The Warming Fire of Protection: Dragons as Parents

As I watch my dragon child leave the cliffs for the first time, I am aware that she is constantly watching me watching her. Her fragile wings and graceful twists and turns are all part of her youth, both to be admired and protected as her guardian. I am constantly aware of my own fragile scales, but they are hardened with years of battle scars and raging fires. I know of the pain of losing my other children to dragon hunters who find us dragon parents to be too scary, too easily turned into a horrible creature rather than seen as compassionate and loving. And as I watch my little dragon do flips and breathe the fire of childhood and happiness, I am convinced once more of my role as teacher, travel guide and mother.

A few days ago, we watched a scene where a pair of sibling lions were separated from their parents and one of the siblings died. It was not only horrific for the brother lion in the story, but for me, it was even more horrific to watch my little dragon break down into sobbing tears over the loss of another creature. Her other-mommy dragon comforted her while I was playing guardian and even in the hours that followed, no comfort could console our little fire-breather. She understands the importance of the life/death/life cycle. She knows in her gigantic heart that we are all connected to the earth and all creatures and all elements are part of this cycle. But it is still that moment of pain that cracks through my thickened scales to watch our child cry that awakens my nurturing protection. I am humbled by the responsibility.

As the sun strikes high in the afternoon sky and we adventure through the cold winter skies of a latent Spring, I can feel my claws and wing tips become numb in the cold snowing winds of the mountains. But as we head back to our cave to gather warmth and prepare for sleep, my thoughts are not on my own discomfort but are on protecting, feeding and warming my child with the Fire of Protection. I may be a warrior and have a warrior family clan, but I am still first and foremost a Dragon Mother.

The Dragon Mother As Protector

Dragon parents are fierce. We have been wounded in battles over our lives, with our family, our children, or our social environments. Unlike socially complacent parents, we fight against the system that destroys loyalty and honor and that separates us from our Unconditional Source. We are bent on training our children to be independent, educated, higher-minded and to fight for what is right in society. And we are protective against those mobs of social bullying that push our little creatures into states of fight or flight because of society's shallow judgments and fear-based restrictions. We must create connections between all our warrior clans, protect the wounded Dragons that are beaten down by loss and kicked out of their social circles by judgments, and help each other thrive and heal the wounds of depression and hopelessness.

I have been a blessed mother. I have four children and dozens of adopted children. I have felt true Unconditional Love and the strength of protection as a mother and a teacher-guide for all of them at one point or another. I am closest to my oldest biological child, my truly fiery dragon, because she and I are first and foremost so much alike but also because we lived together the longest. I was able to be a strong influence on her independence and raise her to be a warrior as well. I know it was circumstantial: she would never had been able to be such a fighter if we didn't have to fight so hard to be together, to be independent and to stand up for what was right in spite of the family dynamics. The constant battlegrounds in court, with her father, with her extended family, and even between the two of us when life had become tragic and beyond difficult, were stages set for her training as she built her strong personal convictions into the fabric of her every day life. The best part is, she is as lethal as they come as a maturing dragon: beautiful, genius AND higher minded! I feel sorry for any man who tries to take advantage of her in any way...

I am also blessed, by the way, because as three Dragon parents, we have created a loving and nurturing environment for our youngest daughter (the one who cliff dives), balanced by love and untainted by jealousy or one-up-manship. This I am discovering is rare. And my two children who are living in a blended family don't have these examples of co-parenting because they are raised in an "Us V. Them" way. My entire biological family has actually been restricted from being a part of my two middle children's upbringing. They will thus have to decide as adults whether to heal those wounds within themselves. This has been their path to endure and my passion for their cause is smoldering and endless.

My son who is now at adulthood is becoming quite the fire-breather. He is learning to stretch his wings of compassion and testing the winds of young love. He is a strong, athletic creature with quite the brilliant mind. He is tall and handsome and outgoing. He knows he is learning to become an honorable man, but my goal is now to challenge him. He needs to be shown the intense passion for loyalty and given the Unconditional Love of true spiritual connection. He has had lessons of separation, disappointment and struggles among his blended family. But I am excited to introduce him to our littlest dragon and show him the dynamic that allows our warrior natures to be completed with selfless sacrifice. It is not enough to be a loving parent if one cannot be able to show your child they are the most important blessing on the planet. And in order to convey that lesson, a Dragon parent must understand that it is not ONE child above another but rather that ALL our children are greater than any gold or treasure on this earth. I am excited to show him this lesson!

