“With the intense changes in our country over the past few years fueled by the Covid crisis, it’s challenged me to look at my allegiance to this place, this country, I call home.”
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What a year this has been already. After a very painful and challenging 2020, I am happy to say that 2021 has started off with the “better kind of bang”.
After losing my husband last May I started on a song-writing spree that hasn’t quit, and thanks to my creative music partner Jeff Gold of My Calm World (and our newly formed Fire & Water Music Project), we’ve been churning out the songs.
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“Happy is not about perfection or having everything just like we planned. It’s about allowing ourselves to experience the pleasure available to us and in choosing contentment with what is.” - SF
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I am so very grateful for the creatives I get to collaborate with as I work my way through this challenge called life. Art gives me a place to feel authentically, to express, to define, to develop to evolve.
A HUGE Thank you to Michael Whitehurst Photography (IG @michaelwhitehurstphotography) and HMU Artist Maria Zavala (IG @_mariazav_) for helping me to develop this idea. Sometimes I have to establish my intention in art so that I can live it in life. This phoenix will rise, but first I must burn it all down…
Sincerely, Shanna
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The idea for We Can Hear You was to provide a group of "friends" with a sacred space and some bright colored body paints to "express" something they have had trouble putting into words. Being a filmmaker, I knew this could create an opportunity for stunning visuals that might inspire others as well.
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We can't help but think of all of our friends still recovering from the #CampFire that happened almost a year ago in Paradise, CA. Last year Easton (our videographer) and I did relief work and also captured some real-life stories of survivors and volunteers. Although it was a disaster of immense proportions we found amazing humans there, with stories of hope and love.
Check out some of the stories at www.campfirestory.info - our team worked hard to capture their stories so we can learn from their experiences.
#wildfires #citizenledrelief #recovery
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Some of you know, but many don't - that I was in a car accident two years ago this month that changed my life. Although it seemed minor at the time, it threw me into a loop of continuous chronic pain and left me with repercussions in my mind and body that I could never have anticipated….
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What does it mean to be sexy? Today advertising uses "sex" to sell everything from toothpaste to veggie burgers, and we're inundated with advertising meant to titillate, and yet, it's still taboo for a woman to breastfeed or show her nipples in public. It's a strange paradox.
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Dear human being,
You were put on this earth for a reason. It was to evolve and grow and make the world a better place. So today as our hearts are heavy for the people in America affected by our own blind racism, rage and pain, let’s ask ourselves … are we doing our part?
We really need to stop underestimating each other. Can we make a pact?
“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us." - Wilma Rudolph
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"I try to check in with myself regularly, and it's important. The speed of life and the first world frustrations of traffic, technology and a society that feeds on fake news, can make it hard to maintain balance, but I have set a life goal of staying as kind as possible, as often as possible."
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Natalie Asatryan may be young, but she's mighty. She became the youngest certified female yoga instructor in the US at just 12 years of age, and she's working hard to make a difference by partnering with The Unstoppable Foundation - one of my recent faves when it comes to non-profits doing great work.
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Yesterday I had tea with a lovely young man and his mother. Patrick, who now works with me weekly on editing projects for the digital content work we do for clients, is a wonderful fella I've known for a few years now.
He's a shining example of the kind of unique workers we can hire when we look outside the "norm." I met Patrick through the AMVA (www.actorsforautism.org) program that takes young people just out of high school and teaches them practical film/production skills. He's been a terrific asset and his intelligence, wit and work ethic continue to amaze me.
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This week I had the chance to be the keynote speaker at a local Rotary club, and I had a great time. I've spoken at various Rotary Clubs around the city, and every time I am pleasantly reminded of how many gracious and giving people live in this community.
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"We are force-fed this mentality that we should have a massive audience, a large platform, a voice that ricochets across the nation with power and conviction, and yet we have not learned to stop, breathe, be grateful and simply LOVE moment by moment." - Shanna Forrestall, Forrestall Consulting
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It’s no secret that the “energy” and “expectations” we carry into each day affect not only us, but the people around us. So as we think about how to grow our influence and our business, it’s worth focusing on what we can do to bring a positive slant to the work we do each day.
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"Many of the great love affairs of my life were not with traditional lovers, but with the friends who have come into my life to carry me through dark passes, or who were there to celebrate joyous moments, or who pushed me to become more than I am, because they ... saw me!"
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The older I get, the more I realize that life is not easily defined. As a child in a religious home, we read stories of good and bad in the Bible and other fairy tales, but as an adult in a gray world, that’s hardly the case.
People are not just one or the other. Good or Bad. Hero or Antagonist. Many times, they’re both, it just depends on the day....
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