My home away from home for one precious week of the year at MWMF!

"This I Need ..." 

I originally wrote this about Michigan Womyn's Music Fest in March (MWMF) 2007 and it was published in the Sept 2007 issue of Lesbian Connections. I retain full copyrights but share this now in the spirit of recruitment. This is the original. I've not changed it in any way.

If you're reading this, it means that YOU are important to me and I want to share the most important place in the world with you.

So plan ahead and put in your request for that first week of Aug off.  Consider gifting yourself (and your partner) with the memory of a lifetime. Tix are not yet available but gift certificates are! Full info can be found at www.michfest.com. The schedule of performers is not up yet but of course I fully expect all three stages to rock! :)

Blessings and full-length festie hugs to you all!

~Bunny

Maybe I've just had too much cold and barren winter. ~sighs~

I need to feel warm sunshine on my face... a soft breeze in my hair. I need to feel the delicious cool wetness of Jayne's paintbrush making it's way across my skin as I stand trembling but still in the shade of the oak tree. I need to feel chilled stickiness of watermelon juice dripping down my chin and my breasts ... as I laugh and flirt with strangers who quickly become friends. I need to feel my thighs moving bare underneath a sarong as I walk down wooded paths, hips slowly rolling in that oh-yes-I-am-female-and-I-know-it kinda way. I need to feel the joyful pulsating energy of 200 women weaving a spiral dance under a full moon. I need to feel the unbelievably powerful loving energy of 3000+ women at welcoming ceremonies.

I need to hear women's voices greeting each other and offering a hand, women's sheiks of joy when they meet up with festie friends from previous years. I need to hear women's loud laughter in groups and the soft intimate laughter between couples. I need to hear women's music ... strong, powerful, heart-opening, body moving! I need to hear giggles, soft moans, and sharp cries from tents as I walk though the woods at night. I need to hear birds in the morning and women softly calling out to the still tents of their neighbors "hey over there, want some coffee?"

I need to feel like part of a majority! A majority of women... a majority of lesbians... a majority of peaceful warriors ... of women who care. I need to feel the renewal of bonds with women who I share a goal of changing the world. I need to be reminded that we can indeed change the world.

I need to eat at fest ... knowing the menu by heart now ... eagerly anticipating nut loaf or burrito night ... always chickpeas each day in some form or another. I need to go through the meal line ... always an opportunity to make new friends and find ever more creative ways to shield your skin from the sun.

I need to quilt. I need take my turn and work on the amazing piece of art crafted by hundreds of loving hands, stitching part of my soul into this community creation. I need to sit with my sister quilters and share stories of first and last bloods, births and deaths, losses and triumphs. And I need to laugh with them till my sides hurt.

I need to shower at fest ... waiting in line during the day, admiring tattoos, swapping stories of where home is and how we got to Fest. I need to shower under the stars, possibly alone in communion with the night sky, possibly sharing space with a stranger, possibly in a playfully sexual way with someone special ... if there's no one else around.

I need to feel safety of my sisters' presence ... the Mother's security... the Goddess's warmth. I need to feel the bliss of utter and complete safety as I walk alone through the woods to my tent with only the moon to guide my way. I need to feel the safety and security of knowing that if I only open my mouth and ask for help, my sisters will be there in a flash doing all they can. I need to feel the heat of the sun, of the bonfires, of desire. I need to feel my body dance and dance and dance ... to the women's drums and at Aug Nite Cafe and for the sheer joy of feeling my body move to my own song.

I need to remember these things all year long, I know. But I need my tribe. I need to go HOME.