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!
We felt positively confident about our stop at Granite Hot Springs, since we had been to this public land the year prior. This is our second year touring the northwest US in our Honda FIT and we are feeling more confident in our use of public lands, and how to find them — we even had a few favorites along the way. Granite Hot Springs was our favorite from last year, Hollis loves waterfalls almost as much as trees and Bright Hawk loves hot springs almost as much as the wilderness. We both agreed that this place was worth more exploration and time. We dreamed about our future home on wheels as we drove past RV, Vans, and truck campers staying out on the edge of the river as we arrived. We wondered if the cows would be on the road like the year prior. With experience, we were less nervous about the cattle we encounter grazing on a lot of public lands. Honestly, we prefer seeing them grazing on wild public lands overcrowded bins on industrial cattle farms, at least this way they got to live a fair life, comparatively. We loved it when the cows visit us along the way. This day we didn’t see the cows but it was getting dark when we arrived. We had spent a couple of days in Yellowstone followed by a visit to Grand Teton. After hikes and exploration of the National Parks we were ready for a cozy night under the stars and some therapeutic waters.
This time we knew better than to camp in unmarked land, we got away with it last time but this time there were less people and the campground had plenty of open sites. This time we took a campsite a bit close to the water and the waterfall was now something in the distance. Although knowing it was there somehow inspired the soul. As we set up camp we were careful and bear aware, many signs around camp included warnings about bears. We carefully washed our dishes away from our tent and locked up all our food stuff in the car. Bright Hawk was sure to set up the tent with no scented things that might tempt a bear. We were aware that we were visiting in the fall, a rather hungry time for bears. We tucked ourselves neatly into our beds with dreams of visiting the hot springs the next day and also we needed to figure out where people where going at the end of the road. We fell asleep dreaming of exploring the space the next day in the light of day.
Campsite Set Up
Welcome Back!
Peaceful Campground
View from our Campsite
Granite Hot Springs Campground
Hollis is a fairly sound sleeper and can be caught sleeping with the loudest of music. They are rarely woken up by anything other than direct contact. This was a night that Hollis felt cozy, confident and very tired after days of hiking. Hollis found themselves woken in what could be defined as ‘the dead of night’ with no signs of the sun and not much noise. Except Hollis noticed something outside the tent, making the entire ground rumble beneath them. As Hollis’ eyes got larger and the part moon shined just enough shadow/light for Hollis to know there was a bear just outside the tent. Sniffing at the picnic table and walking around the camp looking for food. Hollis laid completely still, terrified that a bear was close enough and BIG ENOUGH to make the ground rumble. Hollis’ laid frozen beneath the sleeping bag, sweating but completely focused on what the bear was up to. Hollis hoped they didn’t have the toothbrush in the tent. Suddenly the worried mind took off with all sorts of worries like ‘can it break the windows of the car’ – ‘what if my clothes has food on it and he decides to try to get in here, what should I do’ – Soon Hollis’ storyteller had at least a dozen scenarios with only a half dozen solutions, Hollis’ heart rate increases. Hollis takes a deep breathe and says to themselves silently ‘you are still okay, in this moment everything is okay’ Hollis takes three slow full breaths, in and completely out as much as possible. Then, Hollis listened to the bear and begins to notice the bear was following a different scent, up the hill away from our campsite. Hollis exhales several sighs of relief, wondering if Bright Hawk slept through the whole thing. Hollis whispers, ‘are you awake.’ Bright Hawk says “What is it?” Hollis giggles in silence and whispers, “A bear was just outside the tent. Stay still I think it has left.”
Deep Wilderness
Misty Mountain Morning
Buffalo Road Blocks
Buffalo
We are sleeping on the ground in a truly WILD place
Now in unified listening we both validate that the bear has left our campsite and we both eventually settle back to sleep, ready for our next day. As the sun began to peak over the horizon we found ourselves packing up early so we can explore the rest of the day before we continue driving back to Colorado. As we get a quick breakfast, coffee and tea to go, and everything packed back up in the car. We noticed, while packing, that many cars are just going right by the waterfall/hotspring area. We are excited to see what is past the waterfall since we have never explored past the waterfalls and little soaking spring. We consider soaking before we head down the road because NOW it’s empty, but will it be empty after we explore down the road. We consider our choice for a moment and with the momentum of packing we keep going.
