When Music Meets Equine Therapy: Creating Safe Spaces for Women Veterans -52

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Captain Kim [: 00:00:04

What happens when an equine therapy center, musicians, healers, chefs, skincare, innovators and estate agency come together for one purpose. Magic. In this episode, we reflect on the healing, connection and transformation that unfolded during our Trauma Transformation Retreat for military Women and honor the incredible partners who made it all possible. You will want to be present for this one. Welcome to Dog Tag Diaries, the podcast where military women share their stories and speak their truth. Women Veterans recognition day is June 12th, where we honor the legacy, courage and resilience of women who've served across every branch and battlefield. I'm Captain Kim, Veteran and your host. This podcast was created so military women could share their truth without apology, shame or filters.

Captain Kim [: 00:01:04

In honor of this Women Veterans Recognition Day, we're launching an online auction to support Reveille and Retreat Project, our nonprofit that provides no cost transformative retreats for military women. With suicide rates among military women on the rise, these retreats offer community, camaraderie and healing. To support our mission, we are launching our auction June 12th and running it through June 30th. Bid, donate an item, or sponsor a veteran directly at reveilleandretreatproject.org if you are hearing this after June 30th, you can still make a donation or reach out to us and provide an item for our next auction. You're not just listening to a podcast, you're joining a revolution. Let's begin. In this heartfelt episode of Dog Tag Diaries, we celebrate the power of community. We extend our deepest gratitude to the individuals and organizations who help bring the Reveille and Retreat Project's Equine Based Trauma Transformation treat to life.

Captain Kim [: 00:02:11

From Equine therapy to soulful music, nourishing food, spiritual healing and funding support, each contributor played a vital role in creating a safe, empowering and transformative space for military women to heal, connect and grow. I want to start by introducing our Healing Rains team, Erin and Lisa. Erin is a program and service director and Lisa is a clinical manager and licensed professional counselor. And I just want to thank you for opening your hearts and your horses and the healing grounds to our military women. This whole trauma informed equine therapy created safety, trust and emotional breakthroughs that words can't even fully express. I know we introduced you by your titles, however, I want you to explain to us who you are and what you do and the passion behind Healing Reins. So thank you both for being here.

Lisa [: 00:03:14

Thank you

Erin [: 00:03:15

Thank you, our pleasure.

Captain Kim [: 00:03:17

Yeah. I want to start. I know I introduced you by title, but there's so much more to you than that. So I would love for you both to introduce what you do and how you do it and how that fills your soul.

Lisa [: 00:03:30

So I'm Lisa. I'm a licensed professional counselor. And really, I had the opportunity to incorporate Equines into my psychotherapy practice. At some point. I really was like, oh, they're very embodied creatures, sentient beings. They must have something to teach me about the body. And because I had a dance movement therapy degree that I was working towards and a very embodied perspective of psychotherapy. And so, sure enough, the horses had just.

Lisa [: 00:03:57

The way they sense the world is pretty amazing and teaches me a lot, and I think it teaches clients a lot, too, and then allows for spaces of projection so we can sort of invite new information and awareness into our experience. So it's been just a pleasure to have the ability to offer Equines to be part of my psychotherapy practice. And then I get to run the clinic here at Healing Rains, where I get to support other therapists to learn that. And one of my favorite things to do is to teach that and supervise that. So that's basically what I've been focusing a lot on.

Captain Kim [: 00:04:29

Yeah. And I have to say, you did such a beautiful job incorporating that and inviting all of our military women into that space, which we'll talk about. But I want Erin to introduce herself first.

Erin [: 00:04:42

Yeah. Wonderful. So my name's Erin and I'm the program and services director, as you mentioned, Kim. So working at Healing Rein. So I have a grew up around horses, and I always knew that there was just something different when I was in the presence of horses than when I wasn't. And I knew that at a very young age. And so through my life have tried to stay connected to horses. I have background in education and communications, and then came into Healing Reins, being able to work with people in the presence of horses.

Erin [: 00:05:10

And really through, you know, our mission here at Healing Rein is to heal with horses and to work with these amazing animals and with the incredible participants that come through our doors to really be able to connect with the animals and. And things like that. So it's really combining, you know, my. My childhood hopes and dreams, and also my passion for working with people in this capacity, which is really incredible. It's mental health, it's adaptive horsemanship, it's physical and occupational therapy, all sorts of different realms.

