Sondra Wilson, Founder and Executive Director

Sondra Wilson: [email protected].  Updated 5/19/2023

    Hello!  Thank you for checking out Wild Willpower – the organization I’ve poured my heart and soul into for more than a decade!  Every day I continue to work diligently to create an organization designed to help people for generations to come!

     Nearly everything you see throughout www.WildWillpower.org, as well as www.ReUniteTheStates.org, www.WildLivingSkills.org, www.RichardLonewolf.com , and www.StandingRockClassAction.org was developed by me between 2010 and today.  

     I am blessed to have a lived a very difficult, yet rewarding life!  I am currently cross-enrolled at DMACC and Iowa State University. 

    Below is a very rudimentary documentation of my life story.  One day I imagine I’ll have time to finish writing it.  For now, expect errors, unfinished sections, and spots that sorely need editing.

Timeline:

May 2000 – graduated from Nevada High School in Nevada, Iowa.

Aug. 7, 2003 – attended a semester at DMACC in both 2000 and 2003, then gave away nearly all my possessions and began hitchhiking the USA with my guitar… read more.

Jan. – July 2004 – while hitchhiking to the redwoods with Tatiana Berindei, whom I’d met in Tuscon, Arizona while street performing, we met wilderness survival expert Richard Lonewolf. We stayed with his family approximately 6 months, learning

Aug. 2, 2004 – began HRT while on the streets of Los Angeles.

Jan. 26, 2007 – transferred from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Fall 2009 – Jan 2010 – Ashawna flew me to her home in Kawaii.  Spend most of my time walking up and down the Kalalau Trail, testing 

Jan. 26, 2010 – After Frank Schiavo passed away on my birthday (Jan. 26), I began reflecting on my life – “where I should be”.

May 17 – July 23, 2014 – After being wrongfully ticketed for “panhandling” in Grass Valley, CA, I began diligently studying the law, and successfully defended myself in court… read more.

Aug. 31, 2015 – May 11, 2016 – After legally claiming 2232 Commercial Ave. in Lake Isabella, CA, Kevin Byrd and I were robbed by Kern County Sheriff’s Deputies in Lake Isabella, CA… read more.

• Finished writing More Valuable Than Gold with Ethnobotany and Wilderness Survival Expert Richard Lonewolf.  Contains 186 pages  featuring step-by-step instructions for North American plants and trees.  I wrote the introduction, added more than 180 color photos, and published the book through Wild Willpower. © 2015. 

March 22, 2018 – after years of development, I officially registered Wild Willpower PAC with the FEC.  We are the first declared “Civil PAC” in the country.

Sept. 2018 – Gave three talks at various Iowa libraries involving ethnobotany, legal self-help, and “Wild Willpower’s National Plan”… read more.

Fall 2021 – current – attended DMACC for the first time since 2003.  Maintained 4.0 GPA, DMACC Honors member, Phi Theta Kappa member.

March 31, 2022 – kicked off Reliable Street’s property; filed a complaint against.

• Aug 2022 – 

March 31, 2023 – At the UMHC annual event (hosted by DMACC), I announced I’m running for Iowa Governor… read more.

   After personally experiencing and surviving a series of injustices over the years, I am finally telling my story, and revealing to the world the projects to aid humanity I have been diligently working on for years.

Publications:

“The Hidden History of Law” textbook series by Sondra Wilson.

Casework for Social Justice:

   After personally experiencing and surviving a series of injustices over the years, I am finally telling my story.  The justice reforms I’m proposing, through Wild Willpower, are as follows:

Improvements to Iowa’s justice system – I currently live in Iowa, and am working to set the record straight with regard to several injustices I’ve faced within the state over the years.  This list improvements should help prevent others from being harmed in the way I was.

Improvement to the U.S. justice system – this section outlines the “Justice Accessibility Act” I am proposing nationally.

Why I founded a political organization:

    I first conceived of the name “Wild Willpower” while walking the Kalalau Trail on the island of Kauai in somewhere between 2009-2010 while I was living there.  I spent many days sleeping on the beach during that time, then hiking around at night.  My main focus was downsizing to “the perfect gear” so I could travel as lightweight as possible, and learn to forage wild plants to travel that much lighter.  Because it took a lot of willpower to wean myself off domestic foods and train myself to endure the elements, the name Wild Willpower came to me.

     Soon after, a dear friend of mine, Frank Schiavo, passed away on my birthday.  I was very distraught, so my friend Ashawna Hailey bought me a ticket back to the mainland.  My soul shrieked in pain for Frank, and this song came through me (he’s the “Heavy Rock” in verse two). Frank and me in 2009 before I left for Kauai:

     While analyzing my life and thinking “where I should be”, I realized that those who are precious to us can pass away at any minute: our elders are sacred.  They are full of knowledge and wisdom, and it is important that we hear them to help them pass what they know on.  I learned this through the passing from not only Frank Schiavo, but also through the recent passing of Frank Cook, who was also very important and inspirational to me. I thought about the most important thing I had ever done this lifetime: study with Richard Lonewolf back in 2004.  I decided to go find him to find out if he was still alive, and to learn everything I could from him.

     Two friends, Meredith Thompson (whom I met in Kauai) and Randall Scheiner (good friend from Iowa), traveled to meet me.  We found Lonewolf’s address from an old mutual friend, and we hitchhiked (and took a train partway) from San Jose to Bakersfield to find him:

      I was mildly concerned how he might respond to the fact that I had undergone hormone therapy since last we’d met, but he didn’t skip a beat and invited us in.  Later when we talked about it, he said he always knew that about me so he wasn’t surprised.  He told me that in his Lakota ancestry they refer to people like myself as winyankteca (winkte for short), or “two spirits”. While feeling like many people in my own (white) culture where I came from rejected me, it felt relieving to find a family who treated me with dignity and respect.

     After inviting us in, it was plain to see his family was living in dire straits.  They had little food in cupboards, and Lonewolf said his landlady kept harassing him because she didn’t like the “pagan symbols” in his frontyard (which were actually Native American crafts which had cultural and spiritual meaning – not “pagan symbols”).  He told me that he had lost nearly everything and that he wasn’t getting his due military benefits.

    Using a small laptop I purchased from one of Frank and my mutual friends, Ralph Schardt (with money gifted by Ashawna) I designed business cards and this flier to help him find students for classes so he could get back on his feet:

    Using skills I’d learned while editing my high school newspaper, I scanned the single copy he had left of a wilderness survival manual he and his ex-wife had written together “on a typewriter out in the forest”.  Here is the remake of that old book I helped breathe life back into so he could sell them to help him get by until we could get his school off the ground.  It was his dream to found Richard Lonewolf Survival School, and under his guidance I continued performing the footwork so he could get classes going.

