Today is my favorite day of the year.
It's Listen To Your Mother Boulder today!
Hey beloved readers. This is a quick post to share my very favorite thing with you: Listen To Your Mother Boulder.
For those who don’t know, LTYM was founded in 2010 by Ann Imig as a grassroots project that spread to over 40 cities in its first seven years. LTYM is the live storytelling show that gives motherhood a microphone—that’s the tagline, but here’s how I describe it. It is the alchemy of a dozen local storytellers—some who write for a living, most who are just “regular people”—showing up to share just one story with an audience who is there to feel seen and become part of the story themselves. It may be a story about being a mom, or not being a mom. It could be about having a mom—a fantastic mom, a nightmare of a mother—or not having a mom. It’s about grief and lessons learned and the absurdity of our daily lives and connection and shared humanity and the stories that bind us all together.
And it’s simply pure magic.
We were so honored to be featured in Denver’s Westword last week. And then my co-producer and I got to be on 9 News! You can watch our 3-minute segment here. It was a blast.
The show is like a gentle rollercoaster between laughing and crying and internally whispering, “Oh my god, me too,” and thinking deeply and then laughing while crying some more. I just love it.
Today I will take the stage to share a story from one of the worst weeks of my early single motherhood summer. It is a little painful, a little hilarious, and it changed me.
You guys can watch it, too!
This year, people can live stream the show and watch it in their quitters on the couch or catch the reply for up to a week. If you want to tune in and virtually cheer me on, I will feel your energy like a big warm hug.
If you’re in CO, come check it out today at 4 pm in Boulder!
The week of the show is always the most frenetic, hectic week of the year for me. And when I slide into “Game Day,” as my dear friend just texted me with enthusiasm, I feel a sense of peace and calm (KNOCK ON WOOD), because today, 500 people get to listen to these courageous, powerful women tell their stories on stage. And I can’t wait to watch them shine. Curating women’s stories is the biggest honor of my career.
I’m giving myself next week off from writing a column—I have two posts in the works but I’m going to try to allow myself to sink into family time and spring weather and rest after the show. Oh, and I’m also going to send my book proposal to like 40 agents, so, NBD. 😂
I’ll see you all next week after Mother’s Day—I hope it’s a relaxing, joyful one for those who celebrate, but I’m also sending my biggest love to those of us who struggle on this day, whether because of grief, loneliness, divorce, disappointment, or any of the other ingredients that make up the complex cocktail of our family lives.
Much love to you all, and send me your good vibes today!
XO,
Steph