Captain Kim [: 00:05:38

Erin, I love that you were able to bring your childhood dreams into reality. And even more so, you have such a pure soul, you and Lisa both. And I'm so happy that you both met each other at Healing Reigns and are able to work together. Because for the retreat, for that military retreat you put on for us, you worked magic. You worked magic. So let's talk about that. Erin. it started with you and I collaborating. And I remember coming over to Healing Reins and you were so inviting, and you were like, yeah, let's make this happen, and we could do this and this and all these ideas you just kept coming up with.

Captain Kim [: 00:06:16

I was so grateful because as you learned, the military women just really accept the bare minimum. And you were like, yeah, let's just bring this to life. And then you were like, we're bringing Lisa in and we are just going to make this magic. And you did. And let's talk about how that worked for you all and in the planning process and what you thought about the retreat.

Erin [: 00:06:43

Yeah, I'll start on this. So, you know, when you came out, Kim, you've got an incredible energy, and I feel like when in your presence, it's like, oh, yeah, we can do anything. So seeing just. You just made it so easy in the fact of, like, you just really saw the vision. And as you were touring the property and talking about things, it was like, well, yeah, why not? Why couldn't we? And. And you were just so open and willing to just kind of go with the flow. And for us, you know, we've only been on this new property for a year and we weren't sure and how's that going to work with folks staying on site and things like that.

Erin [: 00:07:15

But yeah, I think just having a team being able to connect with Lisa and she was all in. And then it was just meant to be in the fact of, like, how do we adapt our property and our situation to work with people? And like, this was, like, amazing opportunity. So, yeah, thanks for just being so open and willing. It really didn't take much. This was an incredible group of people that came to the retreat. Working with you and Dakota was incredible. So it went really, really well for us in terms of planning. We just wanted to ensure that folks could come on the property, be in the present moment, be in nature, working with horses, and then have that support from the mental health side of things to really go as deep or not.

Erin [: 00:08:01

And I'll let Lisa carry that on, but that was really the intention was to just provide this opportunity and then go from there.

Lisa [: 00:08:09

Yeah. One thing I love about working with Erin is that we're both pretty adaptable. I mean, I don't mean to use this word as such a pun, but it's so true. You have to adapt when working with horses, to the weather, to the participants, to the clients, like, so much adapting to different things. And so it's really lovely when you work with a coworker who has some really flexible thinking as well, and you get told this really amazing idea, and then you get to be like, yeah, let's make it work. Let's adapt our property to whatever we need to our staff or whatever. So it becomes really exciting. So when Erin came to me and said, yeah, we're thinking about doing this retreat, I was like, heck, yeah.

Lisa [: 00:08:45

I totally would love to be a part of that. I love to support space for people to find out more about themselves. That's like one of the first pieces to the puzzle for me when it comes to a therapeutic space is like, what can we learn by doing small, minimal things like grooming horses or breathing around them or just being in their presence and the paddocks where they're just munching on their grass or whatever it is. So being able to give thanks to these women in particular for their service and their presence and their everything that they brought to that and everything that they are bringing back from that, like, to hold a space, to give back somehow, that filled my heart real big. And I know it did for the rest of the volunteers and team and Erin, so absolutely.

Captain Kim [: 00:09:32

And thank you for the opportunity to do that. I would love to hear from you all what you've learned from working with military women. Was it different? Different than other people that you've worked with?

Lisa [: 00:09:43

Gosh, yes and no. I guess I would say I have made up a lot because I am not a military woman. I have made up a lot of assumptions about what they have gone through, what they might need that better impacts their life. But again, I really try to support a therapeutic environment where they get to share whatever it is that they want to share. They get to teach me in that regard. Like, I try to really open up to letting my assumptions go and ask more questions and get curious. And I. I think the thing that really impacted me that was maybe semi new or it was just like the.

Lisa [: 00:10:20

How I feel, like so many others in that environment, being in the military, in that environment of like, you can't feel this right now because you have a job to do, so just let that go. Let that go. Even if it was a major trauma, just how that would impact you as a human being in general, of just, oh, I can't even process what's happening right now. And then that creating a sense of shutdown. I can't share things with people. I can't be who I am. I don't know who I am. I can't feel what I feel.