     The project I am most proud of is the ~150 page textbook we wrote together, More Valuable Than Gold, which we finally finished in 2016:

A Higher Calling:

     I remember it taking two years of devoting my time to learning this knowledge that it dawned on my how abundant the wilderness is.  At first I only know a few plants for food used, and thought that I would need to supplement my diet, however after my second year I began looking around the wilderness and the plants began “splitting apart in my mind” – I could see so many uses for every single one of them.  I went from seeing the wilderness as “a survival situation” to “a great, untapped abundance”.  Many of the delicious plants take no water to grow!  They’re desert plants!  There are a lot of “save the world foods” that grow out there! 

      But beyond that, during this time I conceived of a piece of technology I believe will greatly aid humanity in the future:

A Personal Message:

     After hitchhiking the country more than 8 years with a guitar while writing, performing songs, and documenting ethnobotany and wild living skills alongside various experts, in 2010 I began organizing what I’d learned throughout www.WIldWillpower.org.  I had invented The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App and needed a “parent organization” to be able to sponsor the developers and teachers needed to help build it.  I began developing www.RichardLonewolf.com for one of my former teachers, Mr. Richard “Lonewolf” Legan after realizing that many of the skillsets he teaches do not currently have a “place” within our society.  Knowing there would be other Native American (and indigenous teachers around the world) who would require similar sponsorship and documentation, Wild Willpower had a purpose.

    Additional knowledge being mapped throughout The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App, I learned while studying alongside California Lichen Society members (www.California Lichens.org) and The Mycological Society of San Francisco (www.mssf.org).  Other bits of knowledge were picked up along the way from meeting people while hitchhiking, and book knowledge.  The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App is currently a skeleton of the technology it is being built to become, which I look forward to continuing throughout winter 2018-19.  Until that time I’ll be finishing our upcoming history textbooks I’ve been working on for several years, and also the legal self-help website on www.ReUniteTheStates.org.  A great way to support these continuing endeavors, and the future of Wild Willpower, is to order a copy of Richard Lonewolf and my book, More Valuable Than Gold.

Influential Experiences:

• Wrote ~40 still unrecorded songs.
• Learned & taught alongside Environmental Studies Professor Frank Schiavo as ‘Guest Speaker’ at San Jose State University, also gave tours of his ‘historic landmark’ “first sustainable home” 2006-2010
• Learned and documented alongside Ethnobotany, Wilderness & Emergency Survival, & Ancient Tribal Living Skills Expert & U.S. Army Vietnam & Cold War Era Veteran Richard “Lonewolf” Legan from 2010-2015.  Produced a 180 page book with over 240 color photos:  “More Valuable Than Gold;“.

Wild Willpower’s Websites
(all sites invented and owned by Alex “Distance” Wilson)

• www.RichardLonewolf.com – home page of Richard Lonewolf Survival School. (school not in operation).  Developed for a former teacher.
• www.WildLivingSkills.org.org – an amazing in-the-making piece of technology designed to co-process the user’s GPS, time of year, elevation, and bioregion to make species identification quick and easy.  Future plans to sponsor teachers – primarily native teachers – who will teach “Positive-Impact Harvesting Techniques” as well as historical edible, utility, and medicinal uses for plants, trees, etc. use(d) by tribes.  Website can be used by Wildharvesting Cooperatives in order to coordinate legal wildharvests with forest officials.
• www.KernRiverCoop.com – our plan to model “an ecologically-beneficial, wildfire-preventing, renewable, replicable, production-based economy.”  We were robbed in 2016 and are looking to begin again in Autumn 2019.
• www.WildWillpower.org – the first nonconnected “Civil PAC” in the country (registered with the IRS and FEC), our political organization focuses on the improvement of and furtherance of our national plan.  Contributions to Wild Willpower PAC help us build all the projects described throughout this website.
• www.ReUniteTheStates.org – a legal self-help website in the making to help people learn more about, and how to navigate, the civil and criminal law systems.
• www.TribalLivingSpaces.org – a very unfinished site to be developed further in 2019, we look forward to designing “wild living skills and native animal sanctuary” living spaces for people looking to live using these skills among vast wilderness spaces.

The below section is unedited and unfinished at this time.  Please check back in 2019.

    After September 11th, 2001, the nation was called to revenge against the Muslim people, and many stray Christians were returned to the churches.  When asking why “Muslims attacked the U.S.,” it was often said that ” God put emnity between Christians & Muslims”, but I remembered from years of going to The Methodist Church that Jesus did not teach revenge.  My brother Victor sat me in front of the film Ghandi, explaining to me that a small man who never reached 100 pounds actually stopped an entire military!  Inspired, and wanting to make a difference, I gave away my possessions and began searching for ways to live respectfully in regard to people of other cultures.

     I stopped eating cows to better respect people of India, and stopped eating pig meat in order to ” bridge cultural gaps”  between myself and Muslims, Jews, and people of other faiths who don’t consume pork.  This was a major shift in my life, because at the time I was Assistant Manager at the Nevada Dairy Queen, and also of the local Pizza Hut. 

     I stopped eating animal products & went ” on the road ” with a guitar I bought off EBay because the only people who really made sense to me were Rock & Rollers on the radio. I left to write a Rock & Roll opera, turn away from all media, & connect with nature to find out if it was possible to “live healthfully among the woods without the need to kill animals”.

     A year & a half later I met Lonewolf & Beth (mother of his children), & they allowed me & some friends to live with their family & we began to learn to forage wild food in The Mojave Desert for 6 months before i left to attend The Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, where i would live on the streets & with my guitar & forage about 80%of my food to stay alive. Uncle Lonewolf’s knowledge kept me alive & healthy!!

I would not return to him until 5 years later when my boyfriend & best friend Frank Schiavo would pass away on my birthday which sparked me to hitchhike (you GOTTA hitchhike!!– bring an instrument & be honest & don’t steal & help where you can, & be resource conscious; remember that SOMEONE is in the fields picking everything you eat, so be sure you are giving back!) to see if Lonewolf was still alive & to find out if he would consider teaching more (I was also motivated by Randall Scheiner & Meredith Thompson who also wanted to study with him); I went with an increased dedication to learn The Native Way rather than to take the knowledge for “self-purification” reasons.

I found him in Bakersfield as a now single father not receiving his due military benefits & struggling to stay alive– about to get evicted with his son Journey. I hitchhiked north, & thanks to the loving support & friendship, & also donation from my dear missed friend Ashawna Hailey, I went south & helped Lonewolf’s family with money & we paid for gas– got a smartphone– & I began documenting his skills, making him a business card, scanning some of his credential papers, & also scanning his survival manual (he had one surviving tattered copy) thanks to skills i learned at Nevada High in Iowa & the wonderful team of teachers there who– as you can see now– ALSO save lives– just like my Mom.  Jason Baker helped my to build my first websites & “show me the ropes” & Bill Hill began teaching me about lichen identification & he & his very-good-hearted boyfriend Ticor Fuller “adopted” me (they liked my passion & what i was doing, & they understood firsthand the discrimination & poverty associated with being “queer” in this society– I’m a transgender woman living on food stamps & health care coverage so please LISTEN UP because votes can be hurtful, so let’s make sure we’re using them to all peoples’ benefit) so that I could continue building an organization to aid not only THIS native teacher, but also MANY such “disenfranchised” teachers.

