We had the good fortune of connecting with Miri Hunter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Miri, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?

The option to give up has never been an option. If there was a road block, one just continued and found a way around the block, developing another option. If you stop, you end up wondering who you are, what you are about, why you are here. As long as you keep going, the answer to those questions (the questions don’t go away) are consistently being revealed to you. You don’t stop being an artist, a creator, simply because someone says no or rejects something that you are pursuing or developing. The fame and fortune may not appear the way society prescribes it (huge houses, fancy cars). Modern culture, with its virtual everything, is searching for lost its soul.  My life as an artist is about spiritual aliveness which leads to living in awareness and being present with what the universe is offering you. If you stop the journey because of a road block, you will never know only wonder about the what-ifs.  Creativity, in all its forms, is the greatest tool that one can have to navigate through this lifetime. It is all one needs to get through the highs and the lows. Keep going!!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

Since I was six years old, I have wanted to sing. I sang to every song on the radio, the stereo and knew every hymn. This enthusiasm for music was nurtured by my family as I was given music and dance lessons at an early age. I read voraciously as a child and I loved school. I don’t know if any of this set me apart from others, but it certainly informed the reality of who I was.

Having such varied interests, writing, acting, singing, dancing, academics, et al, was wonderful. However, society, possibly due to the role of industrialization, is not always conducive to one being a polymath. I was consistently being told to do one thing and to do it well. Doing one thing at a time was not only boring, but detrimental to my psychology. There was so much to learn, why couldn’t one thing inform the other, cross pollinate? At some point, I realized these purveyors of what I should or should not be doing were more or less either intimidated or freaked out by my talents. I also realized that when I did only one thing, it was not creative or stimulating. It fell flat.

So I guess my biggest obstacle was learning to ignore those voices and learning live my authentic life and love my creative self.

Currently, I am most excited to have discovered the Southern California Desert life. When I visited here about ten years ago, I wasn’t planning on staying, but I did. I have developed a loving relationship with the environment. It encapsulates beauty and serenity and expansiveness. Ultimately, it has given me time…..an artist needs time and space to nurture creativity.

And I am doing my polymath thing, by working on several scripts; painting; running Thought Theatre, my theatre company; playing in the band, Hunter and the Wicked with my partner; co-producing the Hi Desert Fringe Festival; and teaching at uCopper Mountain and St. Mary’s colleges. It seems crazy but the focus and clarity that I have discovered out here in the desert make it all fit.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

For a week long visit in the desert, the first place to go is the National Park. It is breathtaking, full of serenity and an optimal place to re-connect with yourself and with nature.

One of my favorite places to eat is in 29 Palms. It is called Kitchen in the Desert. You can also find me at the Ground Squirrel….great burgers.

I would also suggest a visit to the Joshua Tree Retreat Center, otherwise known as the Institute of Mentalphysics. It is a National Historic site and the home to at least eleven buildings designed by the architect, Lloyd Wright.

Windwalkers Medicine Wheel in Joshua Tree is a beautiful Native American Spirituality Center.

If you are here on a Saturday, there are Farmers’ Markets in both Joshua Tree and 29Palms.

Of course, the best thing to do out here is breathe.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

Shoutout to all the strong, fierce, dynamic and creative Black women in my family who came before me and passed down their wisdom through the generations,: my grandmothers, my mother, my aunts.

Shoutout to my partner, Thom Merrick, the painter, for being my life partner, my caregiver when I needed it, my support and the joy of my life.

Website: http://www.projectsheba.com

Instagram: #projectsheba, #mirihunter

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/mirihunter

Facebook: ww.w.facebook.com/mirihunter

Image Credits
Photos by Hilary Sloane, Thom Merrick

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