My younger daughter who is a beautiful, charming and loving woman, even as a teenager, is the dragon child that needs my strongest attention to learn how to use her wings. She is content currently within her own structure, her sheltered environment and her minimal independence. But there will come a time when she is going to want to soar in her life. This requires a dragon parent strong enough to allow her the time to strengthen these wings and not be bombarded with fear and limitations. Leaving the nest as a young adult who has been constantly controlled in their allowance to grow can lead to 2 things: a limited sense of self that doesn't give the child enough tools to live independently or a sudden sense of freedom that brings about fear of the unknown or reckless abandon, both of which attract stronger and faster predators. Young adults who are "sheltered" are wounded from the start as adults if they cannot battle against greater enemies. It may seem to many reading that this is a "negative" prediction, but the truth is the REAL world is cruel and unforgiving and jealous and leads many innocents away by sabotage and dominant bullying. How can a sweet young child be protected from the big bad world of college, work, industry and corruption? They can't. The ONLY solution is to teach them wisdom and the dangers that lay ahead, pitfalls to avoid, and give them the training to fight oppression and control. These are tools of strengthening the Soul and they are not pretty--facing a wounded world takes courage and all Dragon parents need to be prepared to fight for their children.

Wounded Children--Spoiling, Separating, Denying and Attacking the Dragon Parent's Integrity

Many of my friends are great parents in conservative environments. Many of them have given their children what they had always wanted and often because of financial abundance, what is not truly necessary--luxury things like electronics and cars, vacations, private lessons, summer camps, the latest fashion items, you name it. But if the recipients are not grateful, are spoiled or are used to such gifts and use them to look down upon others, they don't have a perceived value on them. I am guilty of having done this. I got my oldest a cell phone under my contract three separate times with three separate companies. I didn't train her discipline with these gifts and her lack of perceived value extended my generosity into overuse of what I could afford.

Each time I lost my own phone contract as well because I couldn't afford to pay the extensive overages and lost the privilege because of these unrealistic 2-year contract deals. The last time was the hardest on me because I was so poor at the time, I could barely make the payments on both phones. She wouldn't help pay for the already committed contract, went and got her own phone and service, and then I lost my phone due to lack of money AND have an exorbitant bill now to pay for adding her additional phone line and breaking the contract after only a year. Thousands of dollars later, I am grateful I can only extend the privilege so far and have chosen to only handle my own service. I learned my lesson. But it has severely wounded my financial situation, and I haven't taught my daughter anything about responsibility in this case. But as a Dragon parent, I am solid now and will not give something to any of my children without it being for a good cause or a rational or imperative reason. My generosity is as great as the gold in my cave but it is more important to teach a great lesson in responsibility than to give abundantly.

As a single parent, this is a common theme. Living on the edge of poverty and complete ruin for several years, I am consciously aware of the difficulty most parents have in raising children alone. As a Dragon parent, however, I am a fighter and still have a strength of conviction that many parents would have lost a long time ago. And because of my strength and my passion to be as vocal and public about my life as possible, I frighten many of the enemies that attack in mob mentality style with pitchforks! In fact, I too lost my social "status" in society when I left my husband. Nobody cared about why I left. Nobody supported my cause not to die, but they grabbed there farm tools and chased me as far away as they could. These wounds are why I write and teach so many today.

For instance, it was really humorous the other day when my youngest dragonette (the one that lives with her father) sent me a picture of herself with Disney mouse ears from Florida this week and I received some weird text message that said "Why u put mom and kate on same message? You just gave her mom's phone number". Now mind you I am her mother, so I didn't understand who the message was for or about or why. I didn't recognize the number, but I am not used to being called by my name, so I responded to the text, "Who is this?" Suddenly I received a call from the daughter in Florida saying her father had called her and said I was HARASSING him! Oh my.

I was in a meeting at the time and burst into laughter. I thought I was going to cough up a fireball! I am apparently the big bad scary Dragon that is so intent on destroying someone's fantasy idea that I am "evil"...and even though my daughter did NOT actually forward me anyone's phone number (i.e. her step-mother), I wouldn't have given a care anyway, because I don't think twice about that person. Apparently the ex-husband has some sense of false importance in believing that I would "harass" him and his wife. Fear-based and irrational, but I see why. I am scary. I am strong and always have been. And truth is, I was wronged by them, in more ways than I have time to write about in this message. But I could only laugh, call my daughter and assure her I have no intention of "harassing" anyone, and my response to my ex was, "I am not harassing you (name of father). And have a good day. Namaste." Truth is, my life is so wonderful I wouldn't even care if they began their campaign to separate the children and I again...because I KNOW my children all now know the Truth and how much I truly love them Unconditionally.

