find their potential feels good, and makes others feel good (sometimes not right away, but eventually). It's the right kind of feeling good. It helps them find the thing that really means something to them, and it helps them do it!

People must see that they can become amazing, that they can change the world, that they're not stuck with what they have now, they can be GREAT!

So I write about myself and I push myself as far as I can. People see it and they get inspired. (Some of them get annoyed, or really uncomfortable, or really confused.) Some of them light up. When people need help, I try to help them. If I help one more person, think how that person might help someone else! I help them get where they're going, especially if their values are aligned with mine (that's where I really do amazing things). I often have to pick my helping scenarios carefully, so that I'm as effective as possible for the time I spend.

Singing is a little different. My writing or helping says or shows exactly what I want people to know. Singing in the past has been more indirect -- the music connects them, and they open up. Open people are easier to teach, and that's something I want to use. People need connection.

These things are the best most helpful authentic gleeful ways I can think of to pass the time (and maybe make a living if I'm lucky). This mindset sustains me emotionally, meaningfully, and it's important. It feels right that I'm doing it. (And it feels wrong when I'm not.)

I do believe that some projects are worth abandoning, but that's different from the thing that drives me and the reason I work so hard: Once you start following that gut urge to create and help, it's impossible to go back. Nothing is ever the same again.

Also, having a platform allows me to publicly evangelize raw produce. I love raw produce. (Zucchini for everybody!)

PS. I guess that sounds like I'm kidding, but I'm not. I want people to take responsibility for themselves and for the world. Taking responsibility means taking care of yourself, means making food and health choices that are scary, means sounding like a nut while you talk about raw vegetables for twenty minutes, means standing up for yourself and doing what you think is right. Zucchini counts.

I am very good at the people part of business, but I have a lot of trouble getting through the business part of business. I want to learn it from someone whose values are aligned with mine, from someone who understands business and believes strongly in people... I can reach out even further. Right now I find myself unable to venture effectively into those quarters. I pretended for a long time. I'm done pretending. Now I'm going to do it for real, or not at all.

These are my weak points:

Clarity. I work from my gut, and often have a hard time actually explaining why something is right, or what I need, or where we should head from here. I'm much better at jumping in and doing the thing, but the need for real clarity has been a recurring theme in my quest for awesomeness and I want to learn whatever I can as quickly as possible.

Leadership. I want to learn more about leadership and community development, and how they come together. I've had a taste of it and I desperately want to know more about how I can use it to further my goals.

Business strategy. I don't understand business strategy and never really have. I haven't met a "traditional" business book I really vibed with, but I believe I have a high probability of grokking business strategy from a Seth Godin point of view - as Seth already seems aligned with many of the same values I hold.

Bizspeak. I have stopped connecting with traditional business entities because we don't seem to speak the same language, and I want to work where I have the most clout - with people who behave like people. I'm planning a big push for in-person networking where I come up with ways to surprise networkers out of their customary canned conversation, and connect with them as real people instead of salespeople or people wanting something from someone else. Understanding more about traditional business (what I can use, what I can toss, and where our concerns overlap) would help me reach a whole new audience - my way.

The gap. I believe there's a big gap in my understanding of how business works that's holding me back from finishing a lot of the projects I've begun (and many I have yet to begin). The following pieces are part of that gap:

- Connecting "people" marketing with "business" marketing.
- Sales (not counting my enthusiasm, which is a strong point)
- Ability to present effectively to traditional business entities
- Idea spreading (many great subjective ideas, often stuck!)
- How to move something forward (if it's meant to be moved)
- Statistical web tech (like Analytics - only light usage right now)
- Ins & outs of business regarding physical products (! big one)

Times like these, I always wished I'd gone to school for this... ;}

More know-how, understanding, hands-on experience and guidance in these things would benefit me and my current+future projects hugely, and allow me to help more people much more quickly!

More Meaningful Projects!

I'm going to keep picking up ongoing projects that I really believe in. I can use this knowledge to benefit the projects I'm already working on, and find new projects that need my kind of help and can make a difference in the world! I love working on a results-oriented income basis, and I'd like to do a lot more of that.

