Marian Florence; Letter invitation

Hi Marian-

By now, you've probably listened to my terribly long-winded message about the book project that I am working on with some of my friends here in Salt Lake. We were talking about amazing women that we know here in SLC who we might be able to con into coming to speak to a group of us and I thought of you...I remember when we had a chance meeting a few years ago (you and nathan were working on keeping the gas station away from your neighborhood...I hope it was successful!) you mentioned that you were a mom and happily staying at home with your children. When we were in Philadelphia, I always admired your energy and perspective, both as a convert to the church and an intellectual, rockstar-type working girl striving to live the gospel. I love that you are happy now in a new role as a mom and would love to hear how you did it. As I try to forge my own path, I'm hoping to get as much information on the journey from women like you who've chosen a path and are discovering their mission in life.

The gatherings started when a few sassy, smart girls that I know decided to start casually "getting together" with women that we admire. Women we felt had created their own life trajectory with the help of the spirit and were now living it with conviction. We named them The Gatherings because they represent the coming together of the many archetypes of womanhood in the LDS church. The Gatherings look like a group of friends casually eating sugar, dishing on life and asking some big questions to help jumpstart our search for fulfillment and mission. Sort of a mini oprah affair, but without the studio audience and flashy clothes. So far, we've chatted with Ariel Bybee (mezzo-soprano formerly of the Met), Emma Lou Thayne (poet, lyricist, first woman on the DNews editorial board), Carmen Pingree(congressional lobbyist for Autistic children), Sally Mart (adoptive mother of 14 special needs children), Joan Coltrane(professor of bio-archeology), Susan Daley(my mom!) and we'll soon meet with Liz Lemon Swindle (artist) and Beverly Campbell (author of 'eve and the choice made in eden'). We want every kind of perspective, every kind of woman, every kind of life path to inform us as we grow in the gospel and define what it means to be a woman of God. And that's why I'm hoping that you will consider speaking to us!

When I that the Gatherings are casual...I really mean casual. Jeans and t-shirts, saturday mornings after yoga or thursday evenings after a day of work or play...we can get together whenever you can make it. Usually the women who talk give us a little bit of info about themselves and then we just have an open dialogue, discussing anything that comes to our hearts and minds. Ariel taught us about living our passions and choosing to be extraordinairy. With my mom, the discussion turned to the topic of choosing to love your partner and how to feel valued in a world that devalues women. Basically, any lessons that you think you've learned or are still hoping to learn are what we're after...

I realize this is a sort of odd request and I would love to talk with you more about it if you want more info. And of course, I know how busy life is, so if it doesn't fit into your schedule, I'll totally understand...but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ask! It would be sooo cool to talk with you and learn from you and with you.

Emma Lou Thayne; February2006; Introduction

LDS Author and Poet

Emma Lou Thayne

Will be speaking in our home at 480 Douglas Street

on Thursday, February 9, 2006

7:00pm


Emma Lou is the author of the beloved LDS Hymn Where Can I Turn for Peace and published 13 books of poetry, fiction, essays, and travel stories. She has been widely anthologized and has published internationally concerning kinship and peace among people and nations. Emma Lou has been a teacher of English and women's tennis coach at the University of Utah, where she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2000. She also received an Honorary Doctorate from Salt Lake Community College in 2003.

Marian Florence; October2006; Introduction

Marian Florence
Wednesday October 25th 7pm
KaRyn and Crystal's house
243 E. South Temple #17
Email me or call me if you can come!!!!

Here's a little info about Marian, an amazingly articulate and thoughtful friend and community member.

ABOUT MARIAN:
Marian Coote Florence is a Harvard Graduate (suma cum laude), Fulbright Scholar, accomplished violinist, LDS convert (1998) who is fluent in Arabic, has traveled extensively and spent 4 years working for the Government of Dubai in Philadelphia. Currently, she is a violinist with the Salt Lake Symphony, a member of the Board of the East Central Community Council, a member of the Young Benefactors at the Utah Museum of Fine Art, chair of the Fundraising Committee at her children's pre-school but mostly a MOM. Her life, conversion and current role of stay-at-home Mom(term used loosely) is what Marian calls "a strange journey". Come get the real scoop about what it's like to off-ramp your career to raise children from the perspective of a convert.

Sue Daley; April2006; Introduction

As part of The GATHERINGS project, we thought it would be cool to have our moms come and share their mom wisdom with the larger crowd...My mom is going to be in town for Easter from Oregon so we'll be kicking this off with her THIS SATURDAY MORNING at 10 am at Celeste, Sarah and charelle's house. EMAIL ME FOR DIRECTIONS if you need them....

A little about my mom:

Sue Daley is an amazing woman (granted I'm a little biased, but just come see what I mean!)
She was married at 19 and had 7 children by the time she was 31....
She successfully kept those 7 children alive through approximately 25 moves all over the country while maintaining her sanity and sense of humor.
She's known in some circles as the baby whisperer.
She's a creative genius who has come up with a million and one ways to make anything way more fun than it should ever be.
She's an accomplished seamstress who makes wedding gowns and takes in (or lets out ...depending on how well weightwatchers is going for me) all of my clothes as necessary.
As an early morning seminary teacher for over 7 years, she has learned to apply the scriptures to her every day life.
And just ask her about Dr. Laura...she's got opinions!
My mom has also had many struggles in her life and She's an extremely open person who I promise, will be willing to share her true feelings about the path her life has taken...the good, the bad and the ugly.
A few things that I am hoping she will share with us include...conquering fear, dealing with children who are not active, choosing to love your spouse, letting the Lord's love define you, finding PEACE in turmoil, dealing with depression.
Most importantly, my mom has a love for the savior that can not be constrained...it fills her life and has helped her to make the most of what she's been given.
If you've ever wanted to know what planet I came from, this is your chance to experience the mothership first hand.

Sarah says it's time...

so Let's start putting out notes on-line and get things going. After everyone is on here I think we ought to make the blog private so that we can just talk to each other and brainstorm via blog.

First, let's start with Carmen Pingree. Title the blog entry with the guests first name and your name so we can see who is writing what.

The Gathering- WELCOME

Sarah Monson had an idea in the summer of 2005. The idea was to invite LDS women that she admired to her house and learn everything that she could about them including how they came to understand their mission in life and how they have had the courage to live it. This was the birth of the gatherings.

(add more girls...just go to the edit post and change er up!)