Rivera Sun's Blog: From the Desk of Rivera Sun, page 38
August 9, 2012
A living breathing protest that shouts: we are people!
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From the spacious dry quiet of New Mexico, I lean over the modern back fence of the internet and catch all the gossip of the incredible, uplifting work each of you are engaged in all across this country.
To my friends in Maine: Thank you for the community performances and art workshops that are exploding like ripening tomatoes on the vines of your little towns. Thank you for leadership in the local, organic food movement, and the persistent dedication of the state to self-sustainable agriculture.
To my friends in West Virginia: Thank you for courage in protesting mountain top removal in a non-violent manner even as hate and antagonism rage around you.
To my dear friends in Santa Cruz, CA: Thank you for getting the desalination plant on the November ballot, and thank you in advance to all the citizens who will turn out en masse on election day to vote NO! on this unsatisfactory ‘solution’ to the region’s water issues. Thank you for working so hard to get GMO labeling on the California ballot as well, and for raising your voices against fracking, and showing up at sleeping bag ban vigils. Thank you for dancing under the full moon and bringing your kids to volunteer at the Homeless Garden Project and going to those social affaires we call farmers’ markets and gathering to drink tea at Hidden Peak Teahouse to keep the art of human conversation alive and well.
“Fiddle falls silent,
but they keep swirling,
all of heaven’s strings are playing for them,
inside their hearts, my hearts, everybody’s hearts,
love is dancing along.” -Mamalou
-excerpted from “Freedom Stories: volume one”
As corporations co-opt our government, you are a living protest that shouts:
We are people! Alive and breathing! Loving and taking care of one another!
Awake. Aware. Informed. Active.
This is the revolution.
Our ‘leaders’ would like the word “American” to leave the rest of the world trembling before our economic and military might. In truth, however, the rest of the world is trembling in frustration, laughing at our conceit, shaking their heads at our stupidity, and praying for a miracle called, ‘a change of American Heart’.
We are the miracle.
Believe it.
One by one, we, the people of the United States, are changing our national identity by practicing the most radical form of resistance to tyranny:
Kindness. Care. Compassion.
“Imagine-a-nation where I can just be,
where love grows up people,
and freedom rains.” -Lala
For more poetic inspirations,
check out our books
available here on the blog!
Have you ever sat still long enough to watch a flower open? Try it, for we are an unfurling flower; delicate, beautiful, and full of the seeds of future generations in the face of great adversity. The more we care for others, the wider the flower opens.
I’ll leave you with this thought: As our elected leaders rattle the war machine and try to make the world believe we are cutthroat, avaricious capitalists, what can you do, today, to rewrite the story of our national identity? How can your love, tolerance, courage, and peacefulness become the reputation and legacy of our country shares with the rest of the world?
Yours in deep thought and reflection,
Rivera Sun
July 21, 2012
Rivera’s Recommendations For Your Summer Reading List
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The mesa sea world outside my door in Taos, NM.
It seems I am a voracious bonfire hungry for words these days. I consume them by the armload from the library, the used bookstore, the forgotten recesses of my shelves. Here’s a bit of illumination and warmth thrown back to you in my recommendations:
Barbara Kingsolver’s Small Wonder. Elegant essays, succinct and to the devastating point. She nails our relationship to our earth and to each other in ways that make you want to jump for joy and dive into activism at the same time.
Pablo Neruda’s Isla Negra: a notebook in the bilingual translation by Alastair Reid. At times a romance language brain twister, at other times a lyrical exposure to Spanish, his verses are always a relishing and refreshing romp through great intellect, soul, and beauty.
Joanna Macy’s World As Lover, World As Self. Ever want to redefine your relationship to life in general? This incredible living treasure, Joanna Macy, will guide you through environmental awakening and spiritual discovery with the precision of a ship captain through the rocky shoals of our contemporary world.
