“History is full of legends about heroes and heroines, not stories about vanquishers or the vanquished, but about people who travel the world, contemplate the steppes, and allow themselves to be filled by the energy of love.”
–The Zahir
I so completely believe in the sweet truth, which is that as we set out to make art, turn difficult situations- wrangled with uncertain emotions- into something beautiful, we enter into a flow that is, in all actuality MANIFESTATION. And while there are different mediums, equally messy but with the ability to change a frequency, or the trajectory, or someone’s life forever in a million various ways- a myriad, or whatever and other beautiful people flow into your life.
As an artist, I have had the luxury of living without being connected to the web. Think about that for a moment, if you can.
I can’t google or run it through a program. I can see how art might be at risk when losing the human touch.
If I am reading a manual or instructions I perhaps wish it to be ‘cut-and-dry’. When I look back and think of my favorite books of self help or even old garden and cook books, it was the quirkiness, the character and the details of their experiences that brought added joy to my endeavors.
So I think my wish for myself is to try to never lose sight of this creative time, when I benefited on my trajectory of success, by not being tethered to a device ( other than the one that is attached to my ankle!
There is one way in which we can assure we do not lose the human touch and that is in mentorship. In that way, we must be authentic, organic, transparent and honest.
One of the heroines of my story, the previous mentioned, AMY POVAH, held my hand while I was incarcerated.
Even on her worst days, I learned from her, that life may not always be easy once I am free but I must persevere and meet life on life’s terms.
While teaching classes here, I would often highlight women like Amy. Women who came to Federal Prison yet were defined not by the crime they committed but the powerful story that followed post incarceration.
I can remember when I first arrived, I was quietly heart broken. When Amy came into my life, she was so kind and to the point, TELL YOUR STORY, she said. And she helped me get it out there.
Her advise was solid.
I plan to follow in her footsteps in so many ways. Post-prison, Amy launched the CAN-DO Foundation, which obtained it’s 501(c)(3) status in 2004. CAN-DO educates the public about the conspiracy law and advocates ” justice through clemency “for victims of conspiracy and draconian sentencing laws.
In 2010, Amy learned the art of filmmaking and became president of Harm Reduction Productions. Her documentary 420 won Best Documentary Feature at the Awareness Film Festival in Santa Monica, CA in 2013.
Amy has spoken on an endless list of panels about clemency and criminal justice reform, including at Yale University, Vanderbilt University, Pepperdine University and so many others.
Having Amy Povah in my life, fighting for me out there and encouraging me while in here, changed my life in a way few could understand.
You see, it’s easy to get lost here, easy to begin to believe the lie that you are a convict with no value and no future, join the masses in a day-after-day of nothing-ness!
Instead, knowing what she was able to accomplish, I was able to see the light of my own path.
I now have invitations from University Department Heads to come and speak, and thanks to Amy, I will be able to make those engagements at the young age of 50 something, rather than late 60 something.
I have no doubt that when I make the documentary, DADDY ISSUES, highlighting the vast sea of women who are doing time riding on a wave that ebbed from DADDY, that the work will be recognized as valuable and necessary.
And whereas the 501(c)(3) that I am structuring to build a bridge for women ( and possibly men ) transitioning from prison, helping them to find their balance while training them in sustainable building practices, I know that I will be paying it forward in gratitude and in the flow, in line with AMY POVAH.
I have contemplated my steppes and am filled with an energy of love, and I have not been vanquished.
