New Mexico Summers
healing from the jemez mountains to the taos valley
“It smells like camp,” my wife says, stopping midway down the stone-lined dirt path, under a canopy of green in Taos, New Mexico. We were there for the first ever She Rises Music Festival
Stepping out from under midday shadows and into the full sun, my wife says she’s feeling the safety she only ever felt at camp.
I can still picture her face as it turned my way, the softness, the peace. I don’t know the date without referencing something, but I will always remember how it felt to watch her feel safe as she was transported back to her years spent attending Hummingbird Music Camp in the Jemez mountains of New Mexico.
“I still think about it every day,” she admits, “and it brings me great peace. It was my first safe space away from my family where I was just me.”
Summer meant camp. Camp meant safety.
And music, which had always provided safe space.
She was a part of something special at camp. She was a hummingbird1 who played the clarinet, later adding the trombone. She went from young camper to experienced counselor.
Safe all the way through.
“I still think about it every day,” she admits, “and it brings me great peace. It was my first safe space away from my family where I was just me.”
Bears repeating.
The path we walked led to the very first She Rises music festival at Kit Carson Park. Andrea Magee and friends created such a women-focused safe space that my wife was able to let her guard down in public. For the first time in years, she was able to stop scanning the perimeter for threats. You bet your ass I jumped up and gave that beautiful Belfast girl Andrea a hug!
The men were even notably vibrating at a welcoming frequency, and we spotted one old dude who looked like my dad from behind. That’s always a good sign because my dad was an old hippy who discovered late in his life that he enjoyed the comfort of a dress.
These were our kind of men—wearing babies, dancing solo, and smiling.
This was our kind of festival—small, mostly women, and only good vibes.
The festival also supports Music Helps: “When you purchase a ticket or become a sponsor, you contribute to Music Helps’ mission of using music as a catalyst for transformation. This nonprofit provides access to music education, therapeutic programs, and community initiatives that empower individuals and communities in need.”
We had three performers on our must-see list: Andrea Magee, Shawn Colvin, and Allison Russell. They are each phenomenal women and incredible artists.
But I’d be lying if I omitted the fact that it was Allison Russell’s saging of the stage and praying over the crowd before she even began to sing that brought the real healing that day. Survivors have a way of reaching directly into the hearts and souls of other survivors, which is what I know she did that day. We listened to her The Returner album on repeat that year. Talk about healing!
When we returned to San Diego from our trip, my wife started building with LEGOs like she hadn’t since she was a kid. She had enjoyed the LEGO Architecture sets: Eiffel Tower, Stratosphere, Big Ben, and her favorite, Singapore. But this was something different, and she was happier then I’d ever seen her. She was a little girl again, sorting bricks and thumbing through instruction booklets. I began joking I was a LEGO widow because I had never seen her hyperfocus like this. She just disappeared into her build, and it was magic. It’s what happens to me when I’m on a roll writing or lost in a painting.
I believed that was enough of a happy inner child ending after a great trip full of music and good vibes until my wife explained how building with LEGOs reinforced a sense of trust in her: “When you think they’ve missed a brick or a step, they always come through.” Wow, that’s some healing.
A memory of a smell…of safety.
The reassuring click of everything in its proper place.
The satisfying first bricks of a LEGO build.
And she was free…her life altered.
Music heals. Find yours if you haven’t.
We are all creators. Go make something.
What’s healed you, whether you were expecting it or not?
What have you made that’s helped you escape your thoughts?
She sings the good morning hummingbirds song to our dog (her dawter).