I Want to Help Positive-Impact Business.

One of my grand, driving ideas is to specifically seek out positive-impact business and find a way to help them. I love helping one person at a time, but if I can also help a person or group who is also dedicated to helping people, I can make a much bigger difference! (This is one of the reasons I feel very strongly about contributing to Triiibal pursuits. I can make a bigger impact there.)

Connecting People Through Music.

Part One: Students of classical music (especially opera) think there's only one way to succeed, because that's what they've been told. This is not true. I want to show them that they will succeed better and faster on their own terms than anyone else's (and I plan for my example to be part of the lesson). I also want to show them that they have more than just the power to entertain -- they have the power to change people.

Part Two: I can connect people through music - I've seen it happen. There's important work to be done for the man with tears in his eyes who catches me after a concert, or the woman tapping her feet and grinning during the Rossini arias, or even the patron of the arts who is moved to hand me a check out of the blue. These people see something that changes them, and there is an opportunity there to connect and speak to people. Music can take people out of the fugue state and into a state of connection, meaning, caring. That must not be overlooked.

The Usual Error Project & the Connection Paradigm.

These aren't my brain children, but I want to see them succeed. They can change the way we communicate with other people by default, and too much hardship is caused by disconnection for me to be able to ignore that. Regardless of whether I get into the program, I'm going to do everything I can to build these up.

Marty's Inspiring Illustration Empire!

I'm also going to help Marty be successful so that he can do what he loves for a living, and serve to inspire others to do the same. (He's given me a huge amount of support over the years. He deserves at least this much.) He is also incredibly inspiring to other people, and that's not nothing.

Great Ideas--!

I want to give people brilliant ideas. Ideas aren't property. I want to teach people that ideas are for doing, and the value isn't so much in the idea but in the execution of the idea. The person who implements the idea best is the person deserving of that idea, and we should be able to bow out gracefully if that person doesn't happen to be us. Great ideas succeeding should be our priority -- not hiding it and making money off it before anyone else can.

Happy People!

I want to put joy back into people's lives. Growing up takes so much out of us. Most adults need to remember how to play - that work is for living your life, not killing yourself slowly.

Wishes...!

I think I'll also make my wish come true.

Despite talk of big projects, it's the little changes - added up - that matter. Little changes change people. Not so much a big company making grand proclamations, but one person doing something for one other person. One statement. One word of encouragement. One good deed. Our big changes can inspire these little changes - but the little changes are the important part. Added up, they make the world a different place.

So here's a story about the Tribes Q&A eBook that you may not already know.

When I found myself playing a pivotal role in this project, I noticed that the things I said seemed to have more power than before. People were treating me like The Person Who Knows What's Going On, and so I served that role for them (and made sure I knew what was going on!). But much bigger than that, for me, were the changes I could make with my words.

After a few email exchanges with hardworking volunteers I suddenly understood that I had the power to say little things that gave meaning and relevance to people who were searching for it. I hadn't gone looking for that power, but finding myself in that position was startling and astonishing.

All these wonderful people wanted to be part of something. They wanted to make something amazing happen, they wanted to play an important role in it, and they wanted to feel good about the effort they were putting in. They wanted permission to be a part of it, encouragement that they were doing the right thing (especially when so many of them put bits of their lives on hold to support the project), emotional support when the going was rough, validation when they felt insecure about their contribution or even their ability to contribute.

I've felt ALL those things. All I needed then was a little push. Sometimes I got it, sometimes I didn't. But I could give these people that push. I could give them that good feeling that helps the work be worth it before the light at the end is visible. I could help them enjoy the journey, I could make it brighter and more meaningful, no matter what the end was!

That realization rocked me.

And so I took up my magic wand and proceeded to spread that good feeling wherever I could.

Ding! Validation!
Ding! Relevance!
Ding! Encouragement and positive energy!
Ding! Ding! Best feeling EVER!

It was always important to me to let people know the positive feelings they gave me, or how much they had helped me, or brighten their day in some way. But I never realized that a leader had the ability to actually change the way a person feels about the work they're doing. It was just the most amazing realization, and it's affected all the work I've done since.