    Distance passionately began walking & hitchhiking the U.S.A. with her 12-string guitar following the September 11th attacks to write songs to protest all wars (which hurts all people AND nature), & began seeking resource alternatives to war-causing & ecosystem-destroying products; this path led to finding a vast amount of unexpected knowledge especially after studying alongside & documenting with survival & ethnobotany expert Richard Lonewolf, Lichen Specialist Bill Hill, The California Lichen Society, & The Mycological Society of San Francisco for the past 5 years while building Wild Willpower to help “pass the knowledge on within a new piece of technology which can very reasonably be used to restore native ecosystems around the world while helping humanity meet both our economic AND resource needs”.  

    This work has come together following a unique education hitchhiking to 43 states & learning from countless people & experiences & perspectives while witnessing a very different angle on society which enabled common threads of hardship to be seen, & anyone who knows Distance knows she’s pretty relentless when it comes to “trying to find solutions”.  She’s taught at The Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, alongside San Jose State University Environmental Studies Professor Frank Schiavo for the final 4 years of his life, at private venues, & has also been designated the role of “Liaison” for Richard Lonewolf Survival School after building their website & “peaceably assembling” several publications alongside Lonewolf.  She has written & performs over 40 original songs (these songs made all this possible along with Samaritans of the U.S.A.!), some of which you can hear right now on Soundcloud– simply click the below image of Distance.

Note:  Many of the lyrics are radical (“rad” translates “root” in Latin), however they are said tongue-in-cheek– don’t really go shooting cows in the head after listening to the song “Bill of Rights”, for instance!  These are all just demos until there’s more time to record & finish writing the “Sham Rock Opera”, but that is not a priority due to all the other plans throughout this site taking precedence– more story about my life in-the-making below.

     On August 7th, 2002, I began walking & hitchhiking the USA with my 10-string guitar in order to:

1.) step away from all media outlets so I could hear myself think after a lifetime of being bombarded by relentless television, radio, & newspaper commercialism, advertising, & rhetoric.  I was internalizing some issues that needed worked out to help find “the real me” before making my next move in life, & also was trying to process September 11th as well as the nation’s response- which would have quite an effect on my life to come. I began journaling frequently.

2.) visit various churches, temples, mosques, & other places of worship to try to understand where people of other religions “were coming from”.  Although I had no intention of converting to anything, I ceased eating cows as a sign of respect to Indian people & stopped eating pigs to help bridge cultural gaps between myself & Muslims & Jews.  After further inflection, I stopped eating animal products altogether, & a woman behind me in line at a Subway restaurant told me I was a “vegan” after she saw what I (didn’t) put on my sandwich.  When I went home & Googled the word, I came across some PETA.org videos; & soon after chose NOT to cope with managing the 2 restaurants I was working for at the time; instead I quit.  I felt emotionally traumatized by the horrors that animals endured in factory farms & within the fur industry, & wanted nothing to with with violence to animals ever again.  I found it perplexing that no one had ever told me about the heinous crimes against nature involved with factory farming– how did someone not know anything about this by the time they were 21 years old?!  After observing that almost our entire economy was designed around this “secret”, a “trapped” feeling came over me, & emotional isolation soon ensued as I fell silent about this issue for many years to come.

3.) take an active step in “using less gas” after hearing various allegations that wars in the Middle East had to do with not only religion- but oil.  This included a new “zero-trash commitment” by purchasing fresh produce & using bulk sections whenever possible to void garbage (I meant to say “void” just now);  this fit in with the “use less gas” commitment (hitchhiking & walking everywhere) because it was all about using less petroleum products, taking a stand against a war, & alleviating animosities between American culture & other cultures planetround.

4.) connect with nature (wild native ecosystems) for an extended period of time & begin discovering my natural & wild senses for the first time in my life; Iowa only has 0.1% left of its native ecosystems, & I didn’t grow up with the level of natural connection that I believe necessary for children (or growing adults).  

5.) write songs “along the way” to document the journey via *living the part as closely as possible* of a key character from a rock & roll opera I’d been conceiving.  The rock & roll opera was to be about a person’s “7-year journey to live at peace among animals while living in the wilderness” after leaving “the modern world” behind, then bringing “a song from nature” that could only be “found” while living in “innocence among all the beings”.  The film was supposed to be like a “call from Eden/innocence to all religions” to stop fighting & come ‘back’ to living at peace among nature .  The rock & roll opera was also to represent gay people & people of other sexual orientations, as well as the medical needs of transgender people- who did not have any “spiritual voice” among the media or outspoken religions at the time- I envisioned the film being ‘a real thinker’.  As a fan of stage plays, it seemed like it would be *cheating the audience* to write such a piece without going “all in” to find *authentic* songs.  

   Some of my biggest lyrical inspirations & examples of their songs I listened to @ the time included:

Roger Waters:  “Perfect Sense pt. 1 & 2“

John Lennon:  “Gimme Some Truth”

Bob Dylan:  “Like a Rolling Stone”

Simon & Garfunkel:  “I Am a Rock“

& David Bowie:  “Wild-Eyed Boy from Freecloud“

   I felt like modern songs at the time lacked the subliminal & overt lyrical potency that these & several other of my favorite empassioned artists presented during their primes during the rock & roll era,  & that songs of such magnitude really needed to come forth from within the United States during the modern day in order to help educate & inspire people to begin considering where their products *came from*, & what effects that these purchases have on people in other parts of the world; to carve a poetic path to help peoples’ minds cut through the commercial & political haze in order to avert a desperate future filled with “resource scarcity” due to the decimation of wild native ecosystems via the aftermath of negligent resource extraction caused by the unwise product choices of uninformed citizens.  U.S. citizens have had rights usurped & violated by the prioritization of “economics”; which is by no means meant to be “the sole guiding factor” of our representatives.

   National Forests, Parks, & Seashores, as well as State Parks & BLM lands, buses, trains, libraries, police & fire services, access to healthy food & quality medical care, to clean air & free, clean water, as well as Constitutional protections- are by far *The Greatest Inheritances*  of The American People; every citizen, politician, & organization are also politically & morally bound to mutual respect among all Native American peoples as well as treaties & land agreements between these nations.  Unfortunately, these inheritances have been quickly getting destroyed or violated for industrial, residential, & agricultural purposes as backed by a corporate-funded media.

    As for myself, “sacrificing” human luxuries has been well worth it when it comes to the salvation for the wild beings of the planet, & also the future of all humanity to be able to legally choose to live among wild ecosystems, & to not be doomed to a resource-scarce future OR a domestic, “concrete” future of corporate & political ruin.  If there is one thing that we have learned time & time again- it is that one person can really make a difference on the planet via speaking to peoples’ minds, hearts, & morals.  When I left Iowa, I was giving my “shot” at “saving the world“.

