DID you reserve YOUR book? If you have reserved it yet we recommend getting yours reserved and cash in on the free standard Ebook with your Signed Hardback book!
YOU ALREADY reserved your book! Good Job! Did you know the enhanced Ebook has Bright Hawk reading the story to the listener with her handpan music and sound effects! Don’t miss this $14.99 value! Simply attend the Book Release Party, celebrate, enjoy the interviews and previews AND see the special guest! AND you get a free Enhanced Ebook on top of your Hardback signed copy and your standard Ebook.
The long-awaited Dancing Hippo Book is on sale NOW for presales! There are several ways to pre-order your book.
-Attend the Book release party and Reserve your Signed Hardback Copy to get the newly developed Enhanced Ebook FREE (audio/visual experience – Bright Hawk’s music, storytelling & videos) as well as a FREE standard Ebook. (mailed on 11/27/20)
–Reserve your book on Amazon but give up the freebies and signed book. (paperback available) (mailed on 11/27/20)
We are so excited to release this beautifully illustrated book just in time for the next generation! Help kids learn how to manage hard emotions, overcome naysayers, and be their most authentic selves. This book has even folded in gender inclusivity so ALL children can see themselves in this story. GLBTQIA+ friendly.
The world has greatly intensified for humans in the past few weeks. The virus has pushed us all to truly sit with ourselves in this time. Many of us are struggling with uncertainty, grief and loss. Even if no one directly related to you is struggling with this virus, everyone is very aware, every day of isolation of the potential hazards and those that are actually very sick. We grieve the loss of humans, we grieve what we had before this all happened and many of us can feel even other people’s grief. So one way or another most of us are in a place of grief. We can feel the global impact on humans, this virus has created, most of us are locked in our homes to wait it out. Yet somehow, all of us, seem to sense that BIG changes are happening because of this pandemic. Somehow in our hearts and our souls we see the impact humans have on earth, animals and nature in general. We are awakening to our full connection to all things alive on planet earth, including the virus itself.
The waves still come and the sun still rises
We were very fortunate to spend an entire week in early March on the Pacific Coast Highway where we met the elephant seals. We set up our van each day on the beach and listened to their calls to each other, watched babies suckle their mammas and watched them live as a community. Each day it seemed we would learn more about them and we found out what they had been through. Elephant Seals were heavily hunted in the 18th, 19th century and into the early 20th century by humans. They are REALLY easy to hunt, they mostly lay around on the beach. The hunter didn’t have to work hard except maybe to harvest their 4000-5000lbs of blubber, though humans at that time likely saw them as fuel. Humans hunted this very easy prey until they almost became extinct! The number actually got down to just 50 seals!
Finally, humans found another source of fuel and Mexico began to protect them. Now miraculously they have grown to over 225,000 seals with numbers increasing all the time. We were inspired by the diligent volunteers that are part of the “Friends of the Elephant Seal” as they came out and counted the entire population! They were happy to answer questions and share their joy in their volunteer work. Each time the sun came up or down the seals would ‘bark’ and the babies would ‘cry’ as if they had a ritual to celebrate these great transitionary times we see every day. They honored their transition from an almost extinct population to a growing population of these amazing animals.
Amazing resilient Animals
As the world began to become infected with this virus, we became aware that these seals had overcome their almost extinct past, they very nearly disappeared because of human hunting. We couldn’t help but contemplate our own future, we have spent the last five years visiting nursing homes — that reality washing away with the waves and seeing change was on its way. Uncertainty is there, yet these seals give us hope that the changes, the EARTH so desperately needed, are happening! That hope is bigger than anyone’s life because it includes all of our lives, including the seals! As the changes unfold before us and we choose to be part of that, we harvest the resilience of survival. Let these amazing seals inspire you, too!
Let these Elephant Seals Inspire YOU!