Lisa [: 00:10:51

How impactful, I suppose. And so to open up a space where they so organically were able to connect with other people, our volunteers, that, again, was one of my biggest takeaways, is just how impacted they were by having just another person there to hear their story or to talk with them about whatever it is that they wanted to talk about, whether it was about their personal experience or not. So, yeah, I feel allowing a space where they could share for the first time, maybe for some of them, what they had gone through or been through or going through, so.

Captain Kim [: 00:11:24

Yeah, and I love that you were all there to participate in the storytelling afterwards, because your volunteers, they really were amazing. They showed patience. They showed empathy. When we were out in the arena with the horses, and you told the horses stories first, which I thought was beautiful, and then you left space for us to tell our stories after, and you didn't push us to do anything, but the women were just so ready to engage in that space and then the storytelling after. Erin, I know, like, we were all crying, but you were tearing up as well, and I. What were you feeling?

Erin [: 00:12:09

Oh, my gosh, so many things. I actually get a little bit emotional just thinking about it. So really with Lisa talking about offering the space, and, you know, all of us here working with these women, we have, like, Lisa was saying, so much gratitude for their service and what they've experienced. And so one thing that's so special about horses is that they are so present, and a horse is not thinking about what they had for breakfast or what they're having for dinner or all the things they have to do in between. They're in there in that moment. And this group of women just showed up and was just. They allowed themselves to be so present. And what I saw was throughout the day with the piano playing and the horses, and it was like the most.

Erin [: 00:12:53

Almost like, relaxing situation, you know, just looking around and. But then what was happening was that they were able to be present and to process in whatever way they needed to. And so the reason why that storytelling piece was so emotionally impactful for me personally was that everyone was pretty quiet until you said, hey, why don't we go ahead and everyone go around and thank your volunteer? And when they were asked to share gratitude for this experience, the story. I have goosebumps. The stories just started flowing, and. And it was like, oh, my gosh, the horses were this part of it. And Then having this, this human present there and everybody just being in this moment and then that it was just so beautiful. And I think that one of the things that I was so excited about just from a services, what we're able to provide at Healing Reins was like, look at how magical this sit that.

Erin [: 00:13:50

We had music playing, we had horses present, we had a therapist in there supporting and a bunch of, like you said, really incredible women who were here supporting the military women and the horses. And it just all worked out. And I was just like, yes, this is just the future.

Captain Kim [: 00:14:10

Well, I thank you for trusting in us because we've done events before because we put on four retreats a year and we do different retreats just to bring in different interests for different women. And so we've seen it happen. But this was like you trusting in us. Because I know I just came with like these right. Grandiose ideas, like, oh yes. And this is how it happens. We do an invitational ceremony and we get everyone grounded and, and feeling like this is their space and we're going to create this community for them. And then by the next day it just, it opens up.

Captain Kim [: 00:14:49

But these horses, they did something so magical and you could speak to it more because you work there and you work with them and I feel like you can almost connecting with them. And so the amount of the testimonials that came back from these women were just. They take the horses. Like they talk about the horses in our follow up retreat, our post retreat, they talk about the horses, they use their names, they tell us where they put the art in their house. So let's talk about that because you set that art up very beautifully.

Lisa [: 00:15:25

Yeah. Which actually kind of went in a different direction than we had originally anticipated. But it was kind of. I feel like everybody had a say in that. I remember asking a couple different people their thoughts. Anyway, it was. It sort of worked out very organically if you ask me. But I think what a great time to say thank you to the horse and thank you to themselves.

Lisa [: 00:15:48

So basically I tried to support them to put some colors and paints on a canvas that might help them reference what they feel like they got out of the experience. Something to help them remember to take with them or to let go of, but just to be conscious about what and why they are putting this paint on their canvas. You put it into a Ziploc bag and then we put it in a grain bin and topped it with grain. Except that what ended up happening was that we decided to do it one at a time instead of Having it done in multiple areas of the property with multiple people at one time. And I think that brought it to a more ceremonial space, Another space to take the time to say thank you to themselves, to be witnessed in that. Which I think was a big piece for them, too, that just. Yeah.

Lisa [: 00:16:39

Be seen by others, Especially when I feel like a lot of them talk to me about not being seen by others in certain situations. And so to be seen by their peers and other military women was really important for them. And so I offered them to sprinkle the grain over their pictures. Paintings. While they were thinking about how they could give themselves thanks and how they could thank their horse and. And those kind of pieces. And then they were able to walk their horse over and feed the grain to the horse. And so then the horse kind of presses down on the Ziploc bag, smushing the paint around together.