We drive past where we camped last year and the waterfall and hot spring. Here we could park, walk down the hill to the river, cross the river and soak in a little natural hot springs perfect for two people. We did this last year! From the waterfall parking area there was a hill that goes upwards. Last time we had noticed a lot of cars going up there, very carefully in a lot of cases. The road was rutted out and looked like we would need go slow in our little low lying Honda Fit. We wind around a corner and climb up a bit of a hill. As we come around the tree full area we see a building and as we approach we see signs. Signs giving instruction about parking to enter the hot springs, the prices and other various related information.
As we realize that the tiny spring from last time we visited was a teeny weeny reflection of the pools we are now looking at, large enough for 20+ people. For $10 we can soak all day if we want! We look at each other and start laughing at how we completely missed this the year before. Mostly because the road was challenging and we were grateful with what we found, a waterfall and a fun adventure across the river to a hot springs. This time though we decided to treat ourselves to a soaking for a nice long soak. It seems, that in most cases, there is more than one way to do things!
Bright Hawk & Hollis appreciate you reading our blog and are grateful if your willing to share it, comment, or like it! Forward the email to your friends? We appreciate your feedback as well, please email us.
Need something positive and unique for your event? Bright Hawk offers performances for 60-90 mins of live storytelling with the handpan that will leave your community feeling connected, loved, and inspired. A modern rendition of the ancient art of storytelling with a very modern instrument. Bright Hawk’s messages are sincere, inspiring and engaging to audiences that desire positive thinking, lifelong learning, and love for all people. Bright Hawk offers real-life travel stories, original and traditional fictional stories to intrigue even grown up imaginations. Bright Hawk is planning her 2020 schedule now and welcomes invitations to visit your community in 2020!
After a beautiful and beyond our expectations visit to the Grand Canyon North Rim we had to find a place to sleep for the night. There are many campsites just outside the National Park in the National Forest but the cold temperatures overnight push us down the mountain to lesser altitude and higher temperatures. Plus, getting a little closer to Phoenix, AZ was a good idea, it was Sunday night and we needed to be outside Phoenix by Monday night. On our way out we stop into Jacobs River Inn and purchase of a few more postcards for the grandchildren and friends that love to get them. After a little cozy break in their comfy chairs next to their warm roaring fire, we carried on down the mountain to a free campsite.
Grand Canyon North Rim
While sitting beside the fire Hollis had scouted a place just a little over an hour down the mountain. Since its Fall it’s dark by 6 pm and we drove out of the park in dark. We pulled out at 7:30 in hopes to be in place by 9 pm. Sometimes Hollis just trusts, doesn’t think too much about it and in the end, they discover that their ancestors have usually guided them to something magnificent, yet at times we have found ourselves searching for a parking place much later than we want to be. Likely we learned something on those nights, but that’s a different story! Over the years we have gotten better, now in year 4, we are pretty confident. Hollis read the details the previous scout left online “This place is a real gem, the roads tough so you need good clearance and there is a broken gate at the entrance, it says to keep it closed. Be sure to visit the end campsites!”
Vermillion Cliffs – Northern Arizona – Near Page, AZ – View from Marble Canyons
This was another public land in Marble Canyons, just beside the Vermillion Cliffs in Northern Arizona. Hollis scouted out the site online and drove for the last 75 mins. We were grateful to see the temperature come up to the 40’s as we went down in altitude. It was dark when we left the Inn. So the view was limited but after about an hour of National Forest and BLM land in the distance, Hollis could see a Motel and the navigation was showing the gate was coming up on the right. As Hollis pulled off to the side to the gate we could see the sign on the front that said, “Please Close Gate”. Hollis looks at Bright Hawk and smiles. This place looks like just another ranch but it was obviously public lands with little markings, just this little sign that was barely legible on the gate. Bright Hawk jumps out to open the gate so we can pull in and is immediately challenged by the fence. The hinges had broken and it was hard to lift and carry, but she manages the gate opens and closes it up after Hollis pulls in the van.
