Happy Solstice ❤️
Drawing on Ancestral Wisdom: Art & Joy as Salve for Inner Wounds
Tonight at dusk my friends and family will celebrate the earliest summer solstice in 228 years with a small fire ceremony. We’ll write what to let go of on pieces of paper and toss them in the fire. We’ll sow seeds and water plants that we’d like to see bear fruit by the autumn equinox and winter solstice. We’ll renew our commitment to take better care of ourselves and the planet. And we’ll sing and dance. We carve out time from our busy lives because our nervous systems seek communal celebration as a way of stabilizing, nourishing, and fortifying us.
Today is also World Refugee Day. In my next post, I’ll share an upcoming article I wrote on the link between neuroaesthetics and joy. Our ancestors knew this connection intuitively and science is finally catching up. The article explores why people amid crackdowns in Iran and horrific conditions at the US-Mexico border, Gaza, and Congo prioritize communal celebrations. I interviewed 2 academic experts and 4 remarkable colleagues in the most dangerous parts of the world.
The current reality is that many populations have experienced and are currently experiencing collective trauma. While we can’t sing and dance away structural injustices or genocide, we can always prioritize collective healing through joyful communal practices to nurture individuals and community, just as our wise ancestors did🙏🏾
Musical Ambassadors of Peace Training
Joy, dance, singing, and music-making must be in the zeitgeist as in the past several months, individuals and organizations have reached out to ask about Musical Ambassadors training. Honoring these requests, we will be hosting our first 3-day training open to the public on September 28-30th in Boulder, Colorado.
Together we’ll explore the healing practice of oscillating between receptive and active rest, savoring the 5 senses, and imagination. Participants will delve into the art of facilitation which fosters learning from each other, collaborative problem-solving, practicing self-regulation, and de-escalating our nervous systems. Together we discover creative and pleasurable musical ways of making grounding-in-joy contagious.
Grab your spot soon as space is limited. Details are here and I’m happy to answer any questions.
News of My MAP Colleague from Gaza
I’m sharing some good news! Thanks to your generous donations, Rahaf Shamaly was evacuated to Egypt and is working on getting her family out of Gaza. As you can imagine leaving her homeland and her family behind broke her heart and she is worried sick about her loved ones.
Below is an excerpt from Tricia Irby, MAP’s executive director, who’s been in touch with Rahaf throughout the whole ordeal and is tirelessly working on several fronts:
Friends,
I want to give you an update on Rahaf, our Musical Ambassador from Gaza. I’ve been in touch with her almost daily since the war began.
For several months our conversations usually started with, “Rahaf, are you still alive?” To which she would often respond, “Yes, habibti, still alive.”
Other times she would respond with, “I feel like i want to die. The life is very hard. I cant wallah!”
I've never been in such close contact with someone who was living inside a war zone. It was heart-wrenching, and I often didn't know what to say to her. But I tried to remind her that she was strong and that she was loved.
She and her family had fled Gaza City early in the war and moved to Kahn Younis. Then they were forced to evacuate to Rafah. In February she was joined in Rafah by the other members of her band and they began doing music events for children in the refugee camps and tent cities. This brought her some joy and a sense of purpose. Her spirits began to lift.
She sent me some videos of those sessions. I am delighted to be able to share them with you.
Rahaf and her band are currently in Qatar raising awareness for the Palestinian people. They performed at The Palestinian Cultural Heritage Festival and spoke at Education Above All’s annual conference where they shared their message with students from different nationalities. They were even recently live-streamed into the Coachella Music Festival by a fellow Palestinian artist.
With your help, Musical Ambassadors Of Peace has continued to support Rahaf during this terrible time. We believe in her and her commitment to bringing joy and strength to her people with music. We have no idea what will happen next, but we know that wherever she ends up, she and her band will be a force for good in the world.
If you’re moved to help MAP continue its life-affirming work, please ✨Donate Here✨