Jean Giono’s Second Harvest. Sensual, lush, and sparse all at the same time, Giono’s writing never fails to plunge you into your humanity, regal you with simpler times, and break your soul open to the slow return of life after a long hard winter. Short, and beautifully written, this book with its woodblock prints is a textual joy to read in print.
Enjoy! And send me your recommendations in return. I will read them among the green tomatoes of our garden and let all things ripen in their time. Rivera
July 10, 2012
Early Dawn Risings & New Writings Emerging
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Illustrations for a new story . . . coming soon from the desk of Rivera Sun
“In the grey dawn stillness, sitting,
with the charcoal quiet all around her,
across the far-flung depths of infinity,
someone heard Hope cry;
“They say our world is ending,
our very world is ending,
and please,
I don’t won’t our beloved world to end.”
So across the inky darknesses,
that someone came.”
-copyright 2012, Rivera Sun
The thunderstorms roll across the mesa, bringing balance to a summer of dry heat. They let loose cool showers that turn the sage silver-green with black trunks and deepen the red tones of the earth. In the mornings, three times a week, we rise at dawn and meditatively fire the cob oven to bake our sourdough bread. To live this rich, good life is such a blessing. A humble one in which we buy everything in bulk; whole wheat flour, brown rice, beans, cornmeal. We live simply, and take pleasure in watching our beans simmer for hours in front of the small fire that heats the oven we will later bake the bread in.
Every day, I write. The words are pouring out of me in torrents, like the rain showers, rolling in regularly and yet, still unexpectedly, dowsing the paper with fresh thought, lilting metaphors, and poetry. Many new essays that don’t have homes yet are piling up, waiting for a book or a magazine to send them off to readers’ eyes. Those dear plays you all love are languishing in their corners, longing to be performed, but knowing it’s not quite their time yet.
I sketch to break the intensity of writing. And also stretch. And jaunt off across the mesa in the evenings when the lightening isn’t threatening to zap the tallest red-head on the mesa (me). Such amazing plants, unfolding yellow blossoms of the wildest tiny shapes, continuously throughout this summer season. A sage in bloom startles you with its vivd golden sprays that roll out across the plant over many days. A night, the coyotes serenade the sunset, the moon rise, the moon set, and sometimes even the sunrise. They call out the movements of the heavens. Enjoy this excerpt from a new book, whose illustrations slowly emerge on the writing desk.
Keep in touch! Rivera Sun
June 23, 2012
A mud oven by any other name . . .
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Adobe . . . cob . . . mud.
An oven by any other name (‘hornos’ comes to mind) still bakes a mouth-watering bread. Since our return from the East Coast, we have reveled in the dry thinness of our Taos, NM high-altitude air. We count our blessings continuously for such a beautiful home AND to have such incredible travels throughout the United States sharing messages of hope, inspiration, and beauty.
Our travels lit the well-laid fire within me to address environmental & social issues along with the spiritual. Climate change is very, very real. Every corner of this country is being affected by it. As our environment rapidly changes, so must we. Adaptability, flexibility, and non-attachment are useful practices to have under one’s belt.
The past ten days out here in the summer desert heat were filled with house cleaning, inspired writing and cob oven building. The oven in our sage-brush yard defies all cultural delineation, shaped like good English cob-ovens, built of New Mexican adobe, and ready to bake some vegan cookies. It’s construction was home-grown activism, an impulse to wean ourselves from our natural gas oven. Natural gas, extracted through the destructive practice of fracking, is a hot-button issue in nearby Mora County, NM. I heard rumors of it in my home state, Maine, and passed by communities in Pennsylvania already injured by it. Energy is a national issue. The personal becomes political through conscious choice.
Later this week, I sung my oven’s praises. It is alive, an ecosystem unto itself. A teacher. Enjoy this short excerpt of my written work. (For those who salivate in anticipation, the book is coming . . . someday soon.)