      After hitchhiking through 43 U.S. states, writing several songs, & feeling improved health from my dietary & life-choice shifts, I met Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, & Tsalagi (Native American nations) medicine man Richard Lonewolf in Twin Oaks, California in the spring of 2004.  He invited some friends & me to stay with him & his family, & we began learning “native uses for wild plants” as well as a lot of what felt to be very wise Native American stories & spiritual knowledge.  We participated in sweat lodge ceremonies regularly & heard beautiful songs on Lonewolf’s tule elk drum.  I experienced more powerful dreams than I had ever had, & each day, Lonewolf would offer interpretations of the animals that would come to me & my friends in our dreams; we all had life-changing experiences there where the High Deserts of the Mojave merge with the Sequoia National Forest that we would all take with us in the different directions we would each go in our lives.  During one particular ceremony, Lonewolf gave me the name “Running Eagle”.  I would attach this name at that time to the name I was going by that I had been given by a wild-dwelling friend years before; I began calling myself Distance Running Eagle.

   After staying there for 6 months, I left & wouldn’t see him or his family for another 5 years- at the beginning of 2010- which is when I would really begin to learn a lot more about the absolute abundance & “lost flavors” that are “hiding” in the wilderness- more about that soon.  

   The five years that I would be gone from Lonewolf’s side would include street performing, writing songs, studying plant uses & nutrition information, practicing Qigong meditation & yoga, maintaing a zero-trash commitment via bulk sections & fresh produce, & foraging wild foods daily- my spiritual practice was guided by willpower; overcoming mundane desires in order to help protect nature, animals, & societies from ecological ruin caused by un-needed product choices; practical altruism.  One of the most important things I learned & kept with me from my time with Lonewolf was to “emulate the way the forest fed our wild-dwelling ancestors” from season-to-season.  To do this required tuning in to what could be found growing during any given season out in the wilderness, & then emulating the ratios of flowers/leaves/mushrooms/roots that could be found in the woods at that time of the year with every purchase I would make, WITH consideration to the foods that would have been stored- acorn flour, buckeye flour, dried mushrooms & herbs, etc.  This “way of thinking” included eating sprouts in the springtime, mushrooms during the rainy seasons, berries & leaves during Summer & Autumn, & foraging any wild foods I knew to be edible.

   After leaving the desert, I hitchhiked to Los Angeles (of all places) to “take care of something” that I had been internalizing for many years.  It is a very difficult thing to explain– probably as difficult as it would be for a caterpillar to explain why it begins spinning a chrysalis.  Does the caterpillar know it will become a butterfly or does it just begin spinning & wake up anew, surprised by its ability to fly?  This is about the best way that I can convey what it is like to begin noticing that one is having a transgender experience.  

   I’d been wrestling with this silently for many years, & as someone raised with typical expectations implanted into every young midwest male who plays football & does “guy things”, it certainly wasn’t easy to cope with my innate need to transition that grew stronger each year as I grew older.  Emotionally & spiritually, I went “kicking & screaming” on this part of my journey; “purifying” my body, actions, heart, mind, & daily choices was certainly in part as a response to “ridding this desire” from my being.  What happened, however, is that my long connection with nature & mental release from the media did not extract the need to transition from me, but rather strengthened my resolve & understanding.  I began to see how transitioning was part of nature, & made sense within the natural world- which is not what I was taught when I was younger.  I began attending The Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for counseling & to receive medical care.

   The first 8 months was personally-beautiful & socially-terrifying; not one day went by that I wasn’t either publicly ridiculed or physically attacked by strangers; I was called an abomination & screamed at by people I had never met based upon their perceptions of me.  It was rare to receive a tip in my guitar case even though I saw many other musicians “raking in the dough”; I remember one particular day that I performed until my fingers bled, & finally at 3 in the afternoon someone gave me 50 cents.  I remember crying & praying I would get to see my family in Iowa again; the fellow patients & kind staff of the children’s hospital as well as a couple waiters & waitresses of my favorite restaurants were my closest “friends”.  

   I foraged ~80% of my food from between the sidewalks & from the roadsides between Venice Beach & Malibu; if it weren’t for what Lonewolf had shown me in the wilderness, I don’t know that I would have had been able to acquire enough food to meet my dietary needs required to survive; to this day I am so grateful that Uncle Lonewolf has helped save my life & provide me with the knowledge needed to live as my soul feels the need to express; at peace among the wild beings.  I am grateful today to be able to begin passing this knowledge forth so that others, too, may have the opportunity to feel a similar experience of natural connection they may have thought to have been impossible during this day in age; more about that very soon- but first–

   …there was another side of the “transitioning” experience as well however; a beautiful side that I would recommend to no one except those who feel no other choice; any chemical addiction is a lifelong experience, so this experience should never be glorified (or condemned) in my ‘open yin’. To experience the transition from one gender role to another is a journey no less beautiful or essential to humanity than pregnancy, & it ought be honoured no less by community. Though mothers-to-be & newly-become-mothers often find financial, emotional, & material support (including welfare inclusion) during their unique spiritual experience, the transexual in the United States has often been ostracized, censored, exiled from church communities, denied welfare, & economically-starved; denied surgical needs based upon the sexualizing of their conditions by those who have not yet analyzed the spiritual virtues of this important tribal role. 

    Did you know there are more transgender people murdered in the USA than every other demographic combined? A study in 2014 has shown suicide rates of transgender men are at 46%, & for women 42%!- not caused by the experience itself, but rather directly linked to the overbearing harms caused by discrimination. A typical community’s reactions have been the only construable ‘abomination‘ among the experience of transgenderism; it is not the patient who ought adjust, but rather community organizations who need to open their hearts, eyes, & souls in order to adjust their policies to come into alignment with the beauty of what it means to both the individual AND the community as a whole for a single individual to be transgender. 

  I applied for several jobs, & heard from more than one business about their policy that they “don’t hire people off the streets” (this certainly doesn’t make it any easier to change one’s position, Los Angeles!!!).  8 months into my medical treatment was the first time I began experiencing life from more of an “authentic perspective” of what non-transgender women experience- for better & for worse.  I was finally given a chance as a waitress of a vegan restaurant, but was fired soon after my boss “found out I was transgender”.  He said he felt “uncomfortable” around me; I’m quite sure that he would have not made this admission had it gone to court, however, & so I left simply without & unadvocated for or aided to get onto my feet in life. 

   & so I foraged & sang, & it felt like the only time people approached me with “kindness” was to discretely ask me for sex in exchange for money.  It was disgusting to me- very dehumanizing.  There were times I would say something like, “Well, I’m not really out here doing that, but I do have several original songs to offer.” When the response would be “no”, I would ask if they could spare something so I could get something to eat.  Unfortunately, many weren’t into the idea of respecting me as an artist or the idea of “charity”; they wanted sex.  They would make this known by pressing the issue.  I would often end up asking something like, “How come you can afford a prostitute but you can’t afford to help a homeless person afford food?”  When they would press the issue or go to drive off because I wasn’t soliciting, there would be more than one time that I would kick a dent into a car to remember me by.  The “placement” of transgender people among society is disgusting.