Lisa [: 00:17:14

So then it becomes this collaborative painting between them and their horse that they had been working with, and a piece that they get to take away with them about their experience and what they've gathered. Right. Which is. Was apparently very rich from what we heard of. Just. Yeah. What they could take away with them was a lot. Which is kind of the point, right.

Captain Kim [: 00:17:33

Yeah. And I love that you added that art therapy in, because, like I said, every time they walk by that picture, it does that. It's the memory of being there, and it just takes them right back.

Lisa [: 00:17:46

Yeah and I'm hoping, too, that they really gained an embodied experience. Right. Where they felt like more joy or happiness or something shifted in their body. That it wasn't just intellectual. Right. Like, oh, I talked out my story. It's that they felt something deep that helps with that continued learning. Right.

Lisa [: 00:18:03

So then when they walk by that picture, they feel that visceral, like, oh, right. I had such a great time. Oh, I love that.

Lisa [: 00:18:09

And that it hits them all over, not just intellectually. I think that that important piece, in my opinion.

Captain Kim [: 00:18:15

Yeah, I think you said that really well, because that's what they have said and talked about. And it's been so beautiful that you've helped them release and heal. And I just want to thank you both for being part of that healing process with military women, because this group of women were just so happy. They were so happy when they left. And so I want to thank you for that. But that's part of Healing Rein, and so that's part of the title, Healing Reins.

Lisa [: 00:18:47

Yeah.

Captain Kim [: 00:18:51

Is there anything else you want to add?

Erin [: 00:18:53

I just want to add something that was really neat. So after the paintings were done and everyone got to take their horses back to their paddocks and say goodbye, one of the women that I was working with took her horse into the pasture and they had a long. You know, she took his halter off and they had a long, beautiful goodbye. And I was just kind of hanging out here to make sure that they were safe. And as she finally was ready to turn and leave, the horse turned with her and followed her out. And it was just one of those moments that was so profound in the fact that. That it really is this reciprocal thing where when we were working with the horses on the one full day, is that all of the women in the arena were giving back to the horse. So they were able to share and they were able to do the things to help them.

Erin [: 00:19:41

But so many of them were grooming or leading. Even someone was learning how to do bodywork, working on acupressure points and things. And it's like they were giving back to these horses in the way for. Even when we're all buttoned up and ready to say goodbye, that that horse then chose, it wasn't like, oh, great, I'm free. I'm going to run off. I'm like, that chose to reconnect with her. So I just wanted to say how beautiful it was just to have this amazing group of women here at Healing Reins. And we're looking forward to next year.

Captain Kim [: 00:20:11

Oh, yeah. Because we are collaborating again and we'll tell the public, for the military women that want to come next year, we will be having this event and we will put it on our webpage, just so you know. But in the meantime, you can look up Healing Reins and we'll put the website in the show notes. But I think we have, like a minute left. But you have a veterans program as well. Do you want to talk about that?

Erin [: 00:20:35

Oh, we'd love to. Yeah.

Erin [: 00:20:35

So we have. It's called Heroes Horsemanship, and we work every Friday. We have a group that gets together for about an hour and a half in the middle of the day to come out and work with horses, learn all sorts of new skills. So some folks want to spend time grooming and leading. Some might want to learn how to do round pinning or free lunging. Some even have learned to drive their horse and so from a specific way. So it's an unmounted program just so that folks can really work on connecting with the horse and build that bond and that trust and that communication, and you get to work with you know, be there with other veterans and One of our longtime volunteers is also a veteran as well.

Erin [: 00:21:15

And then our instructor is just awesome and working with folks. So you're building community and being able to work with horses. So please go to our website and find out more information and join us on Fridays.

Captain Kim [: 00:21:25

Thank you so much, both of you, for being on.

Lisa [: 00:21:28

Absolutely.

Erin [: 00:21:29

Thank you. Yeah, this was really fun.

