Gratitude

Well that was sort of completely amazing.

I recently completed a crowdfunding campaign for my next album, Sacred Activist. I was delightfully humbled and pleasantly blown away by the support. Dear community of listeners and friends. You really exceeded my expectations, not just with your collective dollars but with your loving enthusiasm. To sit in my little home amidst the trees at the tip of this island, and feel folks from all around the country and the globe urging me, ‘create, create, create,' was one of the most awesome artistic encouragements I've ever received.

Truth be told, I wasn't sure if I was up for running this campaign, with some unspecified nebulous nervousness associated with putting myself on the line and asking. Then I read somewhere on the Internet that women are less likely than men to ask for a raise, and thought, ‘just in case this is patriarchy inside my brain trying to get me to play small, I have to do it!' And the moon, when I asked her, agreed. I asked my council of wise women how to ask for support without fear and shame. They didn't have a specific answer for me. So I said, “okay, I just WILL ask without fear and shame." And I did. 

Who made you believe you can't dance?
as though you were not made 
of water 
and sky
Who told you the moon reflected in your own eyes
is anything other than the universe 
knowing its own vastness through you
Who told you the question “What do you do?"
means “How do you earn money?"
Like what fills my bank account
is more real than what fills my heart
which is like comparing a solar panel to the sun...

We're all messengers
in our pockets carrying each other's jigsaw pieces
You might be hiding the shard of light
that shows me my own completeness

The above verses will be on the album, of course. Although the formal crowdfunding campaign is over and I'm happily turning from self-promotion mode to collaborative-creation mode, contributions are still trickling in and are most welcome! I'm still putting together my dream team for this album, and each bit of funding means more studio time to make it shine. You can still read about the possible rewards on the PledgeMe site for the album, and pledge for your selected reward by clicking this handy button and entering the details:

Now whatever healing gift you're dreaming of creating for this world – even if it scares you – I dare you to put yourself out there and do it! I'll show you mine if you'll show us all yours...

                                                                                                                                                                               ~ Redwood