This is Eva Nieto whom I met in Santa Fe at The Kings Rest Inn, a beautiful, bright spirit in her generosity that I had the pleasure to interview. I had just pulled into Santa Fe and I was tired and scratchy-eyed from desert driving and was in need of a cool, quiet, place. In Santa Fe there are a stretch of colorful, old-school motels that harken back to the 1960’s in decor and sometimes in upkeep. These motels scatter whats left of Route 66 that passes through Santa Fe, bright, old fashioned lights among the adobe strip malls and cement. I chose Kings Rest at random and the fact I liked the motel’s marquee and the cheap price for a night’s stay.
I pulled into the motel’s drive and it seemed deserted, I had made a reservation online and with the sense of desertion about the place and the locked door at the office I was starting to border on cranky, I was travel done and wanting to lay down for a bit.
Then, there was a Eva. A big, bright, smile and friendly energy, she was in the middle of cleaning rooms but she put that aside and hunted down the owner so I could check in. Eva made me feel welcome when I needed that extra bright smile and the warmth that she had for me. Eva was a wonderful gift that got me over my over-extended moment and I just enjoyed the conversation we had and the time she made.
Eva has the bright shine about her that compels me to reach out spontaneously and ask a woman who I don’t know if they would be interested in sitting down with me and be interviewed for this project. I had decided pretty much on the spot in meeting Eva that wanted her voice to be a part of this work. I didn’t muster the courage to approach her until I was checking out the next day all the while keeping my eye out for her – and there she was right when I finished packing up my truck. So much serendipity along the way of this journey. i asked her if she had a minute to talk and be interviewed by me, I told her this was a project about talking about fear and what safe could mean and she agreed in her easy, open way that I think she approaches most things – but we needed to do it quickly as Eva needed to get to work on the rooms. Eva was teaching me from the beginning of our conversation about the realities of privilege; in time and what you can do with it or can’t do with it. Eva is quite graceful in her generosity of spirit.
To watch Eva’s full length interview, please visit http://vimeo.com/278370575
Eva talked of being born and raised in Santa Fe, she has never left. Eva has wanted to travel but with working everyday pretty much her whole life along with family obligations, that’s not an option. Eva comes from a large Pueblo Indian family, indigenous to the Santa Fe area. She has six sisters and five brothers, two of whom have died along with her father. Her mother she loves very much and is still alive, one of her sisters is their mother’s main caretaker.
Eva mentions briefly and generally about a past childhood trauma when asked about feeling unsafe, she doesn’t want to go into the details. This conversation isn’t about summoning up old painful ghosts, this interview is about forgiveness, deep faith, and the hypocrisy of lies of abuse vs. the truth.
Eva believes completely in God as her Savior. Eva believes deeply in forgiveness and “doing unto others as you wish done unto you.” She gives all her frustrations or anger up to her god everyday, all day and projects kindness as much as possible instead. Eva doesn’t believe in holding grudges, again, judgement is up to her god and not her place to decide. She doesn’t want to carry around all that weight anyway. Eva does have a strong, passionate opinion about not going to church –Â she doesn’t have the time to attend due to working everyday – because of the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church in relation to the legacy of sexual abuse by certain pedophilia priests to children in the congregation. Eva spoke at great length and expression about her views on priests and the church sitting judgement on people’s behavior when the practice of sexual abuse by the priests to the children in congregations, goes uncommented on or censored in any real way.
Eva has absolutely no time for this kind of false moral foundation and prays to her god directly, one on one, everyday and she experiences her prayers always being listened to and answered.
Eva is bright and easy in her energy; open, kind, smiles, devout, generous, honest, insightful, truth-teller.
Eva experiences her sacred safety not in the walls of the Catholic Church, but with her daily, personal, relationship with the divine and the ongoing conversation that she and God engage in between themselves.
This is the nature of refuge.
