After PeaceJam in Minneapolis was through, PeaceJam staff from Denver, local youthrive staff, youthrive partners, youthrive: LIVE! artists and President Oscar Arias Sanchez (1987 Nobel Peace Prize) took a day trip to Red Wing for “A Day of Peace” at the Red Wing Correction Facility.
The young men gathered to listen to the stories and ideas of President Arias. Residents, identified by their peers and teachers as peacemakers, were given the opportunity to shake the President’s hand and ask him questions. The ‘peacemakers’ were also the residents who greeted us and made sure we knew where we needed to go. They were pretty cool young men.
Following the president’s presentation, we broke into groups to accompany the residents back to their houses/dorms to have lunch together and do workshops. I joined the one on creative expressions and it was beautiful. A couple of the young men brought out their poetry to share with us before lunch was over. And by the time we were through with the workshop, we had gotten pretty deep. Most of them shared something from their story. From my experience of listening to their stories and poetry, I mostly just want everyone to know that I saw a lot of hope and a lot of humility in these young men. They articulated a genuine desire to move beyond whatever had led them to the correction facility in the first place. Some shared about the pain in their experiences. Some shared anger. All of it was honest and raw. All of it contained eagerness for a better life.
Following the workshops, we all gathered together again in the gymnasium for the finale celebration of The Day of Peace. Dawn Engle, co-founder of PeaceJam, shared some moving reflections. Youthrive: LIVE! artists – Maria Isa with Muja Messiah, D.J. Snuggles and Heatherlyn – performed. I’m not sure exactly what moved them, but I was blown away that the residents stood to their feet and applauded enthusiastically after my first song. Pretty humbling.
I remember, as we were leaving, I was thinking that probably the general population has a pretty skewed view of residents of a correction facility. We hear labels like ‘juvenile delinquent’ perhaps without giving a second thought to how laden with disgust and judgment these terms tend to be and with no consideration given to that young person’s story, what they’ve been taught, whether or not a trusted grown up has been there for them as a guide or a mentor.
Judgmental assumptions have no place until (and even when) we’ve taken time to do some storydwelling, some deep listening to the pain and disappointment and hopes and heartbeat of someone’s life. When we give place to understanding and compassion, we want another person to succeed, learn from their past, fulfill their dreams to overcome and be a positive contributor to society and the world.
I left the correction facility appreciating the environment there, one that shows respect to the residents (I noted that the staff didn’t call residents, ‘inmates’) and appropriate accountability that leads to empowerment, growth and even leadership. I was thinking about the cold and structured societal systems of paperwork and records that face these guys when they move on from the nurturing environment of Red Wing and I was just hoping that they would continue to be encouraged and empowered to keep moving forward with the progress they’ve made, that their pasts would not be held against them, that each and every one of them would be able to start anew and fresh when it’s their turn to go back home or go to college or get a job.
Some of the residents were thinking about that too, it seems and they inquired if there’s a way to connect into PeaceJam when they graduate out of the Red Wing program. There are ways and I think we are learning how to communicate the potential opportunity.
Jason and I look forward to returning and continuing to connect through our excellent partners youthrive and PeaceJam, to learn the stories of the Red Wing Correction Facility residents and engage in creative experession and conversation with them. We trust that we will continue to hear stories of hope, change and positive leadership from these residents even beyond those walls and gates in Red Wing.
Peace, Friends.
Shared music with the community at Light Of The World Lutheran Church in Farmington, MN yesterday. Immediately following, a couple new little fans came right up to me with these sweet gifts. I noticed that even though the topic of conversation wasn’t specifically about peace and even though these youngsters were seated at different tables, they both brought me symbols of peace. These unanticipated benefits of the gig and the smiles they bring to your face, straight through to your heart…you just can’t name how valuable they are. Thanks to my new little friends at LOTW. Smiley face.
Peace and One Love.
Each year, our partner youthrive (St. Paul, MN), the regional affiliate of the international PeaceJam, holds an event for all youth in the region who have been participating in youthrive curriculum: serving their communities, building peace where they are and learning about the life story and work of a particular PeaceJam Nobel Laurate.
This year, the Nobel laureate was President Oscar Arias Sanchez. In the fall, each of the youth groups made a committment to Preseident Arias to make a difference through a specific project in their communities. In the spring, he came to the regional PeaceJam celebration in Minneapolis to visit the youth in person and be their keynote presenter. During this weekend, the youth reported back to President Arias what they’ve accomplished on their committments and projects. They also engaged together in service learning in the Frogtown neighborhood and enjoyed inspirational local artists and cultural celebration.