Remember Shrek? I absolutely love how the writers allowed the big bad ogre to actually enjoy being scary! I am one of those parents. I am dangerous because of my scars--the more they throw their spears and stab with their pitchforks, the stronger I become. The more I am harassed by religion, false accusations, and judged, the greater my ability to be Unconditionally Loving and the stronger my resolve and the louder my voice. I know too many parents who have lost children in terrible battles like mine. But it is in these battles that a truly honorable and loving parent becomes the fire-breather and the protector.

After my last several relationship disasters (see previous blogs) I have also picked up other strengths as well, including legal knowledge, martial arts (I once took up kickboxing and now I am in beginning Tai Chi again with my wonderful partner!), and prolific publishing and writing. My Dragon-self resolves to be the best at everything I do for myself and as an example--I am in much better shape physically, I am healthy and strong and eat primarily raw foods or those we cook ourselves, I work and play hard, and I laugh abundantly. More importantly I have connected Wisdom, Spirituality and Compassion for those who have suffered from these bullying mobs of society. The analogy is so blatantly revived now in children's cinema--even in How To Train Your Dragon where the young protagonist had to defend his friendship with such a lethal creature, which caused the villagers to try and kill the offensive creatures. And we see the same theme in movies where people become afraid of the "monster" they have envisioned and feared. Truth is, with any wild creature, there should be an element of fear! My adorable and loving partner has the sense to know this of me, but he too can be a fighting Dragon parent, AND he has the skills to prove it.

In an online article I read about the "10 Step-Family Dragons" from the Step And Blended Family Institute (http://www.stepinstitute.ca/stepfamily_dragons.php) I of course immediately went to the section on division and badmouthing. My experience was thus as written: The Lack of Co-Parenting and Badmouthing Between Ex-Spouses: Few parents have a concrete co-parenting plan but desperately need one. Many indulge in bad-mouthing of the other parent. Badmouthing hurts the child deeply and the child’s self-esteem for life because one parent is saying the other half of the child is “bad”. The parent who is badmouthed does not know how to neutralize badmouthing. Often children are made to judge, and often choose, between their blood parents. Our society has no remedy for the consequences of this. Children grow up one-sided. And they are made to "choose" sides, which often leads to wounded and unprotected children attracting life lessons that will challenge their beliefs. Even though many of the estranged or ousted parents are not able to recover from the separation, the opposite occurs in Dragon parents. Thus it is truly important to create support among those parents who are wounded or find themselves unable to parent. It takes a village to raise a child, but it often breaks a village when the child is separated from his or her protector. And it is truly damaging to children when they are bullied into fear of any kind, but it is seriously the most damaging by the ones that are supposed to protect them.

Solutions to Dragon Parenting--Balancing the Elements

First and foremost, Dragon Parents, stop emotional blackmail. If you find yourself or another parent doing it, find out how to stop it. I was not always perfect, but I am continually focusing on what I CAN do now as a parent rather than what I CAN'T do. So instead of emotionally harboring anger (even if it is righteous!), I let my own life be an example of joy for my children!

Second, create your own loving and abundant cave of wonders. Why would your children want to leave the safety of the environment if your home is loving and giving? I am not talking about money. Even if you have it, why spend it on frivolous buy-offs? If your job or career or company is keeping you from raising your children properly, why are you doing it? Can there be another option? If you are constantly having to fight to pay a mortgage, car payment, credit card debts or other assorted bills, isn't this detracting your purpose from a healthy and balanced family life? And is your lifestyle robbing your joy from your partner/spouse as well? What steps can you do, even if it is one at a time, to remedy these life conditions that are taking away your vitality?

Third, let's talk about your Earth-physical self. This is truly important and I will explain. Parents who are buying into the current systems of health destruction (often referred to in the United States as Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, Big Agro and Big Medicine) are MISSING major elements of healthy living that are depleting their families. First, we are a fast-food nation. If every strong parent learned to walk away from fast food, even if it is a majority of the time and not all of the time, you are doing greater than the rest of the country! 70 Percent of our nation right now is overweight!! So, parents who are willing to fight, you must make life changes that will adjust your thinking and change the training you are giving your children! What are you putting into your own body? What do you allow them to eat?? Are you eating foods with GMO's? Are you living off of processed foods? Can you find a way to cut down or get rid of something unhealthy, like video games and even cable TV, in order to put your food intake first and create healthier meals? Will you be strong enough to fight the generation of spoiled children and wrong messages by giving your kids the responsibility to cook, clean, do chores and be able to teach them independent living? If you don't know how to cook, learn!!!