So yes, this was a big change in me. But it was change that I was able to make in dozens of individual people. I think that's huge. Imagine what that would be like on a larger scale, with more people understanding the effect they can have on another person's day. Imagine hundreds or thousands of people running their lives and their businesses that way.

My favorite Dip - the hardest one, and the one that no doubt revisits me from time to time - was in ceasing to make decisions based solely on fear.

For one reason or another, a lot of my day-to-day decisions used to be about fear. Food, health, appearance, attitudes, opinions, conversations, client responses - I was basing them not on a reasonable understanding of the situation and my actual preference, but on the fear that someone would think badly of me or that I was doing something "wrong".

When I learned to experiment to find the best solution for myself, I also learned that true best solutions are often the unpopular ones. Each of them was a complex journey for me in its own right. Some were easier than others; some happened privately but as I grew, I found that I was happiest sharing them openly and learning to manage the discomfort they caused (in others, in me). All of them have taught me incredible things about myself and others.

Some of My Experiments Over the Last Five Years:

* No more corn syrup. (Good riddance!)
* No more wheat. (Snowballing arthritis pain GONE.)
* No more refined sugar. (No more getting sick!)
* Joining Toastmasters. I think I can help more people if I can talk in front of them. (Great so far - very challenging!)
* I learned to "photoread". Not convinced at all that it's bunk. (Final determination in progress.)
* I experimented three times with polyphasic sleep, using varied methods. I concluded that I do not yet have the personal strength or internal resources to conquer it - yet. (We'll see!)
* No more big biz processed food. No more long shelf-life crap. No more badly-treated animals. No more industrial waste. No more plastic masquerading as food!
* No more meat. (Sluggishness / digestive grumpiness - gone.)
* No dairy or animal products. (No more sinus infections yet!)
* Raw produce only. (This was AMAZING. Everyone should try it.)

Personal experimentation for the sake of learning and understanding is very important to me. It shows me where my perceived limits are, and how far I might be able to push them.

In pushing myself over the last five years, I've learned that I don't have to do what everyone else thinks I have to do. I learned that people are stuck in their patterns, and they get scared if you do something that doesn't mesh with their worldview. That's okay. It's often scary, but I like making them think. I'm willing to stick it out so that somebody has something to really think about!

Decisions made out of fear don't serve me, even though they often seem like the easiest course of action. It was incredibly, incredibly hard to push through all the emotional detritus that came along with this realization, but it was worth it. I'm a better, much stronger person for having conquered it.

Other Dips Deserving of Mention:

The Tribes Q&A was one of the hardest, most amazing things I've ever done for myself, without even realizing I was doing anything for myself at all. I had to have a lot of faith that something I came to feel responsible for would not crash and harm my personal reputation with everyone involved, and that we'd pull through in the end. We did.

I have been in many situations where I had to push through formidable emotional turmoil to make change happen in myself, or get something important done. In most of the cases I can think of, I prevailed. Knowing that the only way out is through and pushing forward despite great fear has given me a lot of strength in overcoming many different obstacles in my life. It doesn't get easier, exactly, but knowing the terrain is very helpful. My rate of success is quite improving as I go. ;}

I have not come from a situation that encouraged seekers of positive success, but I have made myself the kind of person who perseveres and makes herself proud to have tried. I am getting closer and closer to the prize, and I enjoy each step more than the last. (Come to think of it - that is and will continue to be the prize.) Failure isn't for fearing, it's for learning from. Adjust and redirect. Hardship in the name of purposeful, meaningful results is starting to bring me actual, sometimes instantaneous motivation and excitement, and that is possibly the biggest change I've ever made. It's overwhelming just thinking about it. I don't know when I became this person, but I like her.

Everything I do, with the exception of music (which I've had to relearn), is self-taught. I had no training in traditional or web design when I started reading about it and doing it for a living. I worked from hunches and gut instinct; others liked what I did so I kept doing it. I taught myself to code, to write copy and fiction, to market, to communicate effectively, to manipulate social media, to get people's attention, to process information quickly, to change myself when change is necessary (in myriad different ways). If I couldn't do it and it needed to be done, I found a way to make it happen.