“. . .my hands are back in earth, digging. Scoops of clay-thick mud thwop firmly on a mound of packed down sand. My hair sneaks out from where it should be, pinned, and tries to slip with grass strands into mud. I tuck it back. As long as women have had hips and breasts . . . as long as men have caught the whiff of smoke and bread and something else . . . as long as curves and buns and loaves have been shared between our bodies; that is how long humans have been building ovens. . . She’s sensuous, my oven. She teaches me to sway the mud-lumps on my hips. She reminds me how long women have had breasts and breads and ovens. . . and how long we’ve shared ourselves with love.”
Be blessed and well wherever you are! Drop us a line! Rivera
May 31, 2012
“In a time of Hate, Love is a radical act.” -Rivera Sun Cook
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Lala: “I’m going to tear out any part of this Bible that’s ever kept anyone’s love from growing!”
"Speaking from an open heart has made me into an activist."
This morning’s headlines shivered goosepimples up my arms and realization shuddered through me. The report featured a Kansas preacher calling on the US Government to murder homosexuals. Lala’s message of love is needed NOW . . . with great urgency.
Again, and again, with great courage and wisdom, my characters champion the way of Love. Mamalou stands up in church to speak out against her community’s discrimination. Lala tears up a Bible rather then let it be used to kill anyone’s love. Lijah finds God only uses one Word . . . and that Word must be Love.
Lala: “I’m going to imagine-a-nation where ALL sorts of loving can grow!”
Mamalou: “If you’re going to run to the House of your Lord . . . you better run to the House of Love!”
Lijah: “The song of Love is the song of God, and we gotta be singing those melodies in church, in school, in the street, on the prairie, and at your feet, Lala!”
When I first wrote “The Freedom Stories of Lala”, I worried about their relevance to contemporary Americans. After all, didn’t everyone know we should treat all people with respect, loving kindness, and tolerance? Sigh. As I read the news, see the church signs along the road, hear the stories from across the country of vindictive, hate-filled behavior, I shiver at the timeliness of Lala’s messages. I asked for a story that needed to be heard by our people, right now, in America, and love-filled Lala came along. As Lijah says,
“Lala’s the only girl I know who had heart big enough to dare to ask God Himself to help all these people learn to love each other.”
I did not start out as an activist. I am a writer of love stories. But in a time of increasing hate, speaking the message of Love has become a radical act. The Bible is being used as an excuse to foster prejudice, and to erode civil rights. Narrow-mindedness, racism, and egotism from all sides, liberal, conservative, undeclared find us pointing fingers, calling names, closing our ears to each other.
I used to say these plays are not about racism or discrimination. They’re about love and human beings. Now, more and more, I find the message of Love is a radical notion. My viewers report their yearnings for it and their tearful relief when they find it spoken. In my book “Freedom Stories: volume one” I urge,
“Navigate this wild world with the searchlight of your love!”
"Love can guide us through the rocky shores of hate and prejudice."
I ask us all to shine our Love like a beacon for those crashing against the rocky shores of hate and judgments. Let it guide equally those who flounder in the surf of prejudice and those already embarked on the journey of Love.
As an artist, an activist, and a writer of love stories, I share this message of Love. My hope is that, as young Lala says, “me and you . . . whoever you are, wherever you come from, whatever you look like, can just open our eyes . . . and love each other!”
Thank you. Rivera Sun Cook
P.S. Please join us at the performances!
Lucid Stage, Portland, ME
“The Education of Lala Girl” May 31st, 7:30pm & June 1st, 8:00pm
“The Emancipation of Lala” June 2nd, 8:00pm
“The Imagine-a-nation of Lala” June 3rd, 2pm
“Change Your Story to Change Your World” Workshop June 2nd, 1pm
Jubilee! Community, Asheville, NC
“The Education of Lala Girl” June 8th, 7pm & June 9th, 1pm
May 24, 2012
Lala Whirls To A Close This Week: Join us for the final Maine performances!
