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If you’re reading this, chances are you’re curious about what the Entity Summer program is like.
And while I cannot predict how exactly your experience will be (should you decide to enter into the Entity Program), what I can share with you is exactly how I felt just about a month and a half into the program.
On July 19 of this summer, I stayed up late into the night writing a thank you letter to the founder and CEO of Entity Magazine. It’s probably the most accurate account of what’s possible at Entity.
Photographer: LEE FRIEDLANDER
Title: Jennifer Schwab’s 40th birthday at Susan and David Rockefeller’s apartment in New York City, 2016
Credit: © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Dear Jennifer,
Tonight while driving through the glittering heart of downtown LA, I felt what was perhaps the most intense wave of gratitude flow throughout my body that I have ever experienced. Tears started streaming down my face and my chest felt so light. I felt weightless and like my world was limitless. I was honestly having some sort of an out of body experience.
I had just gone out for a few drinks with some friends after attending a fundraiser for Esperanza Immigrant Rights, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing social rights. My friend Esme, who will be teaching us yoga in less than a week, organized the entire event.
All of the women I talked to tonight were incredibly passionate and driven, and I realized mid-conversation, the power women have to, as we say at entity, DO.
When we’re awake, we’re making choices, creating pathways, adventuring, exploring, preserving and accomplishing. Then, at night, we dream. We dream about our futures and the past. We dream about making the world a better, more communal and equal place. We do all the dreaming we need to wake up filled with purpose and potential.
And driving home amidst the deep purple sky and sparkling buildings tonight, I felt like the dream I had been dreaming for so long was real. Like I was in it. Like my life was so much more than I ever could have imagined.
Jo Champa (a friend of Entity) once told me that the thing she wanted me to get was that if you can wrap your brain around your life or an idea or vision, then it’s not big enough.
And that’s exactly what happened in the car that night. I thought, wow, I’m in a dream — and in that same moment, I realized that my dream was smaller than my reality. And so it WAS my reality that I was able to grasp. Even if only for a minute.
I wasn’t really even sure what dream it was that had come true. It was kind of just like everything I had in my mind fused together all at once.
And then, while this was all happening, I immediately thought of you.
Jennifer, I want you to know how indescribably grateful I am for you. Thank you for being the strongest woman with whom I’ve yet to have the honor of connecting.
Thank you for opening doors for me that I never knew existed. Doors that I never new I could open. Doors that I never imagined I could walk through on my own.
Thank you for being honest and constructive and for showing me how to become a stronger leader without just telling me how. Thank you for working harder than literally any woman I’ve ever met and for inspiring that kind of work ethic in me.
You told me during our first meeting that you could see that I’m a workhorse. You’re right. I’ve always filled every possible minute of my day with some sort of meaningful work. But until this summer I never truly knew what exactly it was I working so hard for.
Tonight I realized that for too long, I have been working hard to prove myself to others. But when the Entity program started, I felt a shift. I began feeling like I was working hard to prove myself to myself. Was I capable of writing so many articles in one day? What if the work I did wasn’t up to par with my own standards? Would I learn everything I possibly could?
Life is about working hard to create and integrate communities, communities that have the power to change social constructs — social constructs that, once broken down will have the potential to solve global problems — global problems that once addressed will elevate the confidence of entire of groups people, and therefore change the world.
What I’ve experienced so far this summer, is the construction of a new, innovative and forward-thinking community. And you integrated and created that community from the start. To me, that community was one of women. And being part of that community completely changed how I view and interact with females altogether.
So, I will work hard for all of my fellow mentees. I will work hard to stand by each and every woman I have the gift of meeting, interacting with and getting to know. I will work hard for all women. I will work even harder for those who are also working hard.
I will work every single day to build relationships, to construct connections, to entangle opposite pointing paths and to exponentially nurture a meaningful network between myself and others. Because if there’s anything I’ve learned from this program, it’s that it’s a lot of fucking work to bring an idea to life. But we can do it. Women can do it.
I want to thank you for pushing me towards figuring out what life means to me and for showing me that I can do it. Thank you also for letting me fly your plane, for taking us all to the American Ballet, for delicious lunches, amazing speakers, boxing lessons, yoga lessons, zumba lessons, food-plating lessons and for investing so much of your time in me. Thank you for all that you do and all that you will do for the future of women and women’s futures.
Without you, my summer would not have existed. Without you, I would not have 15 new sisters. Without you, I would not know myself as well I do now. And also, this is the most epic thank you I’ve ever written, so thank you for giving me the kind of fuel that inspires such gratitude.
Thank you.
Anthea
