Adding More Threads to Weave Our Stories Together: Cocktails and Conversation Gathering to Launch Our Blog

Ann McDonoughLifestyle, Most Recent

 

The Post It Notes hung like pastel confetti on the white board in The Betty at Front Street — short missives of the promises and truths the women in this room made to themselves of their fearlessness.  Words like trust, belief, strength and family jumped off the pages. Laughter and conversation rang off the walls and over the colorful flowers of artist Julie Byer’s paintings while her mother’s portrait smiled graciously down on all of us.

This was a gathering of the special people in our lives to launch our Flawed But Fearless Blog on a cold and spirited First Friday in Dayton.  There was such an abundance of positive energy flowing through the space that its presence was noted again and again – you could actively feel it in the room.

This gathering represented an accumulation of the friendships and threads that weave our stories together over time — from all the places that women build their lives – family, work, community service, book clubs and those chance meetings where you connect with someone instantly and know they are part of your tribe so you never let them go.

Looking around the room, this intersection of fascinating, smart women was comprised of lawyers, homemakers, doctors, nurses, educators, authors, marketers, community and non-profit leaders, to name a few.  All joined together for the evening to celebrate just being our true selves in a place that felt safe and honest. And who are we – this Flawed but Fearless group of women? We are a community focused on sharing female stories, lifting each other up and pushing through fear.

When in the moment you may miss the nuances of the evening because you are caught in conversation and connection.  Looking through the pictures afterwards, one is struck by a commonality — all of these women are listening with rapt concentration — actively engaged in what others are sharing.  They are saying with their attention, “You are important, you are relevant, you are interesting to me.”

Look for yourself in these beautiful photos from Briana Snyder and we hope you find our community one that speaks to you as well.   We are always looking for guest women bloggers to share experiences and add your voices to ours.  Just comment here or send a direct message to one of the authors to share a blog post with us. We also have a contact form on this blog or send an email ([email protected]).

We will continue to gather together on a regular basis so please follow us and stay tuned.

Until then, Be Fearless. Be Flawed. Be You.