Captain Kim [: 00:21:32

Up next, I have the absolute joy of introducing two remarkable women who embody creativity, collaboration, and the power of community, and who directed those gifts towards making our military women's retreat an unforgettable success. First, Paula Dreyer, a gifted pianist, composer, and educator whose music is nothing short of mesmerizing. Paula is the author of Little Gems for Piano, an innovative collection for young pianists, and the creator of Piano Flow, an improv program designed to unlock musical expression. Her concert series, Piano Flow Live, continues to captivate audiences around the globe. Whether she's performing on stage or hosting transformative retreats, Paula brings a rare kind of beauty and soul to everything she does. Joining us as well is Shannon Sullivan, the director of community engagement at the historic Tower Theater. Shannon has a gift of her own, recognizing and supporting extraordinary talent.

Captain Kim [: 00:22:36

Her work creates space where art and community intersect. And it's through her support that artists like Paula are able to share their gifts with the world in even more meaningful ways. So welcome, Paula and Shannon.

Paula [: 00:22:50

Hello.

Captain Kim [: 00:22:52

Hi, Paula. The music you make is hypnotic and healing. And I know you play at different venues, but playing at Healing Reigns was a first for you. And we were all very curious at first, like, what in the world? How are the horses going to react? So what were your thoughts and feelings when you knew, like, you were going to be playing there?

Paula [: 00:23:14

Well, I've been wanting to play with different animals for a while, so I first thought of that idea through a concert pianist named Paul Barton. And he left his career and moved, I think, to Thailand and plays with the elephant. And I've seen these videos of him with his piano outside, and the elephants just love listening to his music. And just something about that concept really resonated with me. So I've been wanting to play with horses or alpacas and just so curious, like, what would happen if we did this? I was beyond excited, and I was just really blown away by the horse's connection and reaction to the music.

Captain Kim [: 00:23:56

Yeah. Like, we were playing in the arena and the horses just moved, gravitated towards you and just stood there in front of your piano and were, like, so curious.

Paula [: 00:24:11

Yes. And they had those huge, soulful eyes, and some of them would Just stand right in front of me and just stare. I felt like they were staring into my soul.

Paula [: 00:24:20

They would just lock eyes with me, and they look very entranced and mesmerized by the music. And they had this attention span where they weren't. It wasn't just for, like, a split moment, and then they would keep going. They would really just stand there and listen. And one of the funniest moments was when there was one right behind me as I was playing. And he started. He put, like, his face in my hair.

Paula [: 00:24:46

Playing, and I'm laughing, and,

Captain Kim [: 00:24:51

I feel like that was him trying to, like, tell you, like, thank you.

Paula [: 00:24:58

I want to be in there.

Shannon [: 00:24:59

Welcome.

Captain Kim [: 00:25:00

Yeah. Like, welcome to my arena. That's so true, Shannon.

Paula [: 00:25:07

It's interesting, like, when you perform, you can feel that because it's like an energetic exchange when you're playing music for people. And I can really feel if people are connecting to what I'm playing or not. And it felt the same way with the horses. I could just feel that they were moved by it or drawn to it or listening whatever it was that they were doing. I could just feel it from them.

Captain Kim [: 00:25:31

And did that inspire you, when you were playing then, to change your music?

Paula [: 00:25:38

Well, that was interesting. I didn't have a set plan of what exactly I was going to play, and I felt very drawn to improvise while I was there. And that was really interesting. I kind of came up with a bit of an idea for a composition while I was there. I'll have to keep expanding it, but I was really playing off of a certain idea. Sometimes for, like, an hour. It was just a new idea that appeared. But one of the coolest things throughout that retreat, musically, was when we had the women walk through the threshold at the end.

Paula [: 00:26:13

So there was a ceremony. I was in the arena, and we had the. This big. I don't know how you would describe that. That threshold that they're walking.

Captain Kim [: 00:26:21

Yeah, Lisa was talking about that on the last segment to release things that.

Paula [: 00:26:27

They want to move on from. And I really time. It was all improvised, but I timed it with each person. Like, I would restart as they would walk, almost like a processional. And then as they did the actual walk through, I really brought the music up, and I tried to make it very uplifting and moving, like, in that exact moment as they were moving through it. And then before that, I would play a little bit of some darker music that represented, you know, the challenges that the person's going through. And then I tried to bring it up and make it more uplifting and kind of send them off with a healing sort of vibe. So I really enjoyed timing it with each individual person.

Paula [: 00:27:08

Very intentional about it, instead of just kind of playing in the background.