Next, what activities are you showing your kids that you do? If you have to quit smoking, that should come first. Period. Nobody in their right mind in this country or anywhere on the planet should continue to smoke cigarettes. Next, are you going to the gym, walking to and from work, or doing at least 15-30 minutes worth of exercise a day? Or at least 3 times a week to prevent heart attacks or diseases? And do you get your children to do physical activities or are they stuck watching television? And what are you doing for your sanity? Do you have hobbies that are examples for your children? Do you make quality time for them or are you too self-absorbed? Do NOT give me any lip about being too busy, especially you single parents. I sacrificed so much of my time and attention for my children and gave up many of my own activities to spend time with them. I gave up buying things for myself to take them on vacations. I gave up single living and dating in times when I needed to put my kids first. Again, I wasn't perfect, but my fire to create the right home for them was blazing, even in my struggling when I was living an unhealthy lifestyle. They were able to see me transform and I am grateful! So start now.

So as your Earth-physical environment is being examined one step at a time, how is your Water-emotional environment? Are you truly happy? Are you thinking of your own emotional well-being and finding ways everyday to improve this part of you? Do you fight to heal your scars and wounds? Do you search to find meaning in your parenting, relationship and/or your self-improvement? Do you let other's opinions of you get you down?? Do you tell your little dragons you love them? Do you laugh and play? Do you budget your time so you can relax? What could you do everyday, one step at a time, to improve your emotional health?

If you are a couple, do you show your children a healthy relationship? Are you truly loving your partner Unconditionally? Do you have a healthy way of communicating with him or her (or them)? Do you talk positively to each other or cut each other down? Is the relationship fixable if it is wounded or do you continue to spit fire at each other which is showing such a negative example to your children? What can you do to be more loving and giving to your partner? Do you know the different love languages and do you use them with your family? Can you give up selfish desires to put your relationship ahead of frivolity, like drinking, hanging out with friends over your partner, or doing things that constantly cause a detrimental reaction from them? How is your Water-emotional tank being filled?

Are you spending time on your Air-Intellectual self? What can you read or watch or learn to be a better parent? What can you teach your children from your own passions? What can you do to allow your children independence and to learn to fly? What can you do to better your own education? What do you do with your time on the internet? What do you read? And what do you watch on TV or at the movies--are these things mindless entertainment or positive influences?

And what do you do for your Fire-spiritual side? This is self-explanatory and I will cover more in the next chapter. But meanwhile, are you loving others Unconditionally? And do you TREAT others as you want to be treated? Especially your family???

I know we are all well-meaning in some way, shape or form. We all strive to be better people, but why?? What is the point of a great career if your kids hate you? Seriously. What is the rationale behind dragging kids to do something you want them to do if you are not paying any attention to what they feel? How can you protect them from predators? Are you truly listening to your own heart when you make choices everyday as a parent? And how do you find the balance in soaring ahead of them in order to protect them and pushing them off a cliff to watch them fly? When do you need to give them a strong life lesson in order to keep them from getting attacked? And when do you need to breathe the fire of protection to keep them safe and warm? Ask yourself: How are you as a Dragon Parent?

I Am Made of Precious Scales - The Dragon Grows and Sheds Her Skin

This is going to be the next part of the book I have started. Any feedback or interest in the writing, please let me know.

One of the elements of passion I will begin to explore more in this journey is that of humor. After all I experiences of Tragedy, I find myself drawn more and more to humor, to Life’s Comedy, and this is reflected daily by my partner. He has a great voice for his cartoons and often he can mimic famous actors or movies in jest during conversation. As I chose the title for this segment, of course, I can hear his voice laughingly doing Buffalo Bill from “Silence of the Lambs” as he says, “The Dragon Grows and Sheds Her Skin” in his creepiest voice. So I put the lotion in the basket…and we go back to the story after a fit of laughter.

The burning in my lungs when I began this reflection took a long time to heal but finally subsided. The virus or whatever it was that slowed down my momentum is no longer hindering me. Now it is just blazing hot and I am in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record—we have been burned in Florida, stifled in Chicago and now overheated and lethargic in Denver. The return to the Foothills of Colorado was not a cool and calm welcoming to me like my past returns. We are blazing hot! My partner and I have had some crazy ups and downs while we were on the road, but now it is time to take what we have found on our adventure and bring it home. Our Journey together is not over, it is just beginning to take root.