   Of all the changes that were happening to my body & mind, & the new perspective from “the other side” (gender) was of most unexpected value.  To view the world from the perspective of the “typical female genera role”women for the first very dear explorations with insights I couldn’t have learned from anyone I knew..  My respect of what women go through on the day-to-day as well as behaviours that made no sense to me that many women show began to make sense.  For me, being raised as a male in this society was painful & oppressive; it was always about doing hard labour, keeping my hands to myself, & not displaying “too much” emotion or intimate desires for fear that I’d be called a faggot or beat up, OR (for approaching women) for being a pervert.  I can describe life as a boy in 4 simple words; “the suppression of nature”.

   8 months into my hospital care, I was pulled aside by a couple of the hospital staff members; one of them asked me, “What are you doing?  Your blood looks incredible.  You’re the healthiest person in the entire hospital.”  I told them about my diet

 I taught a series of classes called “Healthy Transitioning” at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, gave tours alongside Environmental Studies Professor Frank Schiavo in his history-making energy-efficient home, & also was a guest speaker for some of his classes at San Jose State University during the final 3 years of his life.  To have the opportunity to learn & teach alongside Frank Schiavo has given me essential tools in helping bring together WIld Willpower, inc. & its encompassed projects.  Here are 2 pages I put together for Frank to begin bringing his story to others (this helps explain where I’m coming from, because he lit a flame under me like a Bunsen burner before he passed on):

1.)  About his teaching career, collection of articles, & 2 tours of his home:

https://wildwillpower.org//or-make-a-one-time-donation/our-de-ceased-teachers/frank-schiavo

2.)  About his “battle with the city of San Jose” when they tried to make him pay for garbage service even though he wasn’t using it (he held a “zero-trash commitment” over 30 years– one of our *big connections* when we first met):

http://ourlandstoo.org/alternative-solutions-2/choose-package-free-foods/

   When I returned to Lonewolf, he & his wife had separated, & their family including their young children were left in unstable & impoverished conditions.  Lonewolf, particularly, was a disabled veteran not receiving his due military benefits & a single father about to get evicted while trying to market wilderness survival skills without having any experience with computers (or possession of one, for that matter).  He was living in the middle of Bakersfield so that he could bring his son to school, even though he would have rather been able to legally live in the mountains teaching his son the traditional ways of his ancestors.  It didn’t take long to assess his situation, which included a noticeable amount of discrimination toward his traditional native ways & beliefs.  He had “Native American symbolism” throughout his home & on the outside of his home, & the longer I got to know the situation, the more apparent it became that “the days of discriminating against Native Americans” were anything but over.  His traditional views, I would say, were even more divisive for Lonewolf, in particular, because he- unlike many native people- has a strong desire to live full-time among the wild ecosystems like he has since he was only 8 before having children; it is part of his innate belief structure that has been with him his entire life, & to all the generations before his; I firmly believe it is abhorrent to force a native person from their traditional & wild ways in order to force them into square buildings to learn on their butts in a concrete jungle as if that were a more “noble” way to live.  

   I feel that his situation & mine were coming together like a “perfect storm”;  although many felt he needed to learn to “adapt” to “the system”, I felt like we had these 2 things in common- which helped me “see” his situation better than most:

1.)  we both had a keen sense of where resources came from, & we both wanted to live in a simpler way than what we are currently legally able to– forcing us into a situation that is against our spiritual beliefs regarding the treatment of other lifeforms.  Both he & I have a mutual goal of finding “wild living space” where we may legally live & teach & have access to the resources we would require to healthfully train people to live in a way that is in closer ecological balance than what most have access to OR even *realize what’s possible*.  Many who have the land space do not have the technical native skills knowledge to pass these things on or build community around.  To experience living in this way leaves an imprint on the soul; a beckoning for constant connection to be close with the Earth in such a way.

2.) both he & I have suffered an unreasonable amount of discrimination in our lives.  I have been nearly beaten to death or attacked on more than one occasion by strangers, & have been robbed 19 times while “on the road” over the past 11 years.  This has prevented me from finding stability in my life, just as Lonewolf’s worldview & common discrimination against Native Americans where he lives, coupled with high numbers of impoverished people in Kern County altogether also has has caused noticeable & unfair economic hardship to he & his family.  

   Using my 4 years of experience as an editor & coordinator for the online version of the high school newspaper (The Cub Roar), I began taking pictures & making him business cards using a smartphone & laptop that a dear friend, Ashawna Hailey, had purchased for me to help “the cause”.  Since Frank Schiavo had passed & my family lived several states away & didn’t truly understand my circumstances, she was often like a mentor who really “saw” my situation.  Because she, too, was transgender, she understood firsthand the hurdles I have had to deal with nearly daily.  As a dear friend, she also understood my passion for wanting to live among wild ecosystems- she had a strong passion for life as well.

   During this time, finding stability in Kern County was quite difficult.  Its a much different political atmosphere than the San Francisco Bay Area; the region doesn’t have the social services in place– the library was only open one day per week, & computer use was limited to an hour within that window in Kernville.  Kern is home to a noticeably-high percentage of people in poverty, & I have seen too many people be robbed down there, & have been robbed myself enough times that it no longer feels safe to hitchhike through.  

   However I feel it very important to continue developing www.WildLivingSkills.org so that it will by bringing his knowledge to the world via “The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App”.  Kern, however, is where all 5 botanical regions in California merge, & thanks to quick elevation changes, there are very reasonable migration trails- making it an ideal place for wild skilling.  So, I would document what I could & then return to the Bay Area to “recover” & to begin organizing files.  While in Marin County, I would meet 2 people who would further amplify my trail.

   One of them is a co-founder & longtime president of The California Lichen Society- Bill Hill.  Bill understood my situation & “lit up” when he found someone (young) who actually wanted to learn about lichens.  Before I met Bill, I figured the knowledge of them was “long gone”; Bill & his partner opened their home to me so that I could have a place to put together my documentation of Lonewolf’s skills.  Soon after my stay, Ashawna passed away, & since Frank had only died the year before, it was like my whole world had fallen out from underneath me.  She had been funding my journeys into Kern, & when she passed, I was left in debt (she had been paying off the credit card debts, of which I had run back up just before I got the news).  This has prevented me from getting a loan, & so I just continued hitchhiking back & forth between Bill’s in Fairfax, CA & Lonewolf’s in Lake Isabella (he moved from Bakersfield).  I would document down south & street perform in order to bring food out to the woods, & then hitch up north to Bill’s to get the computer work done on a desktop Ashawna had given me just before she passed.  I would attend “lichen workshops” regularly with Bill, & after a few months of studying, I conceived of a “new piece of technology” that could help bring Lonewolf’s skills AND the tedious science of “lichen identification” to people in a way that had never been done before; a revolutionary tool that was conceived after downloading “Google Sky Map”, & being so impressed by it that I read an article on how it was created:

   First off, if you’re not familiar with Google Sky Map, it is a free app that can be downloaded onto smartphones; when you point your phone in any direction, it shows the constellations & stars & planets that can be found in the direction that the phone is pointed at.  When the phone is moved, the “sky” on the screen pans to show the star & planetary alignments in that direction; its an amazing app.  The article on “how it works” pointed out that the programmers “co-processed the GPS coordinates with the phone’s internal balance & compass”.  This got me thinking about the set of 20 questions that it takes to identify any species of lichen, as well as the tedious experiences of learning to identify mushrooms & trees during my private studies.  I then thought, “If the questions were made to be GPS, time-of-year, & elevation-specific, the number of questions that would need to be asked to identify a biological organism could be drastically reduced and made to be more accurate.”  The thought of rollover glossary words with pictures sounded extremely useful as well, & thus began my journey to try to “convey” the knowledge that Lonewolf AND Bill had via “a website where people could identify biological organisms faster than ever & then find how native people use(d) them for their food, utility, & medicinal uses”.