Captain Kim [: 00:27:11

Oh, my God, you are so amazing and talented because I thought, like, you had rehearsed all these, and here you're improving and, like, taking the energy off of the horses and the environment and the military women that were there. Let's talk about that. This was the first time you experiencing one of our retreats, and you played for us when we were doing a writing release and then putting it into the fire and letting the. Just releasing it into the environment. We don't need that anymore. It doesn't serve us. And you were there playing the piano. What was your thoughts around what we were doing? And then afterwards, when you gave us the headphones after we released all of that, the stuff that doesn't serve us anymore into the universe, you had us put these headphones on and go walk around the property.

Paula [: 00:28:06

Yeah. So with all that, again, I have an iPad with an amazing app called fourscore, and I have just tons of music in there, so I didn't have to bring, like, tons of books or anything like that. And then I also have ability to improvise on the spot. So again, with the release, I tried to remember what I was doing, but I'm sure, like, as people were writing, I played around just with the different emotions that we all go through as humans. Like some. Some lighter moments and then some darker moments, some more energy, some more mellow, more rest. So just playing around with all those different types of energy and then with each person as they put it into the fire, that's where I really played something more big and dramatic to try to represent, like, a big moment and a big release and then brought it back down again. And I think.

Paula [: 00:28:55

I think I was doing a lot of improvising during that as well. I might have been playing some of my compositions more like, from memory, but it didn't feel right to just be, like, reading a certain piece. I really felt like I wanted to sculpt it in real time according to what was happening. And with the concert, I did that very spontaneously. And the best moment of that was the one woman that came up behind me, and she just started singing with some of the covers that I was doing. And we were kind of done at that point. We were just having fun. And then she would call out different pieces that she wanted to try, or I would mention one that I had. And she would sing it with me.

Captain Kim [: 00:29:33

And that was such a. I do remember that. That was so much fun. And then that heavy moment, even though we released all of the things that didn't serve us anymore, we walked around and kind of let that calm in our body or that settle in our body. And then when we came back, like you said, you are all singing, and we started dancing a little bit and it was just like this really nice. This release of everything and then bringing. Coming together as a community and bonding.

Paula [: 00:30:07

Yes. That's one of my favorite ways too, to bond with people. Like, even when I was in middle school, friends would come over and they would do the exact same thing. They'd stand right there and we would try different pieces together for pop songs or musicals and such. It's a fun way to connect with people and just to have fun together. No matter what it sounds like.

Captain Kim [: 00:30:28

It always sounded good. It always sounded amazing, mesmerizing. I remember falling asleep to just like that beautiful music in my head. And I was like, oh, my gosh. This is like the best way to fall into a slumber.

Paula [: 00:30:44

Yeah. It can, like, reset the nervous system.

Captain Kim [: 00:30:47

Yeah.

Paula [: 00:30:49

I feel that in my own body as I play. And I think other people feel that as well. And that also reminds me, I was very struck by the energy of the women the first night I arrived and we did the sound bath. I hadn't really met anybody yet, and I felt a very heavy energy in the room. And I knew, like, this is going to be a big weekend. So we had kind of that heavy night, in my opinion. And then the next day, that's when all of the music and the horses started. And there was so many tears, so many emotions moved through.

Paula [: 00:31:22

And that's when that night we had the bonfire and the release and the concert. And then by the time it was the last day, it felt so much lighter, so much more joy. I felt like people just had like a brighter face, a brighter energy. I felt able to communicate with the women. And just the energy Friday compared to Sunday was mind blowing to me.

Captain Kim [: 00:31:49

I'm glad you brought that up because I was going to speak on that behalf, but you already did. And so that's amazing that you felt that because that's usually what we feel in the beginning of our retreats. It is really heavy. So I thank you for being there to be able to, like, allow us to release all of that. And you made it so safe. Like, your presence is just so pure. You made a very safe environment for us. And the music was just absolutely beautiful.

Paula [: 00:32:16

Thank you. Yeah. I felt honored to be. To be a part of that and to be invited into that sacred space that, you know, you all have this thing that you've gone through together, so you have that commonality. And so to allow an outsider to be there and help facilitate and be a part of it all was a real honor for me. Not something I would take lightly.

Captain Kim [: 00:32:37

Yes. Thank you. I remember when we all met Shannon, and you and I, we met in a coffee shop. And Shannon, let's talk about that. Because your vision and belief in the power of art have opened so many doors for these experiences. And you got to experience that on Sunday when you came for lunch with the alpacas.

