Mighty Summit Post Roundup

I’m working away behind the curtain over here, but here are some of the things attendees have said about the Summit. Ladies, if you attended and posted something you don’t see here, please let me know in comments. I’m starting a collection.

(Photo by Andrea Scher)

Danielle Henderson from Knotty Yarn:

“Slowly (so slowly) over the past few years, I’ve taken small opportunities to believe in myself. To say “yes.” Instead of immediately talking myself out of something, I instead asked myself “What if?” What if you DID apply to that university? What if they DID accept you into that program? What if you got the grants you needed to pay for it? What if you started taking better care of your body instead of lamenting the fact that you never have in the past? What if you said yes and went to that party? What if you got a chance to spend a weekend with 20 incredible women?”

(photo by Amber Blatt)

Meg Keene from A Practical Wedding:

On Money and Self Worth
After spending two plus days hanging out with some of the most accomplished (in a free-wheeling, freelance, creative way) and supportive women I’ve ever met, I’ve been thinking a lot about self-worth. I’ve been thinking about how as women we often undervalue ourselves, our life stories, and what we’re capable of, and that leads to lost potential. We think, “I can’t do that, I can’t dream that big, I’m being selfish to even think about this, I don’t deserve to earn (or have my company earn) that much money, I shouldn’t have delusions of grandeur.” And when this happens, we all lose. Think of all those projects that could have been created, those businesses that could have thrived, that money that could be flowing back into our communities. When we cut ourselves off at the knees we lose all that, our communities lose all that, we all lose.

Mighty Summit: In Gratitude for the Blogosphere

“It was about this movement we’ve created together, as women in the social media space. It was about continuing to shape that into a force to be reckoned with. It was about shaking up the media establishment. Of telling our stories, your stories.”

(photo by Andrea Scher)

Tara Weaver of Tea and Cookies:
Throwing Your Hat Into the Ring
“The ‘no’ we hear should never come from our own lips.”

Andrea Scher from Superhero Designs Blog:

“Most importantly, I learned that women want to help other women achieve their dreams. They really do. No matter what we learned in high school (and later) about being competitive, jealous and believing there wasn’t enough goodness to go around, the truth is that when we can create a culture of community and empowerment around our goals and dreams, women are the first ones to jump in and want to help.”

Erin Loechner of Design for Mankind:

“Consider this my commitment to sharing more of myself with you — right here. My hopes, dreams and fears — and I want you to do the same with me. Let’s hold ourselves accountable in an effort to shape our futures however we may wish. Because after all? We are indeed mighty.”

(Photo by Zan McQuade)

Margaret Stewart of Fountly:

What Women Really Want Dispatch From the Mighty Summit
“Women have always been sources of creative energy in families and society, and we have always been the makers of things. We knitted, we sewed, we cooked, we quilted. We were able to express our care and affection by feeding, clothing, and wrapping people up in our creations. And while we were and are capable of so many other things, both artist and intellectual, we’ve lost something in abandoning these basic creative pursuits. And in fact, we’ve vilified them at some level over the years, making it seem unambitious or wasting your potential to focus energies on the seemingly humble craft of living.”

Mighty Junior Life Lists: Beatrice, age 9
“Inspired by my weekend at The Mighty Summit and my own experience creating a Life List (see right column of my blog), I sat down with my own kids and asked them what they’d put on their list. Here’s the first one, shared with permission by it’s author, 9-year-old Beatrice. I love the way reality and fantasy co-mingle….”

(By Zan McQuade)

Leah from A Girl and a Boy:

“I met Meg, who, if you believe in destiny, was the whole reason this opportunity fell in my lap at all. In case you didn’t catch on yesterday, she and her team of readers at A Practical Wedding are leading the charge in getting my middle-aged tuchus married off (in style!) once and for all. I’m so excited I could puke.”

(photo by Amber Blatt)

Nicole Balch from Making it Lovely:

“We all committed to working on five of our dreams this year. Maggie told us at lunch on the last day that when she set the wheels in motion on her life list, she bought a gold band to commemorate the occasion. She wears it every day along with her wedding ring. We were then each given a gold necklace by lemonade handmade with five small rings on it, representing the five things we will accomplish this year…”

(By Margaret Gould Stewart)

Heather Sphor from The Sphors are Multiplying:

“As I listened to these amazingly accomplished women, I reevaluated the things I wanted to do in my life. More specifically, the order. Sure, I still DO want to prank call the vice president, or find out who Billy Jean’s baby daddy really was. But I have some goals that I have set for myself that I want to complete in the next 365 days.”

(By Zan McQuade)

Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks:

wine! (or, everything you ever wanted to know about wine from someone who doesn’t know jack about wine)
“As far as what you’re looking for in the scent and the taste, Erin tells me you’re simply looking for a scent and taste that pleases you. If you want to, you can look for cranberry-ness or oak-y-ness or insouciant-ness, but really, like art, it’s just about learning what you like, as opposed to Knowing What You’re Supposed to Like. Once I learned this, it was like a weight lifting from my shoulders — when tasting wine, you’re the expert, not the waiter.”

Karen also continued a life list project by taking some portraits while all of us were together:
Photos, Part I

Photos, Part 2

Kelly Wickham of Mocha Momma writes about finally meeting Internet friend Andrea Wishom face to face, and how that led to meeting Oprah face to face. (Yay, Oprah!)

Roxanna Sarmiento of Everyday treats gives a peek into the invitations and “the swag.”

Helen Jane Hearn of HelenJane.com posted a how to on sabering open a bottle of champagne.

Liz Stanley from Say Yes to Hoboken has a “what i wore” segment that you should go see.

Alli Worthington of Mrs. Fussypants posted some videos and photos of the redwoods.

Heather Armstrong of Dooce sings the praises of Maile’s amazing camera bags. (And took a gorgeous photo of our room.)

Laura Mayes of The Queso learned to knit.

Allison Czarnecki from Petit Elefant: Mormon=1, Champagne=0

Amber Blatt of The Amber Show did a great recap of how the weekend unfolded. Here’s Part I and Part II.