Now as we sit in our safe home on top the mountain and await what might happen next we invite YOU! We invite YOU to this Virtual Fire Circle. We are calling it UNITE! Uniting the diversity of Fire Circles all over the world and inviting all organizers to take part. We invite YOU to be part of this fire, Sing a song together, get dressed in your magickal attire, play the drums with Bright Hawk, and UNITE with folks that all need this connection RIGHT NOW! We need volunteers to hold a fire and keep your camera mostly on it for the duration of the 3 hour block of time, or part of the time. We need people to step up and offer energetic clearing to folks joining us, like a smudge gate, but virtually. We need people to offers songs, poems, and wisdom. We want to create a virtual fire circle, just like we have all experienced in all our diverse ways. There is room for everyone, although we will need to keep this appropriate for all ages. We welcome children and youth, including families. We hope in order to include as many people as possible in our 100 people limit that families/couples can just log in with one camera. Decorate your space that you choose to share on camera! Wear your magical attire, burn your incense, dance in your living room, and sing with the group! We will UNITE and love you through the fear and uncertainty. UNITE with us!
Please understand that you must JOIN THE FAMILY OF FIRE GROUP on Facebook or email me directly to get the information regarding how to join us in this inspiring event, UNITE. We are keeping it privately in the group in order to hold a safe container, but if your on my mailing list we are happy to send you the information if you don’t use or prefer Facebook. The event will be held on ZOOM and you can even simply call in from your phone, no video required. If you want to share the event on Facebook, you will notice that the group event is not shareable but you can find an event page on my BRIGHT HAWK PRODUCTIONS page that directs folks to join the group, to get the details. So please share THIS event Page.
Winter weather in most of the United States is fairly uncomfortable for vanlife unless you want to stay deep in the south or the desert and then still, at night it can be a bit much. We heard a recommendation from other vanlife folks that it’s ideal to take a little break each year, you won’t burn out this way. So last year when we were offered a fairly long stay in Eugene, OR, we were grateful to accept the offer. It was a win/win for everyone, they wanted to get away from rainy, gray, cool Eugene, Oregon but wanted someone to occupy their house while they were gone. We see the wisdom as it gave us time to be out of the van and buckle down to work on some rather complicated projects.
Walking Our Path
Nicki Scully totally invested in us when she had all the confidence in our ability as a team to create a soundtrack for her Egyptian themed course, a guided meditation. Bright Hawk has done an entire series for Nikki, in the past, but with Sounds True. Hollis Taylor had just finished their online education in sound engineering and accepted the challenge on their first big project with Nicki Scully! Although Hollis has a huge history with tech they didn’t actually have a whole lot of music history. Hollis had just started allowing themself to be part of creating music but for the most part, kept to tap dancing and enjoying music. An old story told to them by their parents, “You are tone-deaf and you lack rhythm” which was later reiterated by friends and lovers. It was a hard message to hear sometimes because Hollis held such a passion for music and sound, but we can all relate to believing those older or bigger than you. Eventually, most of us wake up to question those old stories. Somehow, Nicki just believed in us and our first creation was more than she had ever imagined. Hollis was grateful for Nicki’s firm belief in them because in most cases that is all one needs to exceed expectations.
After Nicki’s recording we moved on to Bright Hawk’s album and we both learned so much in our experience. Hollis struggled with a learning curve not just in music but the tech, as well, Ableton is a complicated software. Bright Hawk struggled with being perfect. We all know that no performer is perfect but Bright Hawk had to somehow have a perfect telling of her story, perfect rhythm, and tons of perfectly tuned instruments. We aren’t even including the challenge of having average hardware. One of the most interesting things about watching a musician or storyteller live is that it is never the same, it’s not monotonous, and if it is, we aren’t usually having a very good time.