   Every herbalist I have met have drawn from either The Chinese Tradtional Medicines System, The Ayurvedic System (from India), or traditional Northern European remedies.  Lonewolf is the only medicine person I have ever met who has a thorough comprehension of Native American traditional plant uses; this goes well beyond medicines, however; he knows many food & utility uses for plants & trees, as well as the traditional “cooking techniques” to cook each food in.  He has collected various techniques that different native people have traditionally used to cook food; this involves strategically placing rocks in order to maximize fuel usage & save the most amount of work- they’re brilliant, actually!  The “Keyhole Lay”, for instance, relies on scooping Oak (only!) coals from the fire onto a hot bed of flat rocks where wild vegetables- roots & such- are directly “baked” in.  Willow tongs are used to manipulate the food.  The Rock Boiling technique depends on dropping a rock into water to make it come to a nearly instant boil- which of course saves a person agreat deal of time from not having to run to get firewood nearly as often.  These are just a couple examples of a “lost” beautiful cooking art that I believe people all around the world would LOVE to *see in action*!  

   I see Lonewolf is a “missing link” for people who are somewhat clamoring to find “the most natural diet”.  Anyone interested in ‘eating with the seasons” is going to want to learn how Lonewolf eats in the mountains of the Sierras– its well beyond what I new possible as far as “woodland abundance” is concerned.  

   Also, I am particularly interested in *discovering* these forgotten flavors of culinary potential!     He has taught me several shelter designs, how to knap arrowheads from obsidian & flint, & also how to purify water using endemic resources.

There is an old saying, “Don’t work hard; work SMART!”

That is the entire purpose of sustainability- & I’m NOT just talking for landlords & homeowners– I’m particularly talking about public spaces & churchyards.

The ENTIRE POINT of “sustainability” is to *not have to work so much* in order to acquire one’s basic needs.

America DOES NOT need *more jobs*!!! We need to work smart so that we won’t be *forced to work jobs we don’t believe in* in order to acquire basic needs.

The solution to “the homeless population” is not to sweep the little bit of finances out from underneath them & scream “WORK HARDER!!!!” via the media & statutes.

The solution is community planting of *native* foods throughout our communities. WE NEED LESS OPPRESSIVE & ECOLOGICALLY-DESTRUCTIVE, SOUL-SUCKING JOBS IN AMERICA!!!!  (I say that very lovingly & I think everyone knows it– hence WildWillpower.org being an agreeable alternative to the current trajectory).

Of all the changes that were happening to my body & mind, & the new perspective from “the other side” (gender) was of most unexpected value.  To view the world from the perspective of the “typical female genera role”women for the first very dear explorations with insights I couldn’t have learned from anyone I knew..  My respect of what women go through on the day-to-day as well as behaviours that made no sense to me that many women show began to make sense.  For me, being raised as a male in this society was painful & oppressive; it was always about doing hard labour, keeping my hands to myself, & not displaying “too much” emotion or intimate desires for fear that I’d be called a faggot or beat up, OR (for approaching women) for being a pervert.  I can describe life as a boy in 4 simple words; “the suppression of nature”.

Life in Iowa

    I won’t go into too many details here. I just want to give you a sense of where I come from because it has been quite a unique journey. I’m from a small town (pop. 6000 at the time) called Nevada, Iowa & a family of 3 older brothers, a loving Mom & Dad, & 2 small Maltese (adorable yapping dogs). We were all Methodist Christians, & it was one of those homes where “everyone goes to church on Sundays!”.

  During that time, I was an assistant manager at the local Dairy Queen for 3 1/2 years. I dedicated most of my time hanging out with my best friends. We played a lot of video games, & all of us were into drinking. I am really grateful that one of my friend’s parents, Ann McMillan, introduced us to Qi Gong meditation. I think she sensed that we all needed “something more” that what we felt available to us at the time, & I continued practicing in private & quite often.

Practicing meditation- for me- was like going to the gym to exercise my dream muscle. I have learned from other organizations (some who claim their way of meditation is “the best”), but I never have gotten the authenticity that I felt through Qi Gong in particular. My dreams certainly became more vivid, & I recall my first life-altering vision:

The First Vision of A’draghastar

I saw my feet walking through the wilderness, & as I walked, sticks & leaves lifted from the ground & swarmed into a globe shape around me. As I continued walking, more leaves & sticks & plants began to surround me until I came to a lake, of which I began to walk across atop the surface. As I did, water joined in with the forest debris surrounding me as a globe, & I came to the other side of the lake, it was rocky & steep. As I ascended up the mountainous slope, rocks also joined into the globe, & as I walked upward, I suddenly disappeared, re-appearing in the middle of the city. As I looked around I saw human-shaped bodies that were comprised of light, & they, too, began sucking into the globe that surrounded me. I then held my arms out like a “T”, & disappeared again, this time among a world that seemed underground, & there were human-shaped beings who were physically comprised of shadow, & they, too, sucked into the globe. I then re-appeared in the city, & again brought my arms into a “T” shape extending at my sides, & began floating to the sky surrounded by the globe. Lifting out of the atmosphere, I began floating to the sun, of which I came very close to. I could see the individual flames emerging from the sun, & they too, were human-shaped. As they would emerge from the sun, they would rescind back into it again, but only after flinging a small bit of fire into the globe. When the flames hit the globe, the objects within it (leaves, sticks, plants, water, rocks, light, shadow) began to speed up & marbleize as one. As more small flames hit the globe, it began to slightly vibrate with energy.

It was then that the “camera angle” of the dream changed, & instead of seeing all this happen firsthand, I could see myself from the outside. One eye was missing & appeared like a black hole, & the other like a sun. My hair was dreadlocked, & I appeared both male & female, having both breasts & a phallus. I saw the globe begin to shake vigorously with energy, & then watched this avatarous version of myself fly across the universe, the “camera angle” following behind. Behind my feet was cast a rainbow behind, & as it formed, it also shattered like glass across the universe. I came to a small, uninhabited planet made only of rock, which is where I landed. As I stood & looked around, from the eye that was like sun I began spraying light through the globe to “create” a new planet, filled with forests & large quartz crystals, & there was a single path upon the ground. As the light sprayed through the globe, the globe dissipated until it was no more, leaving only this beautiful “new” planet. When I looked to my side, I then saw my “other half”. I was both male & female, next to each other, devoid of the powers I had only seconds ago.

