Interview by Monique McQueen
What have you been up to during these times of such upheaval and change?
Well its post pandemic; post my fathers passing; and like a ground hog day movie that comes to an end its "what now?" So many people are asking themselves this question. How can so much turbulence come from so much pause? Here we all are in this contracted state where for me anyway, travelling globally into the corporate domains of culture and leadership is still a tricky venture. Travel for business was always a drag for me even if I had a nice personal cubicle to nest in but wearing a mask for hours on end in a closed circuit soup with others is so NOT appealing. Can I possibly go through another round of ZOOMING and reach the four corners of Earth via the virtual? So far NO but who knows? I prefer the in-person interaction for transformation. And enjoying my work is a priority now, as it is for all those I assume who have been a part of the "great resignation" of our time. So its LOCAL LOCAL LOCAL! All indicators SCREAM LOCAL. From the circular economy to new consciousness in all things medicinal its LOCAL. As someone from a global focus (which I will always have) distilling it all down to a community level is a whole new arc of intake. My first venture coming out of the cocoon of pause is SPEAKING lunchtime "bites" of inspiration and motivation. Now Im creating a new program called CROSSING THE BRIDGE TO WONDERLAND.
I can see so much art in your space at the moment. Were you painting throughout the pandemic?
Yes, I have been painting and the pandemic created the space for that focus. Large abstract acrylics on canvas and board and some collage on wood panel. As with anything of worth it needs you to get out of your own way and thats been the task. The moment I think "I should do this series of paintings" Ive already lost it and its seems to take so long to get that back. I love the collage I did just after that frightening man won the US elections in 2016. I was just in the emotional passion of the distress and it came together without thought.
Its' your birthday this month. What are your thoughts on ageing?
As a woman from my generation we had enough bombardment of messages about the value of a woman being connected directly to her youth and her desirability to men that Ive had enough to sort through. In my work in the arena of consciousness I live, eat, breath, walk, run, dive, speak, emote think, feel the zeitgeist of the collective and the truth of an alive healthy consciousness. So I am a vocal activist for the absolute necessity of EVERYONE EXPRESSING THE TRUTH OF WHO THEY ARE. The uninhibited self is my goal. It's a goal in progress but it's a goal nevertheless. To feel the freedom of being true to self; the freedom of self expression beyond how I look is an absolute. So much time is wasted on an outrageous notion of being desirable to men!!!! Since I moved to Canada my activism has been contained within the glorious women who are my friends in a quite wonderful sisterhood of debate discussion and TELLING IT LIKE IT IS. Long dinners of soul searching, unpacking the current landscape and keeping it real. If I had to define my religion THIS IS MY RELIGION. Religion really means to reunite the ions, the poles of duality. With my sisterhood and the occasional man in the mix we sort and spit and thread and weave and we are all actively engaged and awake to Life! I love and value them all. Ageing? I feel more alive, engaged and at peace with myself than ever before. I feel more in touch with what true beauty is. I am glad to be alive and embracing what there is to love more and more. It really is a journey of opening the heart.
I know that you are also very focused on a creative life in the broadest sense of that world. Could you elaborate on that?
Yes. When the word "creative" is used so many people think of art and crafts, knitting maybe even painting but CREATIVITY is everything that you produce, generate, innovate, articulate, palpate
(lots of "ates" in those words lol.....). Creativity belongs, resides in the ZONE of aliveness and PRESENCE. Being free from the mental tape loop of the past recording and future notions places you in the Zone of TRUE CREATIVITY. It's that "getting out the way" thing again. YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT BE INHIBITED, CONDITIONED, TRYING, PRETENDING OR LYING. Thats living a conscious life. Again...thats my religion.
Do you have other creative projects in the works?
I do. Im spinning a lot of plates at the moment. One of my truly creative friends is a prolific writer. Books and stories just pour out of him. He is terrific example of a person who lives in the Zone. He is a sailor, safari adventurer, mountain dweller, project/designer of homes, surfer (Im sure Im missing a lot) and he writes page turners. When I first arrived in Canada I read his work Elffynn and to me it was written for the screen. Ive since learned that everything he writes translates to the screen beautifully. At that time I had a contact with a group connected to Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame and I sent it to them with my fingers crossed. They loved it and said it "had legs" but Jackson wasn't wanting to look at another such mythology. He was directing Lovely Bones and having to take over directing the Hobbit so we moved on. Film/tv/play is I guess my other religion. (Its so funny I never use the word religion and here Ive used it three times?!) So Im busy reading, creating bibles and looking for a sci fi/fantasy/dystopian publisher and a Netflix like, content needy financially liquid, group that want to take the writing to the screen. Im still painting ( a huge canvas is in front of me at the moment). The big venture is my launch back into speaking. Im writing my newest piece about Crossing the Bridge to Wonderland. Im offering coaching locally so that everyone can partake of the terrific model of change I work with. Im back into lap swimming to get my fitness level back and I stay in the loop of politics, human rights, the new consciousness and making magic. Life is good.
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