As a youthrive:LIVE! artist, Heatherlyn was invited to contribute music to the Ceremony of Inspiration, a time in the weekend – after hearing the Nobel laurate and after spending hours working hard on service project – a time when all the youth who desire come forward to share what inspires them to be the change they want to see in the world. They shared about their families, experiences of community surrounding them following a traumatic experience, loved ones who have passed on and individuals who have made a difference in their lives.
I was inspired by them and their stories. I was inspired to see youth from all over the MidWest, youth of every color, some from citites, some from farms, coming from different creeds and backgrounds. There are probably many things that differentiated them but they all share in common the desire to participate in hope and engage in meaningful, positive change in their communities.
Learn more about PeaceJam, youthrive and President Oscar Arias Sanchez at their respective links.
Peace and One Love.
Photo by John Cross. Origin: Mankato Free Press
Once again, our partnership with youthrive: LIVE! provided a soulful, rooted, rockin’ opportunity to contibute music to a movement much larger than ourselves. The Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Minnesota) hosted a Youth Jam in Mankato, MN for about 250 youth, most of whom are part of the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) program and all who are leaders of their peers, seeking to be the change they want to see in their world.
They day was about equipping and empowering SADD students to respond to the devestating impact of distracted driving that, unfortunately, many of them have experienced with the loss of a friend and to prevent reoccurance.
Youthrive; LIVE! brought Heatherlyn Music, beatboxer D.J. Snuggles and hip-hop artist Maria Isa to lend some entertainment and inspiration to the day. We then co-led one of the many breakout sessions in a panel discussion about being leaders of change through the arts. This was a really fun and meaningful time of connecting with students and I was personally, heartened to, once again, encounter such stellar youth leaders who are taking initiative to positively shape their world.
And we made the news! Check out more about the day here!
More great photos on Facebook. (Not sure that everyone will be able to see these, but if you’re able, enjoy!)
I can’t recall how many times someone has said to me: “You should be on American Idol!” or “Have you ever thought about trying out for American Idol?”
Well, sure. I think it’s likely at least crossed the mind of most singers. Even if you didn’t win a reality show like that, it would certainly be an interesting experience and offer good exposure. I haven’t watched American Idol in a while, and I’ve heard the vibe of it has improved, but I mostly felt like it was too cut-throat for me. I prefer to be in environments where people are encouraged to develop their gift and voice without being unneccessarily insulted and it seemed to me that good sportsmanship was lacking in the competative nature of it all.
Last November, we received an email from the casting company working with NBC on a brand new singing show called The Voice. You might have seen it premier tonight. It’s based off the highly successful Holland’s Voice and we thought the vibe and sound of it was more up our alley. I could play my guitar to accompany myself and we liked the idea of blind auditions and the celebrity judges becoming actual mentors of the competitors rather than mere spectating judges.
I accepted the invitation to audition, with some excitement and some nervousness. My audition was on the same day as everyone else’s shot in Minneapolis, but I didn’t have to arrive before dawn and wait all day to sing for the casting company and share my story. Honestly, I’m not sure I would’ve auditioned otherwise. I’m committed to music as my path, however it “works out”.
I was in and out fairly quickly and it was a cool experience. I did a couple songs I love and many of you have enjoyed in our 2011 cover song video series: Redemption Song by Bob Marley and my version of People Get Ready by Curtis Mayfield. I enjoyed the whole experience and meeting the folks working for the casting company. They were great.
They asked me to come back to callbacks the next day and wondered if I could bring more “upbeat” songs. I didn’t entirely know what that meant: more happy? more rocking? They, for sure, wanted more current hit songs since that’s what the producers of the show would be more interested in.
I busted my butt that afternoon and evening to learn Sara Bareilles’ King of Everything and Adele’s Rolling in the Deep. The ONE thing I wanted was to present my very best and leave knowing I had authentically, freely and fearlessly shined, which is what I always desire to do for the benefit and blessing of those impacted. My ONE desire seemed defeated. I felt thrown off by a couple things, which don’t really matter at this point…but the wait was much longer that day and i was exausted and hungry and I felt awful leaving the callback.
Our new friends from the casting company were cool and apparently, I was one of their favorites from our city. I’m grateful for their work and their belief in me. We moved along in the process with a phone interview from one of the segment producers and, while we were in Bethel, AK, I was filling out extensive background check papers. It was seeming like a real possibility! At some point, though, it wasn’t a good fit. The executives decided to not send me on to the casting finals in L.A. Naturally, I felt a tinged of rejection at that news, but I’m content to have not had to leave my partner and love for 6 weeks to tape the show in L.A. and I’m happy to focus on the many wonderful things we have in the works for 2011.