The flight of this Dragon has been a powerful force, not just in me, but in the reflection of the man with whom I have found friendship and affection. It is funny. I gave up looking for a partner and he appeared right when I needed him. This is by no means a fairy tale ending. The seven months we have been travelling has brought the two of us together but it has by no means created the powerful production company our earthly partnership had intended to manifest---not at the moment, not yet of course.

The wounded Dragon has come out of her cave. She saw her reflection in the pool of water before her and she was frightened. She knew that in spite of his appearance, and that it was just as fierce as hers, she was not ready to look into the face of the Mirror. She soared high, gathered speed, shrieked loudly, and perched atop a high mountain where she shed her skin. She was growing in strength but it was only the first part of her growth. And when she returned to the pool to look again, she realized that in her own reflection, she caught his eyes as well and they both had grown.

This is truly how I have pictured my last two years of rapid change. I am finding my voice again. And have found my fire. This is where, once I finally realized where we had been, that upon looking back at our friendship, our joining forces, and our travels, there were really two trails of smoke behind us the whole time. We have grown together. And in spite of the pains, I am grateful he truly was there with me.

I began this path of growth and rebirth when I moved away from Colorado, but I have returned so many times because this is where I am drawn. About three years ago, when I was living in Miami, I thought that once I was geographically free from the torrid relationship I had left, I would find the “one true love” of my life. (I will describe the meaning of the relationship in subsequent chapters—after all, he too was one of my soul mates. Thus the quest to solve why I am here began). But finding my partner didn’t happen. I was sorely disappointed. I had opened many psychic channels which gave me the knowledge of the destruction around me but also gave me the hope of a partner to come along and join me. I have felt alone so many times. I remember often walking around South Beach or even riding the buses in Denver or the Loop in Chicago and I would stare aimlessly upward and beg for an explanation: had I become so tough from my life lessons, so removed from the possibility of a gentle relationship to break through these hard scales I had been given?

Around the same time, I met an executive producer in Colorado who helped to pull me out of the ashes after I left the destruction of my broken dreams behind. He gave me a purpose and I learned everything I could about the entertainment industry, specifically about how to produce a feature film. I have been on stage for years. I picked up acting after the divorce again, playing a lead role in a major performance that set my soul on fire again. I auditioned for many additional roles and felt the stings of many rejections. But I have found a path in film from which I have found comfort in my age and my appearance. Yet it was behind the scenes, dreaming and setting goals to create these beautiful entities called films, that I have found a higher level of passion. I am grateful for his part in igniting this fire in me.

Playing with the big dogs of feature filmmaking is not a walk in the park. You can’t pee on a few trees and expect to find the miracle in such a safe and landscaped environment. Yes, anyone can pick up a camera these days and make and independent film. But it is in the details of producing that the real magic happens. So I set out to learn everything and be the best top dog I could be.

The miracle didn't happened. Nor did the money. Nor did any of the films I worked so diligently to peddle for over a year. And the executive producer moved on to another female intern and refused to pay me what I was worth. So I left to start my own ventures. I then partnered with a new and exciting filmmaker and close friend in Chicago. We started the dreaming process again after we had a separation—the relationship of course got in the way of progress. The renewal happened about the time I had returned to Colorado for the last time from Miami, and when my world fell apart, I hung up that hat for a long while. So I didn’t work for the executive producer any longer and the partnership with the filmmaker too had dissipated in time. I was not ready.

After a year growing and working in the Spiritual community, I built a solid foundation of friends and networks for a youth program for other sensitive and psychic kids. My gifts at that point had been new, like the growing Phoenix I had become. So, I figured, we could all grow together. This was my blessing in disguise when the one I left years before suddenly took his own life. It was my community that held me and cried with me and was there for me. My sister in Texas was empathetic and for most of our lives, we have strengthened each other and I commiserated with her on many occasions. She knew all about my life. And she and I both share that Highly Sensitive personality. Thus we also share that propensity to choose destructive relationships as well as that conflict we call addiction. So many of us exist on this planet—the downtrodden and the lost and the single mothers who have had to fight to survive, especially for some reason in this supposed-modern day and age of reason in the U.S.A. The system never fails to hold down those who try to crawl out of the hole. So I figured, why not build a ladder and we can all crawl out together?

