Well In The Desert Workshop
It has been quite awhile since I have posted anything on this site. Mostly, it is because we have been using our Face Book page instead. It reaches more people and is easier to use both for me and for our audience. At some point, we will probably create a new web site, something more modern and user friendly. But for now, this is what we have. Excuses aside, I am here to bring you up to date about our activities over the last several months as well as share our plans for the future.
A lot has happened over the last year or so. Much of it involves my personal life, but since I am the carrier of the vision for the Hearts Of Fire Project, my experiences inevitably effect the project. Some of these experiences have been challenging and at times, inhibited my ability to work on the project. Thus, progress often came to a virtual standstill. Despite this, I have stayed in touch with Spirit, the true source of this project, and am asking for guidance to help me bring forth this vision in the world.
The vision has not changed, although I think it has been refined a bit. Empowering people is a popular idea these days and I am happy to see that it is. But what does it really mean? In the case of our project, it means recognizing the innate value of each human being and honoring the unique contribution each of us has to make in the world. For most of us, it is a life-long process to find what it is each of us is here to contribute, to understand what we are here to do. I have spent years contemplating my purpose and understand that it is not a simple undertaking. One thing that has become apparent is that at least part of my purpose is helping others discover their purpose, their gifts and their unique ability to contribute. Thus, I feel blessed to offer an avenue for the expression of that individual and collective contribution – the Hearts of Fire Project.
We created a new structure for our Art Empowerment Workshop, our primary vehicle for the project. With the assistance of our new Art Director and several great volunteers, we conducted several workshops at the Well In The Desert in Palm Springs, CA. The Well In The Desert is a wonderful organization that has been supporting people without homes in the Coachella Valley for many years.
From June through October, we delivered one workshop each month and each one was amazing. Although the desert heat and complicated logistics kept the attendance down, the people who were there experienced a shift in their lives. We interviewed some of these people about their experiences and their art. It was amazing. I am working on these videos and should have them ready for posting on our site soon.
In 2015, we are planning to conduct more workshops. We are investigating venues in the Palm Springs area as well as locations elsewhere. We are conducting a workshop on February 28th at Solutions For Change in Vista, CA. We conducted a workshop there in 2008, on our first west coast tour. They invited us back and we are very excited about it. We are expecting a good crowd. Since this a family shelter, there will lots of kids too. That is always fun. As usual, we will be video taping the workshop and will be posting more here about the experience. It is good to be back!
Thank you to all of our old and new supporters! Your donations are very much appreciated. Without them, we could not continue our work.