More Than Words on a Screen

I remember looking hungry hearted through Ann Voskamp's blog about five years ago. I suspect some of you have done the same over at Ann's place or maybe in Lisa Jo's corner or Holley's space. I was drawn to women living life and sharing words with such honesty and openness. I was drawn to their stories.

I knew immediately that I wanted in and moreover I wanted to make sure that I made the same community come to life in my everyday. It couldn't just stop with words typed on a screen and I'm so thankful that it didn't.

It didn't stop with words on a screen, but it certainly did start there. 

I had always been a writer. I knew it from the time my high school English teacher read my words in front of the whole class as I slid red faced, but slightly grinning down in my desk. I've written on the backs of receipts in volumes of journals and in hidden folders on every computer I've ever owned.

Five years ago I began secretly hitting publish on a long gone blog because I was too afraid for anyone to read. Three years ago I started sharing my words with a select few and finding that my words resonated with some in deep ways. Today I'm blessed to have the opportunity to encourage more folks than I ever realized through this space.

I never thought that the words I scribbled through shaking fear would connect me with so many amazing women and even more surprising that those women would end up in my everyday as real life sisters.

Online community has made me braver with my everyday community than I ever imagined.

{Click to tweet this}

What I love is that the (in)courage community gets this. They get that the words we say online need to be applied off line right where we live in the nitty gritty cracks and crannies of our broken beautiful everyday.

That's why (in)RL exists. (in)RL is the women's conference that comes to you right where you are and offers you an opportunity to nurture and grow the community you do life with.

We've all got a story to tell, to share, to live right beside one another. Our stories intersect and they weave away and through one another in unexpected ways. This year we're talking about those stories and we hope that your local meetups will find you sharing your story in a way you never have before. 

I'm officially hosting for the first time this year. You can read about my solo (in)RL last year. I'm also humbled right down the to the ground to be one of the speakers. Say what?! Gulp. Double gulp. Yeah, I'm putting on my big girl panties and I'm sharing some of my story.

You can meet all the speakers and check out the agenda here.

It isn't too late register and either host or find a meetup in your area. Did I mention it's free? Yeah, thought that might change your mind. It's free, but you also have an amazing opportunity to rally behind some amazing projects with your financial resources in partnership with (in)RL.

Because we're all about swinging the beach house doors as wide open as possible we will also be having a twitter par-tay and a couple of Spreecasts in the next couple of weeks to get us prepared!

I'm a twitter gal and so I encourage you to come hang for a bit tonight (March 26th!) at 9:00pm EST using hashtag #inRL I hear there will be prizes.

Also...

• Tuesday, April 8 @ Noon EST - Vision casting Spreecast, open for anyone.
• Tuesday, April 15 @ Noon EST - Exclusive for hosts Spreecast. A time for hosts to be encouraged and have any specific questions answered.

If you haven't seen the trailer take a couple minutes. I'm the woman on the verge of tears about half way through. I'm a crier, what can I say?