Hearts on fire

Local women put stories of inspiration to print

by Page Buono

At a women’s empowerment conference in 2011, a group of Durango women wound up seated around a table. With martinis in hand and enthusiasm running high, they sparked a conversation. Nearly three years, countless hours and 260 pages later, that group has published a book, an interwoven tapestry of their – and other women’s – experiences in life.

“We were all there and feeling empowered and beautiful and entrepreneurial,” one of the book’s co-creators, Carla Marie Toth, said. “We came up with the mission of wanting to share inspirational, transformational stories of women.”

The end product, Ignited Hearts, Inspiring Hope, a collection of 43 women’s tales, will hit local bookshelves this Thursday, with an opening reception and accompanying photo exhibit at the Open Shutter Gallery.

The book is a product of intense collaboration, which was a primary focus of the conference. And as it turns out, the five co-creators – Toth, an acupuncturist; Allison James, a writer; Eva Rose Montane, a landscape designer; Felicia Hubbell, a nursing student; and Sally Zabriskie, an energy worker – are as varied as the stories the book contains.

James, a recently published author, was the first one to suggest the idea of an anthology – and it stuck.

“Women do much better and have more strength in collaboration,” Zabriskie said, adding that competitive environments and hierarchies tend to drain them.

After a lot of talking, brainstorming, throwing out and rejecting ideas, the women narrowed the focus to a collection of stories on transformation.

Then they had to go about finding the stories.

Compiling email addresses of friends – and asking them to share with their friends – they solicited stories from a broad network of women connected in some ways, but often in the third or fourth degree.

In a pattern that conveyed the dynamic they’d built over countless hours, the editors discussed what it was about transformation they were after.

“Something that made their lives better,” said Toth, who herself overcame a harrowing setback in 2009 when she suffered a brain aneurysm that required hospitalization and several months of therapy.

Hubbell continued, “Whether it was hard in the beginning or joyous, confrontation or something wonderful and magical.”

Zabriskie chimed in with some examples, “turning fear into courage or disempowerment into empowerment,” she said.

In the end, contributors were left with a broad charge: to tell a story of transformation and transcendence.

And they did. In mass, women wrote in with their stories – nearly 80 submitted in all, running the gamut from stories of beauty and life to kids, infertility, death, domestic violence and mental illness.

In receiving the stories, the women admitted they were transformed themselves.

“It was the first time I felt like, ‘This is real; this is really happening,’” Montane said. Hubbell said she felt honored that others trusted the five editors with their stories.

With some of the submissions, the ladies took a look, highlighted the transition they wanted to know more about, and sent it back for the author to dive deeper.

“We wanted the process of the story-telling itself to be healing,” Zabriskie said.

One of the most challenging parts of the process was the unexpected volume of  submissions. The editors received nearly double the number they could accept and struggled with having to choose.

Then the process of editing began. Over the course of four months, the women met once a week.

“We tried setting deadlines in the beginning and they quickly went flying by so we said, ‘OK, forget the deadlines. This is a fluid process and we just have do it at the pace we can do it,” Zabriskie.

Gathering at each other’s homes, lying on living rooms floors, circled on a porch or huddled under an apricot tree, they read the stories aloud, editing and refining along the way.

Nanci Moore, who submitted one of the chosen pieces, said the process has been rewarding and cathartic. She has not seen her story since she submitted it but has faith in the process.

“I honor and trust that whatever they have shifted is perfect,” Moore said.

Moore, who has a photograph in the exhibit as well, expressed a deep appreciation for the opportunity to tell her story. “They could have quit at any time,” she said. “If they had, none of these stories would be heard.”

Coming from diverse backgrounds, the women struggled at times with what it meant to work in a style completely different from what there were used to.

 “One of the biggest challenges about coming together in this format is that we all are women trying to manage in a man’s world, and so while we all accepted doing it collaboratively, we all had to stop and give each other space and time to evolve,” Hubbell said.

The time it took was a challenge in itself, and the task list was constantly growing.

“Throughout the process, we’ve all been living our lives as well, and as part of being whole people sometimes, we’d show up to a meeting and say this is what’s going on for me, and we’d put the list aside and just listen and honor where each other were,” Zabriskie said, commenting on the bonds of friendship that formed through the process.

As the book evolved, women set the goal of having the book ready in time for Mother’s Day, sparking the idea of a photography component to accompany the release. They sought submissions from photographers that fell into the category “photos of women, by women” and selected 15 for the exhibit. The winning photograph – a girl perched on top of a cliff overlooking the Animas Valley, a scarf raised over her head, flowing in the wind – was taken by Alexi Hubbell, Felicia’s daughter.

“Of all the photos, we really did like it best,” Zabriskie said.

 The opening will be a celebration of the book as a well as an opportunity for people to meet the authors – some 10 to 15 of whom will likely be there. “Some of the authors are so excited they’ve been picking out their outfit for months,” Hubbell joked.

While Moore hasn’t necessarily picked out her outfit, she is anticipating the opportunity to meet the other book contributors, see her story in print and spend time with the editors.

Conversations about doing another book are ongoing, but the focus for now will be on marketing, and maybe enjoying, some prosperity from the hefty endeavor. The editors intend to share the success they have with the authors.

But, the focus for now is on the event and seeing the book on the shelves.

 “We hope that when a woman comes along and picks up the book, one of the stories speaks to her,” Hubbell said.

Chosen only in the last couple of weeks, the title – Ignited Hearts, Inspiring Hope – sums it all up.

For more information about the collaboration or the book, visit www.storiesofwomen.com