I happily congratulate those who made the show, those you are currently enjoying on it now. We met Tim Mahoney during callbacks and appreciated his open, sincere and natural-to-talk with kind of way about him.
Happy watching and listening and now you know my answer to everybody’s question: “Have you ever thought of being on….”
Bliss + Sweat
All the scary risk-taking and sacrifice required to live into our dream brings weariness and doubt at times. But it’s moments like this that affirm we are on the right path, moments when I remember and feel in my very bones that this is what makes me most alive and I know this is truly the best gift I have to offer all of you. This is how I can most contribute to making our world a better place. I am so grateful.
Here are the best and likely the last photos of vocal tracking for the Storydwelling record! Wah!
Remember: We might not all be artists but we are all co-creators. We can all contribute to what’s good and beautiful in our world.
What is your place of bliss? How are you contributing to the good and the beautiful in the world around you?
One of our partners in music and community engagement is Youthrive: LIVE!. They brought Heatherlyn Music (myself and Jason) along with two other artists (Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria and Tish Jones) to the Summit to Prevent Sexual Violence hosted by the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault back in Dec of 2009.
Youthrive: LIVE! was selected by MNCASA as a 2011 AWARE award honoree and the artists were invited to accept the award on their behalf. We are so blessed to have the chance to work with these quality individuals and to partner with these healthy, effectively impactful organizations. It was wonderfully encouraging to be recognized and affirmed for the work we are doing.
“Heatherlyn gave an amazing presentation that captivated the room
and had people laughing and crying at the same time. You could hear a pin drop.”
READ more from from Youthive: LIVE! about the artists at the Summit to Prevent Sexual Violence. Love these guys.
AWARE AWARD PRESENTATION // YOUTHRIVE: LIVE! ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES ~ Here’s Callie Aguilar, Larry Lucio, Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria and myself – collectively addressing and thanking AWARE Awards participants. Thanks to Larry Lucio (Founder and Organizer of Youthrive: LIVE!) for the opportunity and for capturing this moment.
HEATHERLYN’s PRESENTATION, with story and song, addressing why this is everybody’s business at the Summit to Prevent Sexual Violence, DEC 2009. (This is one of the most personal, difficult stories I’ve ever shared and I’m not sure I’ve ever been so emotionally charged. I wasn’t about to cry, but I felt like I could hardly contain myself in my own body.)
I was encouraged again when Cordelia Anderson spoke with me following the ceremony. She’s a delightful human being and also an effecive leader, communicator and mobilizer in sexual violence prevention. She told me she’s been sharing the video of my presentation as a part of her keynote addresses around the country as an example of connecting personal story, arts, awareness and social change. That blows me away and encourages me to keep growing. It’s also quite a pertinent and timely word to me as the forthcoming album is entitled ‘Storydwelling’…more on that another time. =)
HEATHERLYN’s BLOG POST ABOUT THE INITIAL EVENT for which Youthrive: LIVE! received the award.
FULL PHOTO GALLERY of the AWARE Awards Ceremony.
The soulful, rooted, rockin’ Amp It Up performance of Heatherlyn & the Storydwellers will be aired on fifteen stations in the Twin Cities, one to include MTN (Minneapolis Television Network) that reaches over 300,000 viewers! We are so greatful for this opportunity!
BUT if you’re in another part of the country, or just feel like watching it now instead of relying on your local station’s program schedule, it’s right here on the world wide web. Click here to enjoy 5 of the Storydwelling album songs and hear an interview with Singer/Song-writer Heatherlyn and Producer Matt Patrick!
The Songs in this performance:
The Storydwellers in the Amp It Up performance are Zach Miller on drums, Aaron Fabrinni on upright and electric bass and Matt Patrick on electric guitar, ukelele, vocals and Heatherlyn on acoustic guitar and vocals.
You can be expecting these stellar musicians along with a couple more at the CD release concert towards the end of this summer (date TBA soon)!
Here are two simple ways you can be involved in the Storydwelling recording project:
BIG LOVE and GRATITUDE for being our community and for being involved in this project! Peace and much goodness to you and yours always!
Bliss + Sweat
All the scary risk-taking and sacrifice required to live into our dream brings weariness and doubt at times. But it’s moments like this that affirm we are on the right path, moments when I remember and feel in my very bones that this is what makes me most alive and I know this is truly the best gift I have to offer all of you. This is how I can most contribute to making our world a better place. I am so grateful.
Here are the best and likely the last photos of vocal tracking for the Storydwelling record! Wah!
Remember: We might not all be artists but we are all co-creators. We can all contribute to what’s good and beautiful in our world.
What is your place of bliss? How are you contributing to the good and the beautiful in the world around you?