As we continue down the road we are slowed to 1 and 2MPH to manage the tossing around of all our stuff behind us. Slowly creeping down a road that seems barely manageable except that this van has great clearance. Hollis traverses large rocks and huge ruts in the road slowly and with great patience. Both of us taking deep breathes, to release the stress, after each challenging piece of the road. The coordinates for the actual campsite were at least 1.5 miles down this dirt road, it was late and both of us are tired. We traveled several hours today, had a several hour hikes, plus the excitement of getting to see the North Rim Grand Canyon! We hoped it was not taken by other boon-dockers and that is was the gem that was promised, but really we didn’t know, we rarely do.
Hollis was nervous about how the road actually got worse with a huge deep sand bar in the center of the road and very sandy paths for our tires. In the past, Hollis and Bright Hawk got the van caught in deep sand in Louisiana, but we did manage to get it out. With that experience, we know our van does not handle well in deep sand, so we both hold our breath as we move through sand. Hollis can feel the tires losing traction beneath them and realizes that its essential they do not touch the center at all, not even a little as it could pull us out of the path. We wonder aloud, “Are you sure this is okay?”
Driving very carefully we find ourselves returning to more huge rocks in the road and ruts along the way to be avoided. A one-lane dirt road in the desert, we cannot see any trees or much of anything in the distance. We carry on driving very slowly to avoid the tussle of the large rocks in the road. Hollis is grateful for technology telling us that we are getting closer and that it’s just a matter of time before campsites begin to pop up. Should we take the next one? A campsite on the right, fire ring and all, but the scout before us suggested taking the end campsites. We are both growing tired with this added stress of traveling such an intense road but with determination we move forward, trusting in a stranger’s comment online.
Soon the road turns and we pass a very large campsite with 2 fire rings and Hollis is aware that there is likely a body of water, nearby. It looks like this campsite might be up against running water. We carry on to see if we can get the very last campsite but as we approach we can see other boondockers. Hollis decides to drive in reverse back down the road, turn around in a small campsite and go take the other huge one, a bit of driving skill in this large Ford Transit Van. We wanted to work tomorrow and since we still had signal we may have found the perfect space. Only dropping into the 40’s overnight, we knew we would be okay. As we pulled in, set up our privacy curtains, and set up the bed for the night, Bright Hawk suggests we step out for a look at the stars.
Together we step out to see where we have landed and as we inspect the now very dark sky we see very little lights, including that Motel way off in the distance as now we were over a mile away. There were some other notable lights and as we looked up we see a clear beautiful star-filled sky. We both gasped in wonderment at the intensity of the Milky Way. As we stood beside each other we held hands staring up at the stars. Agreeing just how small we are and how the stars always remind us that we are just a speck of sand. Reminding us that we are just a tiny being on the planet earth among all the brilliance of our universe and beyond. A shooting star streaks the sky to our delight! As we hold hands and stare at the stars we are also reminded of how together makes us stronger. Reminding us that taking care of ourselves is the best we could do for the world. Our sleepy eyes take us off to bed while we dream of what our world might look like in the morning.
GOOD MORNING! Vermillion Cliffs from Marble Canyon, coffee with a view!
Hollis is up at dawn, peaking out the privacy curtains to see where we had landed. Bright Hawk steps out to catch the sun’s rise to power and we are in awe at the beauty all around us. The vermillion cliffs on one side of us in their brilliant shades of red and just next to our van were the marble canyons. Deep canyons that seemed impossible to get to the bottom, we both wondered out loud if someone had ever been down there. We decided that SOMEONE probably had. The river rushed through the center of the canyon and we heard nothing but the quiet of the wilderness and the rush of the water. We were surrounded by beauty and we realized we had the place to ourselves as the other boondockers made their very slow exit from the campsites. We set up our solar panel and set in to get a little more work done. Even in our adventures, we work hard to stay focused on sustaining our lifestyle. We are grateful to work among such beauty and we give thanks to such a beautifully preserved campsite. We could see ourselves returning here in the future as we had it to ourselves, had a great connection, and the views where marvelous. Trusting we were being guided we surrendered each time we took a deep breath along the road. Now we reaped the benefits of surrender and trusting the universe. Our gratitude grows as we manifest a life of our dreams.
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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.
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