NCW Event This Tuesday: Patricia Walker’s Book Sales to Benefit Cabo Hurricane Victims

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Baja Rock Pat

Please join author Patricia Walker as she, along with other members of Northern Colorado Writers, will be reading excerpts from their work from 7:00-9:00 p.m. this Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014 at Bas Bleu Theater in Fort Collins.

Following the reading, authors will be selling and signing copies of their books.

Walker is donating 100% of her share from sales of Dance of the Electric Hummingbird at the event to benefit the people of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, who recently suffered severe damage as a result of Hurricane Odile. NBC News reported that Odile was the worst hurricane in history to ever hit the Baja peninsula. No deaths have been reported but the majority of residents have very little to begin with and many lost everything.

Says Walker:

There really hasn’t been much in the news about what happened down in Cabo recently. In fact, most people I talk to haven’t even heard about it. But if it weren’t for Cabo, and the wonderful people who live there, my book would never have happened. DANCE OF THE ELECTRIC HUMMINGBIRD is the true story of mystical events that changed my life and it all started in Cabo. I feel that the least I can do is to give something back to these people. Hurricane Odile made a devastatingly direct hit in Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo, Todos Santos, La Paz and neighboring towns on September 14, 2014, two weeks ago, and as of today, many residents still do not have electricity or water, nor can they return to their homes to determine if their homes are still standing. The airport was severely damaged.

They’re making progress down there, but it’s still very bad. I can’t just sit back and not do something to help.

Evacuation at San Jose del Cabo International Airport. Photo by Suset Esquivel Flores. Used by permission.

When most people think of Cabo San Lucas, it brings to mind the world-renowned arch or El Arco, extraordinary fishing, fancy hotels, vacations, beaches, sun and margaritas. And while those images do describe Cabo, it’s also true that there are some very poor people who live there. It’s a stark and shocking contrast.

Cabo pretty much has no middle class. With a few exceptions, people who live there are either dirt poor or movie-star wealthy. I have personally witnessed people living in cardboard shacks without plumbing. The lucky ones are those who work at your fancy hotels–who tirelessly serve your margaritas and guacamole and chips, but they certainly don’t live in mansions, nor do they live in middle-class-type houses.

Then there are those who spend all day every day tramping up and down the burning sand on the beach and hawking trinkets in the scorching sun–even the elderly who can barely walk and children who can’t be more than 3 years old.

Photo by Lynne Pierce. Used by permission.

We take so much for granted in the United States. We have no clue how good we have it compared to most of those people. And now, many of them lost everything they had.

Land’s End photo by Patricia Walker

Some may question why I’m asking for donations for the people of Mexico when there are so many in our own country who are in need. My response to that would be: donate to whomever you like; just do SOMETHING. People are people wherever they live. Do what you can. It all helps.

We can also help by booking our vacations to the Los Cabos area in the near future. Our dollars will help these people get back on their feet.

El Arco photo by Patricia Walker

Donations from purchases of my book will only come from those that I bought personally from my publisher, not from the sale of books from Amazon.com or other outlets. This is coming straight out of my pocket. I’m hoping to keep contributing to various charities in Cabo as long as I am able, but obviously I can’t afford to do it indefinitely. If you buy a book from my website, you’ll have to pay for shipping, but 100% of what you pay for the book will go to the people of Cabo. And I will post which charity it’s going to so you’ll know exactly where your donations are going.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

Because I personally know most of the people involved, current donations are being made to: Wicked Pizza Employees/Family at http://www.gofundme.com/envqes

So please, if you can, come support Northern Colorado Writers this Tuesday, and buy a book for yourself or for a friend. Or just come and hear some great stories. For more information on the event:

Enjoy an evening of readings by local writers on September 30 at 7:00pm at Bas Bleu Theater. There will be poetry, excerpts from novels and essays. Written and read by members of Northern Colorado Writers: Josh Lehman, Lynn Kincanon, Mary Roberts, Diana Balogh, Pat Walker, Kerrie Flanagan, Eleanore D. Trupkiewicz and Donna Nitz Muller. Doors open at 6:30pm and admission is $5.

Refreshments will be served following the readings. Books by NCW members will be available for sale in the theater lobby.

Please be aware that this is a PG-13 event if you are thinking about bringing children.

*This is not a Bas Bleu Theater Company event.

