Laura's Chapel
THE MYSTERY IS CALLING
MY STORY
When I was in junior high school, I came up with a motto that got me through: "Everyone is weird in their own way."
It still feels true, and I may have gotten weirder as the years have passed. I allow myself to inhabit my full range more and more. I wax both intellectual and mystical, both tender and powerful. I honor the mystery and its paradoxes, even though a part of me still wants to figure out everything, and help you figure it out, too!
I have hopscotched through degrees, art forms, childrearing, CD projects, hospice volunteering, church jobs, and countless worthy, underpaid creative gigs (maybe you know the kind).
At this stage of life, I meander close to home, resourced by song and ritual and community. I especially enjoy supporting eclectic fellow wanderers-- the sensitive ones learning to love their own broken places, the seekers who stretch to meet their ancestors, the artists who create the wild, unlikely, healing beauty they dream up, and the generous hearts gathering courage to offer their song or story as a gift to life.
MY BACKGROUND
MY BACKGROUND is in music, literature, and expressive arts. I have also been a spiritual seeker (and sometimes finder) all my life. I believe I am here to heal through creativity-- myself and others. My own ancestral healing journey has been profoundly creative-- opening up worlds inside the self and expanding how I experience the world. At the same time, my musical and artistic journey has grown increasingly spiritual. Connection to beauty, self, source, and community lies at the heart of it.
MY WORK as a community musician, writer, artist, ritualist, and group leader has been extremely varied, but always grounded in local community and in building wellness and creativity in people from the inside out. I have worked with all ages and in many settings, emphasizing emotional safety, experiential learning, step by step support, and freedom of expression. People have told me I helped them heal lifelong wounds that blocked their creativity, voice, or expression.
MY COMMITMENT to justice and personal growth has also been with me all along, in my never-finished journey as a white, middle-class American learning to be more aware of diverse viewpoints and less racist and classist in my actions. I strive to live authentically as a queer woman in a heteronormative-presenting intercultural marriage to a Punjabi Sikh man. My integrity urges me to find ways to keep my work financially accessible and environmentally kind, while also telling me I must value my own contribution and heal inherited patterns around money by accepting payment. My animist/mystic framework sees all beings and things as worthy people to relate with as respectfully as possible. The universe is alive and responsive and in conversation with us. Having good manners is important, with each other, with the earth, and with the spirits.
Certifications
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Hypnotherapy: Intuitive Hypnotherapy Institute 1995.
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Reiki Master with Elizabeth Fulmer 2015.
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Certified Ancestral Lineage Healing Practitioner 2020 with Daniel Foor and Ancestral Medicine.
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Certificate in Spiritual Direction at The Chaplaincy Institute: practicum phase completes 2023.
Education
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BM Voice Performance 1986 University of the Pacific, summa cum laude.
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MA French Literature 1988 Indiana University.
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PhD Candidate Comparative Literature, minor in Afro-American Studies 1991 Indiana University.
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Research topics: Literature and the Other Arts, Post-Colonial African Diaspora Literature & Cultural Identity, Creative Reading.
MY CREATIVITY
My creative output includes:
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Countless live performances as a folk singer/songwriter, choral singer, community theater and opera performer, improv actor, dancer, instrumentalist/side woman, or emcee.
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Two solo CDs of original songs and one co-produced CD with the trio MudLark.
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Two novel manuscripts that came out of nanowrimo participation.
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Ten summers' worth of original scores/arrangements for Winters Shakespeare Workshop.
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Paintings, drawings, and collages, including a prize winner at a Tracy Art League show.
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Numerous original songs, in singer-songwriter, choral, and community singing genres.
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Published poetry and humor in small magazines and anthologies, such as Hip Mama.
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Direction/facilitation of performances/events by community improv troupes, youth theater groups, church choirs, con*spire collectives, camps, and ecstatic dance community.
MY PEOPLE
The lineages I walk with are from Iowa, and before that New York, and before that England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France, and Germany. Before that they were Vikings, Picts, Britons, Sami, and Ashkenazim. My people have been ministers, musicians, farmers, tree trimmers, costumers, healers, drummers, foresters, mothers, and grandfathers. They have been gay and straight and in-between. They have been people of the reindeer, owl, and alder, people of the grasses, snails, and stones.
My living family includes my Punjabi Sikh husband of 35 years and our two adult daughters. I also have living parents and a wealth of extended and in-law family near and far.
Some of my beloved communities at large are:
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The Ancestral Medicine organization
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The song leading community, including the Ubuntu Choirs Network and Song Village
ABOUT MONEY
Accessibility is a primary value. I work to honor that value while also caring for inherited cultural and familial wounds around earning and worth for women's work as well as for creative or spiritual work. It's an interesting juggle.
If your financial resources are stretched thin and you feel called to work with me, please reach out by email or schedule a chat. We may be able to create a reduced fee plan together.
If I cannot meet your request, I will refer you to other resources.
If you feel abundant and want to support my work with your funds, I happily accept!
Where I currently donate on a regular basis with income from this work:
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Camp Winnarainbow Grace and Joy Scholarship Fund
More ways I keep my work accessible:
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Fifteen to twenty percent of my session clients are at less than full price.
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Some group offerings are by free will donation with a suggested range.
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Songs are available to stream or download at a price of your choosing.
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Charges for custom creative/ritual work are case by case with flexibility.
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Some local programming is supported by City of Davis arts grants.
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Donations from generous supporters help offset cost breaks for others.
ABOUT THIS WEBSITE
AS HANDCRAFTED AS A TEMPLATE CAN BE
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All photos are from my actual life, mostly taken by me. No stock photos.
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Logo image by Alicia Greenleaf.
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Background colors and textures are from photos of the Earth Chapel.
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If something here seems wrong or doesn't work, I'd love to hear about it!
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Questions and praise are also welcome.
