Last night I was in Durham, North Carolina for a Beautiful You Salon Party hosted by two wonderful women, Erin and Jessica. About 20 women gathered to talk about body image through the lens of Beautiful You and the conversation went to all sorts of places: from faith and feminism and their intersections with body image to the grace of hearing what your body is telling you and responding to the travesties that can occur when a woman does not own her body. It was an energizing night. I left with my well being incredibly full from the experience.
The Beautiful You Salon Party is an idea conceived of with this book. For Hijas Americanas, I did a lot of book store signings and those were great– I was able to meet some wonderful people that I wouldn’t have known otherwise and see some great bookstores. But with Beautiful You, I wanted a more personal way to share the book’s message with women because I am so incredibly proud of this book and eager for it to spark conversations among women so that we can be honest about how we judge ourselves and begin to let those behaviors go. And so I conceived the Salon Party, simple events hosted by friends where I can share the Beautiful You message among their friends and acquaintances. We discuss the issues that women face and sometimes do several exercsies from the book together. Since November, when the Salon Parties started, I’ve done several of these events and each of these has been really special- creating a comfortable space for women to talk about what they face without judgment- and I leave each one buoyed.
I am now start to plan my Beautiful You calendar for the new year and want to extend the Salon Party opportunity to you. If you would be willing to host a gathering of 10-20 people in a place of your choosing on a day (or evening, weekday or weekend) for a Beautiful You Salon Party, I’d love to talk. In January and February of 2011, I’ll be scheduling places that are within 2 hours of Charlotte, NC, but in the spring, I can drive to locations up to 4 hours away. If you are further away but would love to host a Salon Party if I am near your city for anything, let me know that, too, and I’ll save that information just in case I get the chance to travel to your area. Game? Leave a comment here (with your location) and I’ll email you with more information!