We began walking along the trail, & saw a sign that said “Naravara” (that’s apparently where we were & you’ll hear it mentioned in some of my song lyrics). Soon after as we were walking, another human-shaped ‘shadow being’ came walking out from the wilderness. This one was different than the others, however. They flickered darkness from their body like a candle flickers light, & all that surrounded it became darker. As it came to us, it looked us in the eyes, & spoke to us in our minds, “Where did you come from?” We were both silent, feeling like it wouldn’t believe us if we told it that we just created this planet. It seemed to have a memory of itself being here longer than it actually was. After our brief silence, it spoke again into our minds, “WE will be watching you,” & it walked back into the forest.

We continued walking, & soon we saw a plant that was radiating light like a dimmed sun, & it, too, spoke into our minds, “You may eat of our fruit, however you must plant the seeds, for we have no way to plant them ourselves. It will be trade, & we will feed you & all of your progeny.” We took a piece of fruit- about the size of a large mango & which also radiated light- & continued walking along the trail, sharing the fruit. As we ate the fruit I remember one of us (I’m not going to tell you whether it was the male of the female who did any of these coming actions, cuz I know how you humans seem to like blaming the other sex for crap that happened Aeons ago based upon what some monkey carved onto the lucky rock) putting the seeds into the hand of the other, saying, “There sure are a lot of seeds. Surely we don’t have to plant them ALL.” With that, they tossed one of the seeds behind their shoulder, & the “camera angle” of the dream followed it, where it landed on sandy ground.

Shortly after (the vision is almost over- I know how some of you don’t like hearing other peoples’ dreams), the ground in front of us came together upon itself at a central point, & a neck grew upward from the ground. Atop the neck was a single eye that glared at us, & as we went to turn around (it was really startling), there were more, & they all quickly came up around us like we were in a cage, & the Earth (well, Naravara rather) below our feet opened up & we fell down inside, above our heads closed & it became dark. The walls came in, getting smaller & smaller, & from the side came stomach acid, & we were horrified. It was very apparent we were being digested! I remember thinking “If we are killed, we will be split into 4, & then 8, & so on- & THAT would be chaos!!!” Then, one of us said, “We need to go back & find that seed.” Just then, a blade made of shadow came from above, cutting through the “stomach” just as it was closing tightly on us, & above us we saw the ‘shadow being’ from earlier, extending a helpful hand to us. The vision ended.

This bio is still being developed, so for now, enjoy a couple songs!

Here’s a live performance from the open mic @ the open mic in Cafe Mekka in Nevada City, CA:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zmSaQGR8qQ[/youtube] 

I’ll get to more about my story in a second, but first, here’s a song of a different poetic persuasion:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGkVJgrDnSc[/youtube]

Everything below right here is still being worked on– you’ll really like it–but since its not finished please read this letter from her to everyone on the planet if they want to hear:

    On August 7^th, 2002 I left Iowa. I was magical mystery toured away in an artfully-painted bus named Tinkerbell by a group of people called themselves “Yo Mama’s Kitchen”. Their prime directive was to serve free vegan food to people. The reason they gave me for serving vegan food rather than just any food was so that “everyone from any religion could eat”.

Now, most people wouldn’t just give away most of their belongings to join a group of people who don’t ever comb their hair or wear deodorant, & who serve vegan food in a bus that runs of vegetable oil, but this resonated with me. In fact, it is profound actually, because at the time I was the only “vegan” I had ever met (Iowa). In fact, no one in Yo Mama’s Kitchen was actually a vegan themselves. The group had inherited the bus from someone who was however, & they gave it to them on the stipulation that they would “continue serving free vegan food to people”.

Writing songs, street performing, & seeking alternatives to ecologically-destructive (or what I felt to be unjust) product choices. This led me to experience a series of opportunities that I could not have otherwise found, & to meet some rare individuals whom I now have the honour & burden to carry the torches of, of which I am passing to you through Wild Willpower. But first, lets back up…

My unique response to September 11th attacks was inspired by some of my heroes, primarily John Lennon & Roger Waters, because they used art in such a way few artists did; to provoke peace.  In a nation of people who make excuses for war, interrupt & dismiss so-called “activists”, & who knowingly consume in ways that are often quite unfair to others, sometimes an in-your-face artist is EXACTLY what is needed to help the deceived coming youth to *WAKE UP* & *FIND ALTERNATIVES*.  

   Early spring in 2003 I was fortunate enough to meet Richard ‘Lonewolf’ Legan, & stayed with he & his family in Twin Oaks, California for 6 months, out in the country, on the landmerge between the high deserts of the Mojave & the Sequoia National Forest.  It was during that time that Lonewolf would begin teaching me to access wild plants & trees to make my own food, utilities (i.e. rope, soap, mouthwash, etc.), & medicines.  Although we had some “cultural differences” (I felt uncomfortable around animals being killed), it brought me deep humility to begin understanding just how wronged his family had been, & just how right the way that they lived with nature truly was.  There is certainly nothing “primitive” about it.  It is a very evolved way of living that really acknowledges life face-to-face with the biological organisms that the desired resources are being extracted from.  It is hard to “objectify” a living, breathing entity when you are looking at it & physically pulling it apart with your hands– very unlike going into a restaurant & feeling the safety of being removed from the violence firsthand. 

   Not only did I begin learning self-sufficiency & experiencing a unity that can only be found by living *among* the native ecosystem, but I also began learning the traditional ways of Lonewolf’s Lakota & Tsalagi ancestors. We went inside the sweat lodge to have ceremony nearly every day- & sometimes even twice per day- along with 2 of my fellow “hippie” friends who were also invited into their homes.  

NOTE: Formerly known as “Cherokee”, the “Tsalagi” recently legally changed their name *back* to “Tsalagi”.  They were registered as “Cherokee” during the Trail of Tears when Andrew Jackson was president, when they were brutally marched from their homelands (North Carolina & surrounding states) to Oklahoma to be put into “reservations”.  

   Distance began learning to live in traditional native ways, & during one (Peyote) ceremony was given the name “Running Eagle” by Lonewolf, & after 6 months, would leave & not come back until spring 2010, after the death of her lover & fellow teacher, Professor Frank Schiavo of San Jose State University.  

   When she had returned to him in 2010, he was living in Bakersfield & he needed her help as much as she needed his.  Distance learned that no one she had ever encountered SINCE their initial meeting knew nearly as much as Lonewolf regarding living among the wilderness, & he was a single father about to get evicted (finances), a disabled veteran not receiving his due benefits, & had recently separated from his wife.  In the middle of Bakersfield, California so that he could take his son to “white man school” (he wanted to teach his son to live among the wilderness & to pass on the traditional ways to him, but that of course is still illegal)

    I’ve been documenting Native American wild living skills with U.S. Armed Forces Wilderness Survival Instructor & Tzalagi (formerly known as “Cherokee”) Medicine Man Richard Lonewolf for several years.  I’ve also been documenting & learning to identify & better understand lichens with Bill Hill, co-founder & longtime president of the California Lichen Society.  Bill opened his home to me between 2010 & 2013 so that I could begin the initial design for Wild Willpower & our encompassed projects.