Tickets available at the door or for online tickets, please click here: http://northerncoloradowriters.com/upcoming-events-mainmenu-133/upcoming-classes-and-events/special-event/readings-by-writers

**All photos used by permission. Please do not copy without permission.

Pat’s Guest Appearance on “Positively Incorrect Radio” with Scott Cluthe Now Online

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Baja Rock Pat

Listen to the podcast from Dec. 6, 2011 on “Postively Incorrect Radio,” as host Scott Cluthe and Pat Walker discussed Pat’s new book, “Dance of the Electric Hummingbird,” focusing on Pat’s escape from an abusive marriage in her early 20s, to–as Cluthe put it, “a rock and roll mama” befriended by rock star Sammy Hagar–and the roles that mysticism, religion, sex, and God played in Pat’s incredible journey to self-realization.

To listen, please click the photo above.

We would love to hear your feedback. How did you like the podcast? What questions would you have asked?

Thank you for your continued support.

Thunder in Our Hearts

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Baja Rock Pat

May 12, 2010

We be shakin’ the walls, baby!

It was like an explosion roaring up from the center of the earth and flooding the hearts of everyone in the room. The drum journey was led by professional drummer Gayan Gregory Long and attended by Harley people, rock ‘n’ rollers, writers, homemakers, accountants—those from all walks of life. Wonderful!

Gayan and I became friends several years ago, when he taught the music portion of a grief workshop I attended after my parents died. The experience was magical to me and it showed me the role music played in my mystical transformation through Sammy Hagar’s concert in 2003. Since then, it has been my goal to help others find this magic for themselves.

Which is why I wrote my book. And also why Gayan and I wanted to present this workshop. There will be many more to come.

I wanted to give people an experience they might not normally have, invite them to step outside of their comfort zones, because you never know where your truths might be hiding. I had hoped that people might lose themselves and rediscover themselves through music like I did. I wanted to show them how sound can open our hearts and teach us new things about ourselves; because you see, I have learned that the avenues to self-awareness are as varied as the stars. So how do we know what’s right for us and what isn’t, if we don’t take the time to look in other directions? You just might discover a new star that no one has ever seen before. Even better, you just might discover that YOU are that new star.

I watched the faces of the participants as they entered the room and sat down behind their drums. Some looked intimidated; most looked bewildered. But the more they drummed, the more I saw their faces change as their spirits began to integrate some of the drum’s lessons into their hearts.

Then I witnessed smiles emerging, confidence building and warmth spreading throughout the group. Yes!

The experience was also personal. As I drummed, I felt myself becoming entranced in the beat—so authoritative, so strong, so real. When I quit worrying about whether I was supposed to be using my left hand or my right, or whether there were two bass slaps and one tone or two tone slaps and one bass, my body somehow knew exactly what to do. Apparently this is something I still need to work on—quit trying to be perfect and just be. The more I allowed the rhythm and the sound to take me, the more I recognized that I should be proud of my imperfections, because by struggling to be something I’m not (perfect) I’m not being true to Who I really Am.

I also realized that I’m already perfect in my imperfection, and I should celebrate that fact. I did—through the drum. It was like sending a prayer of gratitude through the vibration, up to heaven.

Gayan taught us simple beats and assigned everyone a job, to sing, shake bells or keep the rhythm. All of us somehow all melted into one hypnotic pulse. And when I became conscious of how good we actually sounded, my soul soared even higher.

During Gayan’s solo, I felt the vibration from his playing on the head of my drum in front of me. Isn’t this so like life? As human beings, we interact with one another and send vibrations between us. Only this time I could actually feel them with my hands, like tangible proof of feelings, as if to say, “Here I am, take me or not,” offered to anyone who needed to claim it without the duality of acceptance or non-acceptance.

Gayan talked about the sensation of holding the drum between our legs. I was surprised that he addressed this because the first time I held a drum in this manner, I thought something was wrong with me since it felt sort of sexual. I wrote about this in DANCE OF THE ELECTRIC HUMMINGBIRD. But it’s also symbolic. By holding the drum so close to our bodies, we acknowledge the fact that we are bringing it into a very personal space within us. Maybe that’s why it was so magical—its rhythm entered me in a way I’d never known before—just as it had done in the past.

These lessons continue to grow within me and the more I allow myself to go with the flow, the more I learn about life and myself. So I have to ask, “Am I playing music or is music playing me?”

If you fall far enough under its spell, you won’t be able to answer this question.