Happy Sunday in December! I hope this finds you well.
As 2024 is rounding to a close, I thought I’d share an update on my creative projects… (just posted this on Facebook)
?I was hoping to publish a poetry book on Amazon this fall. It will be early 2025. Still waiting for cover art and design, and a foreward from a published author, which will help the book get out there. I’m pasting a sample poem below for your enjoyment.
?I have discovered a great cafe in Esquimalt that has “listening” open mics on Thursday nights. I literally cried the first time I attended last week. I have been dreaming of an open mic forever like this where people are not drinking and talking during the performances. So good!
?During the next 6 months I have some dental procedures to go through. This will affect my singing and overall ability to charge forward. I am leaning into a “semi-hibernative” winter as I go through this part of my healing. A good time to write.
There are a few key projects calling my name. I am not 100% certain which direction my writing and practicing will take me as main focus. I clearly see a non-fiction book about my journey with recovering from limbic brain injury. It’s an important story. Just not sure I am actually strong enough and ready to write it, as it will bring back some of the horror and depth of what I went through. On the other hand, I might just start and see how it feels. Probably will chip away at it before I get too far from the experience, as I will forget more and more over time what the journey was really like.
?During my DNRS practice from 2021-2022, during the first year of doing 60 minutes per day, I channeled about 20 children’s songs. It was a natural part of me speaking to different parts of my brain. There is a whole children’s album. It is something I can produce on my own from home for little expense, so that’s helpful.
?And last winter during my 5-month sojourn at Nelson Commons in Nelson, I wrote a whole album that stemmed from the events of Oct. 7, meeting a young jew who lifted and inspired me around the innate goodness of my people, falling in love ( I fall easily), while still processing the pain of my marriage separation and being without a secure home. It is a powerful album about love, heartbreak and hope. I hope to record this album with producer Roger Swan, who I came into contact with through Kolbe Mikah, the amazing talented young singer I jammed with for a few months.
? I am currently stationed at my dad’s in Sidney. Not sure where I will make home for the long run, but clear it is time to write and share, as much as I can, while I continue to heal here.
?These are some projects I look forward to sharing with you as they birth through me. I am still fundraising on GoFundMe for health expenses while also starting to look around for funding options for my creative work. I tried the FabOver40 contest. One thought I had was starting a Patreon account. This allows fans to make regular contributions of any amount over time, like a regular consistent artist’s support. I’ll post the GoFundMe link below. Any contributions there help me get to and from Kelowna and pay for these expensive dental procedures.
Please let me know your thoughts and reflections. I am indebted to my community for your support in my work and my healing process!
And here is me, a regular old funny human at a laptop. Life is short! We gotta live our dreams!
Solo Retreat – by Zoey Hana Wren
Quiet heartbeat in the forest
knows her way
finds her place
That first day, I was scared of the silence
the layers and years of ego had built up
like crusty residue
My own heartbeat, beating in my chest, scared me
I was scared of the power to begin again
my own life
my own death
stretched in front and behind me
I lay softly on the porch swing
riding the rhythm of my heart
its softness
its solidarity
I lay thanking the good fortune to have made it home
Here, where nothing was needed and nothing required
I lay for days
recovering from life
And who was that girl that went out into the world to become someone?
Identities collapsing inward
she overrode her essential nature
she became an outward image of herself instead of her pure self
but the peace of the mountains stood the test of time
as she overlooks the lake and the birth of a river
she finds herself back among these peaks
she looks up to resonate with the beauty and power
she knows she is just as majestic
in truth, she knows
that she is here now
and that she barely made it home