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Rivera Sun at Schoodic Point, ME
What a pine-tree laden, fiddle-head cooking, rocky coast-line curving, standing ovation filled tour this has been! Clouds and eyes have sparkled with sunshine and laughter, and poured liberally with tears and rain. The 1890′s all-black Kansas world of Lala has transported us all into the depths of our hearts and I have been honored by the Maine reception of the stories! Thank you to all the people in Maine who have made our time together so magical.
The last week of our journey races along. Fourteen year old Lala will ‘whirl the whole world into one’ in Winter Harbor on May 26th, and then our beautiful treks through coastal Maine draw to a close as we hunker down in Portland at Lucid Stage for the final run of the shows! (Check out the schedule to the right for details!)
Dariel Garner, company manager, technician, all-around miracle worker on the tour!
Tell all your Maine friends how much you loved the shows! Help spread the word for the final performances! It will be another year’s time before we touch Maine soil again, so catch us now before we leave! Send us a review or reaction via our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/RisingSunDanceTheaterPage?ref=tn_tnmn
or email (info@risingsundancetheater.com), and if you missed your chance to buy a book in person, we do ship them! Order online through this blog.
Maine Coast!
I cannot express what an incredible journey this has been. Pink orchid lady slippers and mossy granite boulders adorn Maine in the late spring, and all the maple, oak, and birches have lept into full leaf during this time. My heart is bursting with the freshness of wild strawberry blossoms, white against green leaves, and I know the sweetness of the Freedom Stories will ripen within us all summer long!
May 15, 2012
Coastal Maine, here we come!
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Skylar Cook, in his hand-built boat on the coast of Maine
Friday, May 18th at 7:00pm, “The Imagine-a-nation of Lala Child” will debut at Hammond Hall in Winter Harbor. Located in one of the hundreds of Maine communities tucked right on the rocky coast line, the theater is run by Schoodic Arts For All, an incredible arts organization that has helped an explosion of creativity bloom in the area.
Although Winter Harbor is a long haul for most of the family, my youngest brother, Skylar, will join the spinners and weavers and people I spent time with as a young woman to see this sweet show. A young man steeped in the heritage and culture of our native state, Maine, my brother Skylar spends his days restoring and repairing boats in Bar Harbor.
A student of The Boat School, in Eastport, ME, he graduated and quickly found employment and enjoyment living on the winding, rocky coast of Maine. He writes of sails and nautical terms, describes vibrant blue oceans and dark pine-lined shores. His life bridges the past to the future, keeping alive both ancient knowledge and modern technologies.
Just like me. As a theatrical storyteller, I see many parallels between my brother’s life and mine. We immerse ourselves in cultures. Celebrate simple beauties and bring that way of appreciating life to everyone we meet. We regale in nature and sing the praises of the natural world, champion its protection, and appreciate its solace.
Our work takes the heritage of days gone by and brings their gifts to a present generation, with a hope that it will benefit the future. We stand in the gentle pace of our work against a rushing tide of culture, and slowly do our best to remain centered reminders of sanity.
Much of my theater stories distill and pass on wisdom from traditions around the world. Lively and entertaining, insightful and inspiring, these messages are often liked to boats that help us cross the sea of life. The words carry us through our daily lives. The stories become vehicles of transformation. They take us on a journey.
I will be very proud to have my brother sitting in the front row of the theater, watching these shows, but I will be even prouder to visit the boat shop where he works, and maybe, if the weather blesses us, take a sail in his boat!
Join us for the shows:
“The Imagine-a-nation of Lala Child” Fri, May 18th, 7:00pm
“The Education of Lala Girl” Sat, May 26th, 7:00pm
To read Skylar’s writings on sailing, philosophy, and life:
www.theskylarcookmethod.com
Many thanks to all the wonderful people in Maine who have made this tour so incredible thus far! I am touched by the warm receptions and tears and laughter. The questions, comments, and enthusiasm from audiences and school groups alike have brought me so much joy. Thank you every one!
The full tour schedule is on the right hand side of this blog! Please join us!
May 5, 2012
Friends, Family, Fantastic Theater!