Shannon [: 00:33:01

Yes. That was fun. Thank you for having me.

Captain Kim [: 00:33:03

Yeah. Well, what drew you to this event, to wanting to support our mission?

Shannon [: 00:33:09

Sure. Well, gosh, first of all, how could you not support Paula and her beautiful music?

Paula [: 00:33:14

Thank you.

Shannon [: 00:33:18

But you and Dakota too. And your non profit just really sounds amazing. And anytime I can step in and try to support females and in any role that they're trying to play, I'm happy to do so. But really, I just feel like music and any type of art can be such a great facilitator for health and healing. And just, you know, as Paula was talking about how she wraps in all those emotions into a single piece that she's playing for you all. And I'm sure the women felt that and appreciated that. And it just. In my humble opinion, I feel like it just plays such an important role in allowing us to access our emotions.

Shannon [: 00:34:05

And just knowing that others are also feeling that too, gives that sense of community that we're all feeling this together and walking through whatever threshold or the painting with the horses, and I think that builds good community and just connection.

Paula [: 00:34:21

Yeah.

Captain Kim [: 00:34:21

Yeah. And taking it a step further. And I love to talk about this part and just letting people know, because military women do suffer with depression, isolation, and the suicide rate among them are going up. I'm getting emotional. Being able to provide this environment for them was amazing. And the fact that you were able to support and sponsor Paula to be there, because right now our funding, because of what's going on isn't totally there. So we all really appreciate you and Tower Theaters for being part of this mission.

Shannon [: 00:35:05

Thank you. I appreciate that. And I don't make the art, so it's a lot easier for me to just try to help pay for it. I can't come into the space and do that, but. So anytime I can connect people and help bring art into different spaces. We can do shows and concerts at our venue all day long, and we do. But it's even more rewarding to take it out of those walls and take it into the community and, and see where it can really be impactful on a more human level, if you will.

Captain Kim [: 00:35:36

Yeah. But we all, even though you don't play the music, we all have our vital role in this. We all have our gifts, which we as intelligent, capable women made this event so successful. So I thank you both for all your efforts.

Shannon [: 00:35:53

Yeah, well, thank you.

Paula [: 00:35:54

Yeah, thanks for facilitating. It feels very symbiotic.

Captain Kim [: 00:35:58

Yes, I was gonna say. Is there anything else you wanted to add?

Paula [: 00:36:02

Oh, just so that I was so honored to be a part of that weekend. When I got home on Sunday, I was so exhausted in such a different way. It was like the energy, all the energy that I poured into watching every single thing and trying to time it, but it was so fulfilling all the same time. Like just exhausting and fulfilling. And it really felt life changing for me and I think for some of the other women as well.

Captain Kim [: 00:36:27

Yeah, it was life changing for us as well.

Shannon [: 00:36:30

Do you think you'll do that again or something like it?

Captain Kim [: 00:36:34

Yes, absolutely. Well, we have four retreats a year, but we are definitely going to do the retreat with Healing Reins Again because that was so powerful. I mean, animals and music and just the outdoor environment of it all. The mountains like Bend, Oregon was just. Is so gorgeous. I just feel like so many factors came into play for that healing. So yeah, we'll be doing that again next year. We already have it on the books.

Shannon [: 00:37:03

Oh, great.

Captain Kim [: 00:37:04

Yes. We truly appreciate all your efforts in helping the Reveille and Retreat Project's mission shine through. Special thanks to Erin, Lisa, the Horses and all the volunteers of Healing Reins, Paula and Shannon in the Tower Theater, Wendy Wilson, Blue Bite Catering, Mad Hippie and Oregon Health Authority. This episode is a tribute to what's possible when passion, purpose and partnership collide. Together, we created a space where military women felt seen, heard, and deeply supported. Thank you.

Captain Kim [: 00:37:45

Thank you for joining us on this special Women Veterans Day episode of Dog Tag Diaries. Every story shared is a light in the dark and a reminder that we're stronger together. If something resonated with you today, share this episode, talk about it. Start of Ripple and don't forget, the Reveille and Retreat Project online auction is live through June 30th. Every bid helps fund healing retreats for military women who need it most. You can explore this auction or make a direct donation to sponsor a military woman at reveilleandretreatproject.org until next time, stay strong, stay loud, and keep telling your story.