Bright Hawk is great with the Live Audience because she knows if she has a great time, so will her audience! Today, with digital editing and so forth we had to decide…. did we want to make her beats PERFECT like a computer? Many people love to dance to this and there is tons of music with this vibration and in fact, most people listen to music like this, today. Even though we know, a live musician is never perfect, as humans were not created that way – this is why we love DJs so deeply. The beat can help us trance out and dance out whatever we might be holding inside. Although world beat is not like this, much world music can’t be perfect because a human is playing the rhythm. In our struggle, we instead decided to record, edit and produce natural experimental music with stories but it still meant that Bright Hawk had to be as close to perfect as she could be. Not just in the rhythm but don’t miss say a word in your storytelling, let your voice go too high or low and a cold could really slow you down! As an experimental album, we just weren’t sure how others would like or not like it.
We intended it to be something you can keep in your CD player and listen from beginning to end. Our intention is that by the end you feel connected, loved, and positive – ready to continue with your day. The music and stories remind us of our humanity, human connection, how to help each other feel included, and our connection to nature. Inspiring and heart-filling, we want you to feel positive by the time your done listening. Instant positivity, perfect for the human race right now!
This year we extended our “out of van” time, again as house sitters! Deep in Eugene again we found ourselves now in service to Indigo – for her Egyptian online courses. Although this time, Indigo wants an entire set of 13 tracks for all the parts of her course. We are grateful for the work and grateful we gained so much experience last year with Nikki’s meditation and then Bright Hawk’s Music & Stories album. This year we notice we are more efficient, faster, and we both have better ears. Also, the naysayers’ voices are muted, including the ones on repeat! We, in fact, have fallen in love with making these guided meditations and want to keep creating them, regardless of the theme. Look for this in 2020 and beyond!
As Bright Hawk is playing with her kalimba to find the right melody for our newest audio project. Hollis is taking care of business and finds something, “Bright Hawk, WOW! We are sold out of our album at CD Baby, they want us to send our stock!” Bright Hawk freezes and stares at Hollis perplexed. Bright Hawk wasn’t sure if anyone would want this album as it’s different and experimental, it is not what everyone is USED to listening to. She took in what Hollis said and then reacted with, “No way!” Hollis smiles and shows Bright Hawk the screen where it says “Sold Out” and then clicks over to the email that sends “Please send us restock, you are sold out!” Apparently CDBaby’s favorite email to send! A fantastic email to receive when your not sure if it was worth the production time, energy and money.
We look at each other and smile. We did our best and we were both 100% authentic, we didn’t try to be like anyone else. Instead, we embraced our imperfections and now it looks like people might actually appreciate that. In our world today everything tells you to be LIKE THIS or LIKE THAT but we were made from the stars in perfection. Our imperfections are perfectly beautiful and the world is waking up to that, now. Looks like we are perfectly on time! Follow your heart, be exactly who you need to be because someone needs you to be that!
We are also excited to be part of “Our Haven’s” Beltane in French Lick, Indiana! Bright Hawk is a featured artist and offering her storytime experience along with a workshop! Look for upcoming announcements about upcoming events for Summer of 2020.
Craving Bright Hawk drumming around the fire? If you have been craving a full Fire Circle with Bright Hawk – grab your gear because we are putting together a collaborative Fire Circle that includes DAYLIGHT dance hours!
YUP, that’s right we are adjusting the timing so that we can include children, families, elders, and individuals that might struggle for health or other reasons with the all-night model. So if you’re ready for something different watch for the upcoming website launch. Mark your calendar friends – June 4th -8th 2020 in McGrath, MN at a place called “The Shire in the Woods”. You can rent cabins and so forth, so if that’s your thing watch this email for more announcements! Our main intention is to be inclusive, we hope to dance with you in the LIGHT at Heartland Fire.
After a great time celebrating our friend’s birthday at Orvis Hot Springs, we had to fly out in between big snowstorms. As we defrosted Pegasus, our Ford Transit Van, and got on the road we were excited about where the weather was pointing us this holiday. We were excited to land just outside the Canyon of the Ancients, in Utah. It made sense because many storms wherein the 4 corners area and this spot would be spared. It might get a little cold but we really needed to avoid any kind of snow accumulation.