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Marada Cook, Leah Cook, Rivera Sun Cook
On a rainy, foggy night in the coastal community of Maine, “The Freedom Stories of Lala” debuted -Maine style- in the renovated barn of David & Regine Whittlesey and their beautiful family. Laughter abounded from the get-go, as old and new friends intermingled. By the time I gave the pre-show speech, I knew these folks knew the essence of theater! It is communing, community, communication, and all three were in abundance.
My two sisters and a brother-in-law surprised me by sneaking in with my three nieces & nephews. (Who surprised me by being mesmerized by the performance . . . the oldest is only four!) And shoulder to shoulder in a warm room, “The Education of Lala Girl” unfolded before their eyes, joyously, as if stretching out from the long journey across the country.
The evening was magical. I could not have planned or wished a better debut for the plays. So many thanks to David & Regine for hosting, for everyone who laughed and cried along with the show, and those who stayed to help us carry the set out! We’re off the L/A Arts this evening, and delivering the sermon at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Sunday. Please join us for the workshops, book signings, and shows, of course!
The full tour schedule is on the right, here on the blog, and is updated! Can’t wait to see you all!
April 19, 2012
The Cook Family Creative History . . . to boldly go leaping into the unknown
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Fertile Maine Farm Land Rolling Out In The Morning Light
When touring and performing our theater work, I often hold workshops that empower our creative voices and expressive selves to work towards a sustainable and peaceful future for humanity. I emphasize that each one of us can and does make a difference. Our choices in this life matter to all others who spin around the sun with us!
My close-to-home example is my family. My father, Jim Cook, was a top-notch car salesman with five young children to support, when he realized that he was losing his soul to the work-a-day world. In a sheer leap of faith, he and my mom decided he should quit his job, pack up the family, and move up to the remote northern tip of Maine to try our hands at organic farming.
The adage is ‘look before you leap’, but thank god we didn’t! We dove into the frying pan of a counter-culture food revolution and danced on coals trying to stay alive! We worked hard as young’uns, pulling weeds, picking potatoes, packing boxes of beautiful spuds to send to southern markets. My parents formed a cooperative of organic farms to support each other as they built a market for their crops.
From this, Crown of Maine Organic Cooperative was born. Now in its sixteenth year, run by my sisters, Marada and Leah, COMOC distributes Maine-made product and produce across the state, focusing on organic and natural goods. They are a hard-working organization, passionate in supporting farmers, and increasing the quality of the Maine Food System. They strive to build friendships and ever-deepening connections across the Maine community, providing right livelihood for farmers, distributors, producers, grocers, and more!
When I teach writing and art, I use this as my example of how one person’s soulful choice can ignite a wild-fire of change. From my father’s realization came my mother’s choices, and my siblings choices, the choices of thousands of people across the state who day after day, stood in the supermarket, and chose a healthful, life-sustaining, environmentally-sound, local economy enhancing vegetable.
If our food can create such change in our culture . . . why not our art? When we plant the seeds of sustainability and social change that is what we reap and harvest. In my writing and performing workshops I teach the participants to have courage in their artistic expressions, for their leap of faith might start them on a journey that will, indeed, change the world.
Rivera Sun Cook
For more info on Crown of Maine Organic Cooperative, visit
www.crownofmainecoop.com
Rising Sun Dance & Theater Workshops in Maine:
WORKSHOPS!
(for all experience levels)
“The Story in Your Heart”
a page to stage storytelling workshop for everyone!
Tues, May 8th, 7-9pm
First Universalist Church, Auburn
“The Story in Your Heart”
a page to stage storytelling workshop for everyone!
(second time offered!)
Sat, May 12th, 2-5pm
Unitarian Universalist Church, Ellsworth
“Change Your Story to Change the World”
tranformational storytelling in a time of great change!
Sun, May 20th, 2-5pm
First Universalist Church, Auburn
“Change Your Story to Change the World”
(offered twice, due to great popularity!)
Sat, June 2nd, 1-4pm
Lucid Stage, Portland
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