Retreats
The Sunstone Symposium was this past week. I’ve never been, but would love to go some time. I’m curious about the role of these un-official LDS symposia/retreats in the lives of our dear readers. I realize this is a north American-centric question since geography is a limitation. But since I’m curious, I’ll ask my question for those for whom it’s relevant.
I chose “they don’t interest me” mostly because I deeply hate sleepovers so anything that would involve overnight bonding sounds unpleasant to me. So I actually would consider going to something like Sunstone maybe, if I could afford it, but retreats to cabins or camps of any kind make me uncomfortable. I am already doing more than I feel comfortable doing with my youth calling as it is.
I meant more than I feel comfortable in terms of sleepovers with the youth.
I’ve never been to Sunstone, despite a wonderful bishop encouraging me to go when I was in my teens. Exponent II and Midwest Pilgrims have both been wonderful experiences for me, so I carve out time and money for them every year. I can’t imagine a time when I won’t want to attend both, and I can’t think of a better way to fully engage with the complexity, contradiction, and amazing community that is Mormonism.
I’d vote “None, but would like to”, but the feminist retreats (of which are the only ones I’d be interested in attending) tend to be women-only events, and I don’t feel comfortable even thinking about crashing that party. I’m all for equality, but sometimes people just need a space.
I attended my first retreat just this past spring. I loved talking to my feminist allies in person instead of just online, but still, it is hard to get away from family and work responsibilities.
I love retreats so much, but one year I went to 3–I learned that that was a little too much for me 🙂
I love Sunstone! I’ve been several times, although I usually only go for one day. And now that I’ve moved to the Midwest, I even got to try Sunstone Kirtland, which was also great. April, I agree with your point that it’s great to meet with feminist friends in person. I have loved getting to know other bloggers and commenters online, but meeting in person is even more enjoyable than that. I’ve gone to bloggersnackers in several different states as I’ve moved around, and I’ve enjoyed them all thoroughly. They obviously don’t have formal presentations like Sunstone, but that’s fine for me because my favorite part of Sunstone is connecting with fun and interesting people. The actual content of the conference is just icing on the cake. (If you happen to be reading, Mary Ellen, sorry to be a heretic of Sunstone! 😉 )