Marilyn Luna.
Isn’t that name just everything? Marilyn informed me when I told her that I thought she had such a romantic name, that ‘Luna’ is a more common surname in the desert.
“Of course it is and there’s nothing regular about it, ” I thought in return.
Luna is a word of the desert; round, high, and mysterious. This woman is yet to learn her full Luna magnitude, she is seeking and feeling out her horizon. An individual on the cusp of leaving young womanhood behind and stepping into the experience of being fully ‘Woman’, Its exciting and tender to behold this Luna rising.
I met Marilyn working at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs and in the first couple weeks of working there, I came in one morning and Marilyn honored me by opening her heart up and spontaneously got real. She spoke with vulnerability on how she was feeling shame in not take care of her spirit, not honoring herself with choices she was making in life. Marilyn confided in me, reached out and transcended the moment by transforming it from a mundane, “Hey, whats happening” moment at the beginning of a workday, to one of true compassionate communication. Marilyn revealed herself to me and in doing so she illuminated a gorgeous light on herself that made me want to interview her for this project. By holding out what she perceived as weakness, Marilyn impressed me and made an impression, I wanted to know more about her truth.
To view Marilyn’s full length interview, please follow this link and enjoy: https://vimeo.com/271195571
At the end of my time in Palm Springs last month, Marilyn and I finally connected for her interview and I took her took one of my favorite sanctuaries I had discovered while I was there. Its an abandoned golf course going dry and brown and wild without constant attention and watering; the desert is quick to reclaim its own out there in deep quiet savagery.
During our interview, Marilyn spoke of her readiness to ask for help from an emerging place of actually wanting to change her emotional circumstances instead of solely seeking sympathy. I believe that is an incredibly important distinction and to take notice in the break of previous motivation. This is a leap from one state of being to a whole new level of emotional intelligence; willing to do what it takes to obtain wisdom. And that’s exciting to observe in another person, that moment of understanding that a whole new set of emotional action is needed to evolve and guide a person to the next level of maturity. To expand as a human being instead of falling into the trap of contraction.
To be there as a witness as Marilyn is starting to understand and apply this, was a total honor. This specific experience with interviewing this woman was a moment for me to ‘pay it forward’. When I was just about the exact same age as Marilyn, I had a person come into my life that facilitated a similar truth that coincided with the sensation that the universe reached out and hit me on the head with an emotional hammer. It woke me up to that I had to radically alter my approach to how I navigated myself through the world ground floor up, I had to do this if is was to honor myself and thrive instead of fundamentally wither. I witness Marilyn having a similar crossroads experience in her emotional development and I see her with just a little nudge and a whole lot of love from the people in her life, crossing that threshold into full, intelligent, present womanhood with flying colors. Marilyn is already there, she just is in the process of opening her eyes.
Marilyn is articulate and passionate and aware. She uses words well and with care and claims Writer as her vehicle of self expression. Marilyn has kindness and generosity and helps the people around her and both her and her husband are committed to the assistance of those in need. Marilyn has a wonderful smile and laugh and the pleasure I took in her company and intelligence is immense.
The honor in her sharing her heart with me and my opportunity to share some of Marilyn’s story and her understanding of her own emotional responsibility, is just fantastic. This is what makes this journey and meeting these women and this work all worth it.
This is the nature of refuge.
