Freedomfest 2010

[Dennis Hardin]

Freedomfest 2010 will take place at Bally’s Las Vegas from July 8 to July 10 and will feature talks by Steve Forbes, Charles Murray, Rick Santelli of CNBC and many, many more. I am posting this notice here because the conference highlight will undoubtedly be Nathaniel and Barbara Branden discussing the life of Ayn Rand. There will also be a special luncheon event featuring Nathaniel and Barbara. The Freedomfest 2010website states that you must register before April 15 to save $100 on the registration fee.

[Dennis Hardin]

I just found out today that the July FreedomFest 2010 conference in Las Vegas will include a special one day conference called "Ayn Rand Day," apparently sponsored by the Atlas Society. It will be on Friday, July 9, and participants will include Nathaniel Branden and David Kelley plus Rand biographers Jennifer Burns and Anne Heller. There is also a Q & A luncheon that date with Nathaniel and Barbara Branden which requires an additional fee to attend. It does not appear that there is any separate fee for this conference-within-a-conference apart from the luncheon. More information is available here.

[Dennis Hardin]

On a personal level, the highlight of Freedomfest 2010 in Las Vegas was having Nathaniel Branden sign a leather-bound copy of The Vision of Ayn Rand, the book which features transcripts of his 20 lecture NBI course on “The Basic Principles of Objectivism.” Because Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden and Objectivism meant so much to me all those years ago as a teenager, The Vision of Ayn Rand instantly became one of the most important books in my library.

Yesterday I came across this quote from Branden, in an article entitled Valuing Love, and it had such an impact on me that I’m posting it here:

You ask, "How do I bring love into my life?" My answer is that I focus day after day principally on what I care most about in this world -- on what I most respect and admire. That is what I give my time and attention to.

Since my highest priorities are my marriage and my work, I give the greatest part of my time and energy to them. With regard to my wife, I frequently communicate to her my awareness of all the traits and characteristics in her that I so much love, respect, appreciate, and admire.

We all want to be seen, understood, appreciated. I call this the need for the experience of psychological visibility. I strive to make my wife feel visible to me.

I also spend a great deal of time thinking about the things I love. I am keenly aware of how much there is in life to appreciate and enjoy. I dwell on that every day. I do not take anything good in my life for granted.

I am always aware of our mortality. I know that if I love someone, the time to express it is today. If I value something, the time to honor it is today.

[Philip Coates]

That's a wonderful quote.

You are going to make me regret not having read as much of Branden's work as I should.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Philip Coates

[Dennis Hardin]

That's a wonderful quote.

You are going to make me regret not having read as much of Branden's work as I should.

Phil,

Thanks. I am delighted you felt the same way about it that I did.

I am reluctant to say this, but I cannot resist adding this additional comment. For some time now, Dr. Branden has been going through what is clearly a very difficult struggle. Out of respect for his privacy, I do not want to say anything more specific than that. But what I will say, and what I wish I could have expressed to him in Las Vegas, is that witnessing the heroic manner in which he is dealing with that struggle is more inspiring to me than words could ever express.