This ladder, or ascending path, is both the Spiritual one and also the career path that I am creating. How I see it is this: when the visions of our dreams succeed, both in reality and financially, I will be able to bring alongside those that we choose to honor for their part in our lives….actors, producers, writers, creators of all sorts. And we can create these visions together. So sure enough, my sister and I have joined forces to write out stories before and we will continue to do so. This is what sparked me to write in the first place, and our first screenplay together is still going to be our best story.

My filmmaker friend in Chicago has also had the Vision. She too has had the rough experiences of divorce, betrayal, raising teenagers and fighting against the odds to create solid films that will become legends. The filmmaker has succeeded where many have failed. Her vision is strong and that is why we went to Chicago as part of our recent journey, to join forces and create together. Businesses don’t happen overnight, and we helped to start the foundation for what she is building, but our company and our vision is to plant roots in both the Spiritual community and in the movie industry right here in our home territory. And we plan to combine the two.

So there are paths to show all sorts of enlightened ideals through film, television and media. We have the anarchy of the internet—that is enough to get out messages, one viral stroke of luck at a time. And it works. But this method doesn’t work for everyone. Fortunately, we all have a niche we are trying to fill so we will find like-minded souls to help us with our journeys. For instance, my filmmaker friend is American Latino, so her entertainment preferences and filmmaking choices will revolve around creating quality and celebratory pieces for her market. My partner and I have a mutual love for science fiction and fantasy (you would never guess with all the Dragon references, would you?), so our goals are aligned together with many other partnering filmmakers, writers, producers and artists. We have several of our productions set to be animated, because that’s what we desire to see immortalized and on the big screen.

My scales have grown strong and they are shiny. I am blessed. Many only look at their scars as hideous flaws or monstrous outgrowths of fear. Often growing a tail or horns is considered abnormal for a dragon. But if one thinks they are a beast of a different sort, of course that makes sense. It’s not all fluffy unicorns and angel wings that grow out of strength and courage. And not all fire-breathers understand their gifts either. Many forget what they have endured and jump right into the same fire over and over again. I am guilty of that myself obviously—I am an expert at repeat mistakes. But it doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate my scales, my scars, my tail, my claws and my fire.

In the same way, not all filmmakers have to have a happy-ever-after ending and not all good guys get the girl and save the day. Not all producers have to use blood and gore and zombies either, but heck if that isn’t the most popular genre of our time right now. If I could rationalize zombies becoming enlightened then maybe I could fit in to that trend. Meanwhile, I will stick to what I know, allegories and Dragons and fantasy. So creating visual fireworks with a camera, a green screen and CGI is real to me and my world. I would love to share my prolific world with others. And I am doing so one step at a time. My partner and I are writing and creating fantastical tales and sharing our vision. And we have agreed to keep going until someone sees our vision and helps us run with it (with or without zombies). So our tenacity will feed our hunger and we will shed our scales to grow greater and stronger with each experience.

My partner and I have had many firsts together on this trip. For the sake of our fans, present and future, and for the edification of our children, I will have to delineate these adventures thoroughly in blogs (chapters) to come. Since this series of writings comes from my heart and my perspective, I will do my best to fairly portray both sides of each story as much as possible. That being said, remember, I am not easy to get along with as a partner, wife or whatever I am called to those who are with me. And my stubbornness to be independent has been the death of many relationships before, so it was a Fool’s leap to get into a small vehicle and drive from Colorado to Texas to Louisiana to Florida and then up to Illinois only to find ourselves on our way back to Colorado. And as I mentioned, all this travelling took place in the last seven months.

So we will tell you of our experiences, our revelations and our voluminous collection of stories. But many you will have to wait and see on film. Meanwhile, as we are writing and producing our films, I will reflect on these lessons while elaborating on our newest adventures as well.

Now the Dragon is ready to take flight! She spreads out her enormous wings and cries joyfully as she dives from the rocky cliff where her fears were left behind. She knows she is her own being, her own reflection, but she seeks out the others just the same. The strength is not in her solitude but in collecting her family around her. As she soars above the dry and wasted land that once was lush and cool and green, she is saddened by the destruction. There were many fires, many souls lost, too many dreams dashed upon those rocks. Many have tried to blame the fires and the destruction on her and her kind. But every being is responsible for his or her own path and choices. Her flight is short—she must land to strengthen her wings before continuing. When she finds her own inner strength and her own power, she too can join in the healing of the land. She realizes, as she descends into the valley, that this is why she is here.