Intense skies validate the upcoming winter storm over the Holiday
After our experience on the “Forgiving” Holiday at Standing Rock a few years ago we were inspired to celebrate the holiday in a different way. We work at giving Gratitude all day and every day but on “Thanksgiving” aka “Forgiving” we learn about the history of the Indigenous peoples of North America. We honor their tribes, all they have been through. We where deeply honored this year to learn about the ancient culture that live at “Hovenweep” on the west side of the Canyon of the Ancients, teeny little place that is likely part of the ancient Pueblo People. It even has its own inexpensive boondocking campsite! Our biggest challenge in this space would be wind, considering what we were surrounded by, we were grateful on this holiday to be on such sacred land.
We took the 2-mile hike around the canyon, carefully visiting and learning about each ruin. We noticed everything was on the edge of the canyon or in the canyon. The sky was cloudy, a little threatening but the weather prediction just showed cloudiness. We embraced the moment to tune into this ancient civilization and appreciated all the anthropologists that had studied here. What they unfolded was the truth about the first people of this land, that in fact maybe they weren’t so ‘primitive’. As we walked the edge and stared at the ruins we imagined them not much different than us now, except they of course didn’t have the technology. At least they didn’t have cell phones and computers but we are sure they communicated, maybe through scouts or drumming from one mountain top to another? We wondered about the food they ate, farmed, and stored! Truly they were enlightened with the wisdom to live in harmony with nature – seemed many ancient civilizations understood this. We wondered how humanity had lost this connection, so many theories and opinions on that for sure. Most of us agree we must figure out how to live in harmony. After all, these ancient people lived here 800yrs ago and many other civilizations lived on earth for way longer. They didn’t deplete the land as we do in just a couple hundred years!
The day got windier and windier and we were grateful for the break from the winds as we descended into the canyon on the trail. We were grateful to understand even deeper just how smart these folks where, how they knew this desert would be very windy. We stood there in the center of the canyon, looking up at the threatening sky in wonderment at how these people learned to live in this canyon. As we deeply benefited in those moments to be completely protected from the 25mph winds up on the edge of the canyon, we smiled and KNEW deeply that these people where in harmony with nature. We began to grow hungry so we decided to finish the hike and go back to our van for lunch. We began to harvest the wisdom of these ancient people’s and honor their intelligence, connection, and mystery.
We were sure that the weather would stay calm even though the sky looked a little confused. As we climbed up the other side of the cliff to walk along the edge of the canyon back to the campsite we found ourselves looking upwards. Half the sky, was very dark and threatening but thank goodness we were moving towards the more clear sky. The light fluffly clouds encouraged us to just keep walking and we thought. How could we possibly blog about our experience today, in a good way? Really it’s a simple hike, maybe we find a way to share the wisdom of these ancient people. We had began to contemplate this story as the wind picked up, more and more. Both of us looking up now it seemed the half of the sky that was dark had reached out for us and it was blowing harder, faster and more intensely. We walk a little faster and it seems that cloud reaches for us even more and now with hail and snow pouring down on us so fast we barely can comprehend where the sun ran off to. The hail and the snow blew so hard both of us where reminded of blizzard conditions. Putting our heads down and practically running for shelter we noticed that something so confusing was happening above us, that the snow appeared blue. We ducked into the public bathroom, panting from running, and both of us relieved to be out of the weather.
Minutes later we want to dart for our van, but now the weather has stopped. As if the ancients wanted us to share this with you, and they added just enough excitement to make it a story for YOU! We hope you are enjoying this Story Blog. All stories are developed by Bright Hawk – a professional long time storyteller that often plays music with her stories. AND Hollis Taylor, author and longtime blogger. We share these stories to inspire wanderers, open your heart and eyes, and to recommend some cool places to visit.
As a Queer couple we stand with the LGBTQ community in proving that, no matter who you love, we are all just human beings having a human experience on planet earth. With Diversity and harmony we know, just like in nature, we can all thrive as a human race together. Thank you for your support! If your interested in having us visit YOUR community, please be sure to contact us. We are happy and honored to visit you along our journeys. We are booking 2020, right now.
