Viva Perú!

End of Peru trip 7/6/2025 

Nothing is delicious as being 40 years old in Peru, having just left my job and my living situation to embrace my life completely.

Who am I?

I am this. A writer, a singer, a dancer, a student of plant medicines and life. 

Up until now, I have really wanted to dedicate myself to writing a blog, but I have been nervous to open myself up past the writing of songs, to be honest, to be seen. But today, there’s something about forty. Something about my death haunting me, whispering to me. Letting me know it’s time to let go of what I have been holding that is not mine and just JUMP. 

So this is what I am doing. I have decided that the rest of my life is going to be on my terms. Completely. 

Without much money, with vision and determination, I am jumping in with all my heart and all my faith, with an inner feeling that my passion, my contributions and my life force will be supported. Yikes! And YUM.

I came to Peru by invite from a new friend of mine who has since become a bosom buddy. Her name is Chelsea and I just love her. She’s brave and sassy and kind and curious and did I mention BRAVE. 

We came here to be on retreat with a powerful plant medicine called Ayahuasca. A medicine I have been working with for almost eight years now, but this is my first trip to Peru, to the source. We traveled to the Sacred Valley to share a week with a group of women in ceremony and self study. We retired into the depths of ourselves to feel all the things we usually have to block or forget just to function in the world. We were held and we held each other. It was a huge blessing for me. Through this experience I have solidified my return to myself and what matters. Thank you. 

Now I walk my path step by step as I fly back to the states to embark on another cross country tour, sharing music and life with whom ever I end up meeting. I plan to be in Puerto Rico by August to work on a written project concerning the story of my father, my family and I. How we in our different ways, have been affected by United States relationship to Puerto Rico. Something that has been weighing on my heart a while. Something I sorely need to understand more about, and to tell the story of. I plan to write prose, write an album and share it with you all. I plan to return to Perú as well and continue my studies. Big dreams for me. I’m scared but I am also thrilled. Saying yes to my dreams without knowing how they will come into form is so worth it. I commit to the mystery, to the unfolding, and to my inner compass. 

Viva Peru! Viva life!

Till next time 

Maria