But the very first step I took - before I knew anything about anything - was this:

I unrepressed myself.

I was originally raised Catholic, and whatever the reasons, I grew up pretty negative about my body and about sexuality. I was intensely repressed, especially after many years hitched to a codependent high school boyfriend with a lot of emotional hang-ups. Once he was out of my life, I had to discover who I was; I didn't like what I found.

I started to read. I read every sex-positive / self-development book I could get my hands on. Piles of non-fiction in a room that had previously seen only science-fiction and fantasy novels. I started talking to people about the things I found, and my world-view (and my view of myself!) began a dramatic shift. I suddenly understood that I had power over my perceptions, I had a choice of who I wanted to be and how I wanted to feel. I became more than a little obsessed with my own brand of intense research and soaked up information like a Megan-shaped sponge. I became the resident sexpert in my small group of friends: Safe, smart, informed, and unswayed by the kinds of peer pressure that run rampant in college social circles. More than a few people came to me for sexual health advice, and though I didn't always have the answer, I always knew how to find it.

What I learned in all of this was that while reading doesn't replace experience, it can alter a person's make-up in many similar ways. Psycho-cybernetics style, reading = imagining and imagining makes change happen. I learned that I can add to and shape my perception of my experience by reading when I'm not willing to take action (usually in the case of unreasonable risk) and I grew as a person by leaps and bounds over the course of that learning. The more I read, the less I was floundered by lack of actual experience, and the more confident I was in acting on and sharing what I did know. This has transferred to all aspects of my life, and I exercise a great deal of personal power in the pursuit of the things I want.

This journey also taught me that people are valuable, and they must be made aware of it. If no one else will do it, I will.

It tears me up inside to think of all the people losing their jobs. I know some of them. Most of the ones I know are prepared to take care of themselves, but there are a lot of people out there who won't know what to do next. Someone needs to help them. I'm not talking about handing out money (although that could theoretically be part of the solution). I don't understand the economy or government well enough to know what should be done next, but I know a lot of things that could be done next. And one of them is to show these people that they're not alone, and they have way more options than they think.

The only solution I know how to apply is to get to people before they lose their jobs, before things are really bad -- and show them how easy it is to learn a few new things and create new options for themselves before anything falls apart on them. I hate that so many people depend on big companies for their livelihoods, and have no plan B for what happens if those big companies fail them -- they depend on their jobs, they depend on the government, they depend on the system. But all they need to do is stand up and make a situation where they can depend on themselves instead, and they won't be victims anymore.

None of us needs to wait and dread being laid off. Every one of us has a way to make actual security for ourselves (not the kind of security you get from just getting a job that's supposed to take care of that for you). A little dose of personal responsibility and a big dose of information and courage would go a long way here!

I WISH to think of a way for them to see the opportunity and grab it while they still have stability in their lives - so that if that stability falls away, they're left hanging on to something they have power over: Their own ingenuity.

It unnerved me when I realized that although we're scrambling to get our bills paid a lot of the time, Marty and I have a three-month head start on the folks who just lost their jobs. We didn't do it because we saw it all coming, but that doesn't change the fact that it's here.

I want more people to have that head start! I can't go back in time, but that's not the only possible solution. The way to help the folks who've lost their jobs already is eluding me. But wishing for it is one way to get my unconscious working on it. So that's my wish.

Geez, I have a lot of wishes. I guess that's why I work so hard at fulfilling them. ^_^

My dad, startled at my verbosity, often said: "Who taught you to talk!?" Whoever it was seems to have taught me to write, too. ;}

Leaps Obstacles in a Single Bound

I started my own business out of high school, and maintained it through three years of college. I ran out of money to finish my vocal performance degree, but I became a prolific stage and concert performer (often paid) in Ohio and elsewhere anyway. From high school graduation in 1999 until I moved to Austin in 2006, I worked my ass off to help my family stay afloat. Most of that seven years I was running my own scrambly little design firm, and have very little, brief experience working in a usual run-of-the-mill office environment. (I like it that way.) My family life was full of financial scarcity and health problems and fear-based thinking, but I pushed through and I made amazing things happen anyway.

