Since the early days of incourage, we dreamed of what it might look like to bring our reading community together, the kind of gathering where we carried offline those friendships begun in the virtual realm.

Sometimes a girlfriend just needs a hug–skin to skin, cheek to cheek, the kind where you really mean it.  If you’re a seasoned reader, you already know our solution was unconventional:   in(RL), a conference designed not to carry us halfway across the country (at great expense and away from our families), but to engage with the women in our own back yard.

It took a little while for us to fully explain the concept, for all of us to understand how it could work, but now in our third year, it just keeps getting better!  This year I’m hosting an event in my new hometown (register if you’re nearby!) and I’m thankful for this little push to do what I know I ought–fertilize my baby roots in a new place, to love fully and love well people within hugging distance.

If I’ve learned anything the past few years, it’s that I need
– and I mean n e e d – other women in my life.

With little pockets of community dotting the globe, the joy of bringing together thousands of women means new opportunities are bound to surface.  And this year, I’m heartened by a new element we’re incorporating into (in)RL:

Please click to learn about our new addition for (in)RL – and to see my mad, VLOGGING skills – on incourage today (I’m also giving away a beautiful braided recycled sari bangle to three readers!!).