Freeing Our Frozen Songs: Transmuting Pain to Power contributors Left to right: Mikell, Terah, Crystal, McKenzie, Kaid, Kirsten, Kaya, Meg and Abigail; Not pictured: JC Smith
We did…together! In November, 87 backers pledged a total of $6,201 to support our independently published anthology Freeing Our Frozen Songs: Transmuting Pain to Power. We want to sincerely thank those who contributed to our Kickstarter campaign! Whether it was by pre-ordering your copy of Freeing Our Frozen Songs, donating any amount, sharing, talking about the book, thinking about the book, whatever you did to move this project forward, thank you! We achieved momentum, ultimately exceeding our fundraising goal!
This will allow us to recover our initial investments, fund the printing and shipping of our book, put the finishing touches on our companion workbook’s offerings, including recording guided meditations, and fund our local book release events.
Thank you so much. Truly. We hope you appreciate all the intention and love we put into this offering!
I trust the seasonal changes, wherever you may be, are inspiring you to slow down, go inward, and savor the feeling of autumn’s presence. Those things are certainly true for me. On top of it being a very special time of year, the time of year that my daughter and I both celebrate our birthdays, I am also celebrating another milestone: The upcoming release of our anthology “Freeing Our Frozen Songs: Transmuting Pain to Power.” I, along with nine other artists, collectively and intentionally created a book with the mission of generating more healing and acceptance in a sometimes harsh and apathetic world. Because I have yet to find a better way to reduce the shame and stigma of surviving, well, anything, than through storytelling.
Freeing Our Frozen Songs: Transmuting Pain To Power
Ten Oregon storytellers and visual artists are featured in this anthology. Our curator, Kirsten Fountain, believed in us, valued our individual stories, and honored us as the true experts in our lives. I am so proud to be revealing eighteen poems that I have never before shared. Poems that explore my own personal journey from pain to power.
I believe in not only witnessing, but honoring, celebrating even, the full spectrum of this human experience. That is why I am preordering, in addition to my complimentary contributor’s copy, the book Freeing Our Frozen Songs to place in the library at the Trauma Healing Project in Eugene, Oregon.
I invite you to preorder our collection via Kickstarter and consider sharing it with a loved one in your life, particularly one who has endured trauma of any kind, at any time. Or you might consider donating it to a community library. Or keeping the book just for yourself.
If that feels like too much of a commitment at this time, I completely understand. You instead might consider a “sneak peek” of our anthology on our website https://freeingourfrozensongs.com/. There, you can preview samples of our work, and get to know each contributor more intimately by reading our biographies and artist statements. Of course, you also might consider a simple share on social media or an email forward as a way to show our contributors and curator some love.
Regardless, know that your story is always worthy. Always. And autumn time is a wonderful reminder of the sweet release of letting go of that which no longer serves us. Like the leaves on the tree, we too reach our peak, change colors, and transform into something brand new, sometimes unrecognizable, but always with a thread of the familiar still hanging on.
Please be blessed on your journey, and I will too.
TERAH RACHELLE VAN DUSEN 