I was not an organized kid. In high school I wrote stories and drew comic books. I was the "What? We have homework?" kid who happened to also be in all the accelerated programs. College was better, because I got to choose my path -- but they were still trying to force me into a mold. When I started helping my parents, I found out that I had to become organized. The consequence of not doing so was a lot worse than not having my homework done (scary things like the electric going off or getting evicted), so now after all these years I have the excellent last-minute organization skills of someone who learned them under desperate circumstances over many years. (If the Q&A is any indication, they're still doin' what they're supposed to!)

Even before I hit my stride, I was constantly re-imagining my effect on others through business. I feel like the last 9 years have been an ongoing brainstorm of what I can do differently, even before I learned that matching the mainstream was a bum deal. And even while cowed by conformity, I was dissatisfied with following the rules just for the sake of rule-following. My greatest thrill for the last five years has been making my own rules, engaging in the craziest ideas I could think of, pushing through the hard parts, and finding out what I'm made of. When you're willing to consider the craziest path, the one that people will laugh at you for, the one that "doesn't make sense"... you find better answers.

And when I need something important done, I learn to do it right away -- without funds to hire someone else, it's the best way to get it done fast and give my brain more wrinkles. (I love getting more brain wrinkles.)

Megan's Sneaky Plan No. 398,204,160

In order to take advantage of this opportunity in a way that would not sabotage my relationships or the things I've been working for, I hatched a mad plan to raise money to participate based on booking pre-paid hours of work for my return to Austin in July. I restricted those hours to part-time, so that my cashflow and stability will be safe when I return, no matter what. (I spend quite a bit of time working on unpaid projects that mean something to me, so it's quite reasonable.) If you're interested in the offer I posted, all the details are here. I am extremely proud that I could think of a way to positively benefit not only my situation, but the situations of those willing to support me.

Eight hours after I posted, I had raised over $4000 in paid work, pledges and donations towards the trip to New York. Rather an amazing lot of it is from people I haven't known for more than a handful of months. As of Friday December 12, 2008 9:01 AM CST, I've raised $6904 that wasn't available before. More is on the way -- you can bet on it. I've made more than my share of miracles happen in my life time, and I don't intend to stop now.

Not to mention that the support I've received has been overwhelming. Impossible to overlook.

Serendipitous Awesomeness

The six months I'd be in New York would give my current projects exactly the germination time they need. Since Marty will be home hard at work on everything he does normally, someone clever will still be at the helm. Precisely what we have needed, since the beginning, is a little bit more time to avoid the last-minute bills scramble. This opportunity, and the solutions I've found, solve all those problems.

I've set it up so that I don't have to sacrifice anything to do it (though if asked, I've certainly made my decision: There are many things I won't sacrifice). Everything I can list is positive. In this scenario, I won't even have to work while I'm in New York in order to do it, except to check up on current things on evenings and weekends.

Something Else You Should Know

The faster I get where I'm going, the faster I can help all the people I'm trying to help. There is no reason for me to wait anymore.

Someone whose word I trust told me that I don't need this experience to make a big change - that I'm ready.

He's right.

I've done amazing things in the last ten years and I'm ready to do more. I understand a lot. I've learned an insane amount, mostly on my own.

But this is not the end. It's the beginning. People may be impressed, and that's awesome -- but this is nowhere near where I aim to be. And I want to get there as quickly and excellently as possible.

I can do all of this on my own, given some time. But this program may close the gap for me (something only Seth can be sure of), and I'll be able to do it much faster. All I can think about is all the people I can help, all the sooner. I don't want them to have to wait. I want to learn these things now.

I video blogged and nabbed people to watch it (my !MBA-evangelical video entry is here), and initiated conversations with as many responders as possible. I also Twittered, which auto-involves my 150+ person IM list.

I made LiveJournal posts that reached (if not convinced) 115 positive social acquaintances, friends & family, had encouraging private discussions in person and via email, and lent someone all my Seth Godin books (& gave him my extra copy of Tribes). We had a great conversation!

