The night before the RISE Festival, I stood in silent awe on my porch in Dolan Springs, Arizona, watching the sun sink through the branches of a Joshua tree.
The light caught on the edges of each thorn, each shadowed limb, and for a moment, it felt as though the desert itself was breathing with me. There was silence — that kind of deep desert quiet that doesn’t ask for words, only presence.
Something inside whispered:
It’s time to live life to its fullest.
To shine your light outward.
To transform your pain into purpose, and your survival into service.
The Desert and the Music
Under the darkness of the vast Mojave sky, thousands of us gathered together at the RISE Festival as the first lanterns lifted into the night.
Each glowing orb carried a wish, a prayer, a fragment of someone’s story — and as they rose, it felt like we were all breathing the same song.
I found myself thinking about how music unites us. How it dissolves the illusion of separation.
As Goose took the stage, the air shimmered with that particular magic that only happens when sound becomes spirit. Their music didn’t just fill the desert — it expanded it. Each note felt like a thread pulling people closer, weaving something ancient and utterly new.
As Bono once said,
“Music can change the world because it can change people.”
And that night, it did.
Later, John Mayer stepped into that same current — not as a star above it all, but as a musician among us. His playing carried both mastery and humility — a reminder that every artist begins not with fame, but with the pure act of listening.
It struck me that this is what art is meant to do: awaken the sacred in ordinary things. To remind us, as Leonard Cohen once wrote,
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
Because Too Many Artists Are Starving
Not just for food or funds — but for belonging.
For recognition.
For a space that says:
Your gift matters. You matter.
I’ve met so many musicians, dancers, painters, and builders who carry something extraordinary inside them — but no stable ground beneath their feet. The struggle to stay creative while trying to simply survive has become the great silent epidemic of our time.
As the lanterns rose, I realized I wasn’t just releasing a wish — I was making a vow: to help build spaces where artists no longer have to burn out to shine, and where creativity is treated not as a luxury, but as a life force.
The Birth of SonaTierra
Sona means sound.
Tierra means earth.
Together, they become the sound of the Earth.
SonaTierra was born from that vow — a living ecosystem where creativity, community, and sustainability meet.
A regenerative foundation devoted to supporting musicians, artists, and visionaries through housing, food systems, and creative opportunity.
It’s about turning inspiration into infrastructure — building sanctuaries where art and permaculture co-exist, where people can live, create, and give back to the land that sustains them.
Because when artists thrive, the culture heals through them.
When the Earth thrives, our art becomes truer.
As Bob Dylan once said,
“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.”
That’s what SonaTierra is — the shared responsibility to use our freedom, our creativity, and our light for something larger than ourselves.
A Rising Promise
Each lantern that floated into the desert sky carried a promise — not only of hope, but of responsibility.
As I released mine, I realized I wasn’t letting go.
I was rising — into the next version of myself, and into the greater calling of SonaTierra.
Maybe it’s time to find out.
To rise together.
To create sustainably.
To let art, music, and community become the rhythm that heals the world.
Because music doesn’t just reflect who we are —
it reminds us who we’re still becoming.
A Call for Reflection
If it feels right for you, please take a moment — and just breathe.
Think of the light you carry, the art within you waiting to rise.
What promise would you release into the sky if you knew the world was listening?
Maybe it’s time — like all of us at RISE — to lift it higher. Maybe, just maybe, it’s your time to shine.
From my heart to yours, Joy
Unscripted Joy 
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