Bright Hawk’s CD offers her fun stories that inspire our best selves, we hope you take a moment to listen. She also has a few songs on the album that she drafted with the handpan, the instrument she often uses while storytelling. We hope you take a moment to order and download her CD, follow us on Facebook/Instagram/Youtube for future growth in 2020!
Sign up for further updates about Bright Hawk’s appearances and reflections of her festival experience through this newsletter, sign up here.
May 2018 Earth Spirit community organizes their 40th Rites of Spring that includes history and future elements for the Massachusetts based community. The event no only included Bright Hawk but also historic members like Jeff & Spinner McBride, Selena Fox, and Wendy Rule.
25 years at Rites of Spring has been part of Bright Hawk’s path through many transformations from earliest in her seeker days to now as she steps forward as an elder, wise woman, and one of the best storytellers in the world. Her abilitiy to engage is clear at the traditional Magic Sunset Storytime held at least twice during the event. Just after dinner the community slowly moves themselves into position creating a very large comfortable listening space around the campfire space just outside the dining hall. Bright Hawk often tries on new ideas with the Rites of Spring audience because she is at her best among her chosen family. Assured that they will support and love her in her creative process. Bright Hawk offers music along with her stories in the past it was just the djembe but in her most recent transformations she has began to master playing the handpan along to her stories. A unique ability along with this unique instrument creates a storytelling experience among no other. Something different for families with children of different ages. An experience that engages the parents, big kids and little kids alike – an experience that in the Rites of Spring community that has now become a tradition. A celebrated tradition of listening to stories forgotten, transformed, and created by Bright Hawk that teach deep lessons like respecting nature, everyone serves a purpose, and how to transform our scars. A fantastic experience that helps bring together community and families with respect to how humans have always done it around the fire but also speaks to our today – with music and even live characters for our busy minds.
Storytelling was the overall theme of Rites of Spring in 2018 and Bright Hawk found herself with a new transformation of her storytelling teachings. Her background with storytelling in corporations in order to build teams and understanding, therefore increasing productivity, was only the first step in Bright Hawk’s newest creation “Storytelling to Inspire Consciousness”. From an intense 90 minute workshop that seems to open hearts and inspire even the shyest of the participant to now a 2-3 part series that takes us deep into storytelling. Starting with HOW to share our stories in a way that engages, inspires, and transforms the listener and using those tools to take us all deeper. Bright Hawk’s 2 or 3 days events help us to use those tools to deepen our relationships with others – creating vulnerability, understanding and community on a deeper more intimate level. Bright Hawk created a taste of this 2-3 days experience at Rites of Spring with a two part intensive, each 90mins, where participants were encouraged to attend both the first and second session. Each one of these intensives, with just a dozen individuals, that by their choice to engage are fortunate to create lasting bonds with the others in the intensive by simply sharing their story in a way that engages and inspires. When people are able to be present and listen to each others stories a deep understanding is created, therefore creating a deeper more peaceful understanding for others. This practice could potentially create serious transformations in communities leading to sustainable peace. When we work to sustain peace among ourselves as a community we are able to take inspiration to the world at large in hopes to find more peace.
Bright Hawk’s presence enhances the entire experience of rituals and traditions among the community in a very special way. Bright Hawk’s rhythms with the djembe are never taken for granted among the Fire Circles every other night, she is often known to be a very strong group drummer and helps bring drummers together with her confidence and guidance. Bright Hawk’s presence among the community brings beauty and music to rituals that inspire original tradition. Tradition that was created by this community for this community and held in a healthy way through tears and struggles to celebrations and growths. Bright Hawk is honored to be part of a community that understands deeply how to hold each other through all our parts, even the ones that aren’t as comfortable as others. Building community goes deep and to have her roots deeply in the Rites of Spring community gives Bright Hawk inspiration and confidence to carry her amazing talents and messages around the world each year.
Sign up for further updates about Bright Hawk’s appearances and reflections of her festival experience through this newsletter, sign up here.