I also made a slew of posts (all linked at the bottom of this one) to help others with their !MBA applications (or anything else they might be useful for), and I am now adjusting my fund raising efforts so that I can try to raise money for other people too regardless of whether I get to go. (It's too early to know if this is going to work, but I BELIEVE in it and I'm still going strong!) I also got involved in several !MBA groups on Facebook and Ning and posted some links in the hopes that I could come in handy. (At least a few people seem to be getting something out of it, which makes me very happy!)

My primary platform and presence of interest is worldmegan.net. I blog and do everything else I enjoy there -- and I'm phasing out some other presences because they're no longer consistently representing who I am.

Virtual Magpie is being phased out as my design / people-help vehicle, because I can do that work better and more authentically on a personal one-on-one basis. All its information is in the process of being transferred to logical spots on worldmegan.net.

Megan Mezzo was my attempt to "be a proper professional singer". Screw that. I'm going to be my kind of singer, and anyone who thinks I'm wrong can, uh, go be their kind of singer. ;} Likewise, the information on this site is in the process of being transferred to logical spots on worldmegan.net.

I'm in a ton of other places, but these are the most important ones. I belong to quite a bit of social media for various purposes, but most of them were registered so that I could engage in activities with friends or colleagues. The more useful ones are Triiibes [profile] and, rather far behind that, LinkedIn [profile]. I also keep a Flickr account that I love to pieces. (All the photos on this page come from there.) My Del.icio.us links are here. My (woefully unupdated) Amazon wishlist probably says a lot about me too, and it's here. I also keep a LiveJournal account for private personal development and discussion, but it's locked on purpose, so I won't link to it. :}

You can find me veeeerry easily by plugging "worldmegan" and/or "Megan Elizabeth Morris" into Google. (I did that on purpose. I want to be a person online, show people exactly who I am, because I think the discourse here is valuable. Also, I think it's awesome that Google never forgot the sci-fi fantasy art I put up when I was in high school.) Here are my Google Blog Search results. Here are my Twitter Search results. Man, I love this stuff.

I am collecting my references and recommendations in the comments of my "What I Do" page at worldmegan.net. Feel free to go look at the lot of them -- there will be more and more as we go, and I'm certainly not going to stop collecting them after the !MBA application rush is over. ^_^

I am, however, going to give you direct links to the ones I have now. Many of them made me cry.

Rudi Whitmore (people, compassion, self-learning)
CoCreatr Bernd Nurnberger (communication, organization, progress)
Angelina Adams (courage, positive complexity; redux impossible, too moved)
Jon Dale (leadership, organization)
Nicholas Haasch (determination, polyphasic sleep, photoreading)
Tom Bentley (interestingness, stickiness, carbonation)
Ed Welch (persistence, proactiveness, positivity, purpleness)
Becky Blanton (power, positivity, devotion to change)
James Seckler (courage, self-learning, clarity)
Pace Smith (And Her Amazing 100% Money Back Guarantee)
Kyeli Smith (awareness, ability to make a difference)
Martin Whitmore (inspiration, persistence, helpfulness)
Char James-Tanny (organization, amazingness)
Trish Lambert (temerity, teamwork, tenaciousness, ripple effect)
Bonnie Diczhazy (organization, leadership, optimism, creativity)
Joe Noonan (compassion, generosity, helpfulness, enthusiasm)
Paul Durban (let-her-do-it-ness; redux also nigh impossible ^_^)
Joel D. Canfield (inspiration, moreness)
Marcos Gaser (positive impact)
Ragen Chastain (vision, information absorption, heartfulness)
David Williams (tenacity, dedication, success)

Seth,

The time since you announced the !MBA has been an amazing series of learning experiences for me. I found out that people really cared about me and believed in me. I found out that I was capable of managing far more last minute uber-important commitments than I had previously thought possible. I found out that I was interested in pushing my limits more than ever, and that "impossible" tasks hold great allure for me.

I received more than a few personal recommendations that made me cry.

And I realized that I can create any "golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" I want, at any time.

If I'm accepted, I'll have great fun -- and do some amazing, amazing things.

If I'm not accepted, I'll have great fun -- and do some amazing, amazing things.

No kid has ever been as excited as me.



Heartfelt thanks,