I was lucky and blessed to be raised in a musical family where music was often playing in the home, ranging from oldies and radio hits to classical. My mother led the church choir and taught me to play piano, my father sings, and every Christmas we’d gather ‘round the piano as a family and sing carols. Being enrolled in singing and dancing groups as a young child helped me discover my love of performing. I was soft-spoken and somewhat shy, but truly lit up on the stage.
Born a truth-seeker and humanitarian at heart, I soon discovered as a young adult that the best way to help humanity and change the world for the better was to begin with myself. What if we all healed our emotional wounds and took accountability for our actions? What if ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world” as said by Gandhi, really is the best approach we can all be taking? These questions led me into an ever-evolving journey of inner healing and a desire to be more self-aware. Outwardly, in my twenties, I was a musician and artist, performing in various indie bands and music collaborations in San Francisco, enthusiastically engaged in the music and art scene. Behind closed doors, I was reading self-help books, spiritual guidance books, and learning to connect with my higher self and trust my intuition through daily exercises, passionately intrigued and dedicated to learning how to navigate my inner world and the world around me towards more freedom, love, and happiness. Like many folks on the planet, I experienced bouts of depression, loneliness, insecurities, and an entire treasure chest full of limiting thoughts and beliefs that were holding me back from living a life of ease and joy. These truly are treasures, I’ve found, as they’ve provided so much personal growth once acknowledged and lovingly released from my being.
It wasn’t until my mid-thirties that I began combining my passion for mindfulness, and conscious awakening with my passion for music. This merging was awakened while experiencing the biggest trust fall of my life in Maui, Hawaii. I had left my life in San Francisco behind feeling called to the islands, and choosing to surrender completely to the now moment: no plan, no expectations, a limited amount of money and no job lined up. I had a hypothesis and was using my life as an experiment: What if I led every now moment trusting in the universe and my own inner guidance? This extreme leap of faith led to extreme learning experiences for the next two years and I became consciously aware of the depths and layers of my subconscious programming, reaching the core of my scarcity, victimhood, depression and disempowerment. Naturally, this was very challenging inner work to be faced with, but I knew I was being shown exactly what had been holding me back from my full potential, so many limiting thoughts and beliefs held so deeply I hadn’t even been aware of them, now exposed. I was able to release old wounds through tears and acknowledgement, holding a space of forgiveness and compassion for all involved. On the flip side, I had long moments of absolute bliss for the first time in my life and felt a reconnection to the rhythms of sacred earth. The interconnectedness of all living beings, the oneness people speak of in new age circles, was no longer a concept of the mind that I resonated with, but became a seen and felt personal experience expanding my consciousness as a result of living moment to moment and healing my inner child. Music continued to be my favorite form of creative expression and meeting like-hearted musicians aligned during my journey. A new style of singing emerged blending my indie rock roots with chanting and using melodic vocalizations instead of words when inspired. All in all, I returned to the mainland completely transformed.
A year after my return from Maui, I was fully loving life living in Portland, Oregon, reunited with dear friends and becoming acquainted with that gem of a city, when I met Noah. Our connection was so real and powerful it pulled me in like a warm and familiar gravity and before long I moved up to Olympia, Washington to combine forces in manifesting our dreams into reality!
Noah and I have spent countless hours in conversation envisioning every aspect of Waking Bear and all we wish to create, not only for ourselves or as a band, but as a shared experience with the audience. My biggest joy in performing is to connect to the audience with my voice, whether that be through speaking or through singing. Songs and lyrics that come through me are born with an intention to inspire, awaken the spirit, uplift and heal. Noah and I take turns in sharing personal stories that have given us new perspective and expanded our hearts to connect, empathize and cheer others on towards a path of more love and joy from within. I have learned so much along my healing journey and been given so much love and support, I wish to give back and help others to feel the magic and beauty of not only being alive, but thriving.