During this time I would hitchhike between Fairfax, CA in Marin County & Lake Isabella in Kern County (mountains NE of Bakersfield where the southern Sequoia National Forest merges with the high desert of the Mojave) where I would document with Lonewolf while performing in front of shopping centers (protected by 447 U.S. 74 Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins), receiving EBT (food stamps), & also public healthcare to stay alive.

   Her strange & powerful songs about boycotting animal industries, living in the wild, & living life to its fullest offer a very unique experience to people who are new to Wild Willpower, as she often “opens the door of possibilities” through her live performance where she conveys her idealisms in blatant, pragmatic realism that sometimes makes even Bob Dylans lyrics seem a bit vague.

& a teacher who changed her life…

    A skilled gear-crafter (leather worker, primitive wilderness gear crafting techniques), she often gets “the finger pointed back at her” becauseshe won’t eat meat or dairy but that she wears fur & leather.  Although she is “more into communicating & befriending the buffalo, elk, deer, or bear than killing them”, she also claims that it is important to “utilize all the parts of the animal once it dies, & either honour those animals or don’t wear their parts.  If you wear their furs– you better be a good lawyer for them & represent them well!”

to the streets of Los Angeles…

Distance shares a unique & vital perspective during her travels with her dramatic voice & haunting sitar-esque sounding guitar riffs, as well as the lyrics which tell of her tale as (perhaps) the only transgender true animal liberation artist who is hitchhiking the US & learning wild living skills. 

Alongside her music, she has been studying wilderness living skills with Richard Lonewolf,  Randy White Feather, as well as several other various experts

& organizations such as the California Lichen Society & several mycological societies & private individuals..

She has taught at San Jose State University alongside Professor Frank Schiavo & has also taught at The Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.  She has studied with Richard Lonewolf for a total of 3 years.

& then she met the man who restored her faith in humanity…

This song (scroll down & click on highlighted “A Song from Mount Shasta” to hear) came to me hitchhiking south on I-5 in 2009 just after leaving Mount Shasta & just before I would get on the plane to go to Hawaii.  In fact– had it not been for this song–  I wouldn’t have gotten onto the plane to Hawaii.

This song came to me after walking & hitchhiking up highway one from the coast of Northern California all the way up to Washington.  In Willits, California I was gifted several majick mushrooms as well as a large bounty of Purple Urkelganja nuggets.  I added them into my spice blend & mushroom blend & continued up the coast, eating only my blends & foods I would forage along the way.

The spirit of the mushroom told me stories of its own history & some of the different people it has lived inside.  These stories would become the foundation for the upcoming book Lilith Speaks; The Tale of the Serpent.  Please– if you like what you hear– please donate. A LOT goes into each song.  I have a lot more art, stories, & knowledge to share & the only way to do that at this time is through your generous donation.  Thank you much.  Many blessings!

& the walls came tumbling down…

until she was rescued by a couple of gnomish wizards…

   The following songs are just a sample of some of the many songs written & performed by this mysterious being & founder of The League of Bards, A’draghastar (ad-rah-gas-tar) Maia (my-ah) Adjinn (a-jin).

Long story; worthy cause.

Distance often hitchhikes into the nearest town to perform music on the streets, in cars, in front of stores, on buses, & many other places in order to raise money & educate & keep Wild Willpower moving forthright.  

“The Forgotten Abundance of America’s Wildlands w/ Richard Lonewolf” was documented & designed by Distance

   For the past 11 years & even today it has been a great struggle to survive, dodging police & security guards in order to simply find a place to sleep at night & to perform on the streets in order to to earn enough money to keep this project moving forward & to keep food in my belly.  I am currently living outdoors with my sweetheart, Kevin Byrd, & collectively we are making everything you’re about to see on these websites possible.  A big part of what *keeps us going* is that one day soon we will get to see our current projects (which I will describe shortly) become a reality, & that we may find our little tribe of like-spirited beings– that we may have the freedom to live in a simple way among the wild & among each other in the way that we want to live & by doing the exact type of work that we seek to do as a “trade” to the modern world for the resources we require.  

     It has been a long, rough, blessed, & unique journey to acquire the knowledge & skillsets necessary to develop WildWillpower.org, WildLivingSkills.org,OurLandsToo.org, & RichardLonewolf.com to where they are today.  If this is your first time here, please create a user name to receive occasional updates.

.  I wanted to write poetic songs to help people consider where their resources (products) come from, & how daily life choices can either cause a detrimental or beneficial effect on the natural (& of course human) world. 

   During my sojourn through 43 U.S. states, I learned a lot more about where our resources (products) as Americans come from, & often saw the “underbelly of the beast” firsthand that for so much of my life I had unknowingly helped to create.  I learned that when there’s ecological devastation or injustices caused to families or communities caused by certain product choices, that the product itself often travels further than the knowledge of these injustices.  

 All that we ask in return is that everyone realize that a homeless transexual on welfare who cannot afford medical care & does not feel comfortable being around animals that are killed (hence not going to college because they test on animals & not getting a job involved with animal industries) cared so much that she hitchhiked the nation over 12 years with all her stuff on her back in order to document Native American skills while overcoming the hardships of experiencing way more violence, discrimination, & economic starvation than any person deserves in order to craft a tool to help humanity see Love more clearly.

We hope that discrimination against transgender people & ALL people can end forever, & do not believe that “good needs bad in order for good to be appreciated, etc.”. We also want people to realize that medical care for transgender people needs to be made accessible, & coverage for this should not be paid for only by taxpayers of a few caring cities, nor should it be made for individuals to pay on their own. The medical needs are not merely cosmetic, & it is too emotionally & psychologically exhausting, & painful-to-the-soul for many to be able to cope with while working a job to try to pay afford care unaided; it has been very hurtful, & has led too many people to drugs, prostitution, or suicide as their societal options; when we help make sure everyone is healthy, people are then able to serve themselves & others better; healthy people make better workers; art IS work.

Story time then a tour of my wilderness gear!
Story Time (has to do with where I get vitamin B-12 as a vegan besides from mushrooms, kombucha, & nutritional yeast– “veg” translates “love of life” in Latin):
I made a personal oath to cease eating animal products for at least 7 years at the end of 2001; I originally stopped eating pigs following the September 11th attacks “to better respect Muslims & Jews” as a sign of respect, but without intent to convert to anything– I began questioning my life spiritually being raised Methodist, & within another day I stopped eating cows as a sign of mutual respect to We the People of India, who are of course given “all rights that citizens have” because the 14th Amendment of course grants ALL “all Constitutional rights, privileges, & immunities” to *all people* (not just citizens). A LOT of veterans have died to protect this government structure & the people & the lands, & there are more Native Americans enlisted in the U.S. military than any other demographic combined. These native heroes are among ALL heroes who died to put peoples assumed civil rights first, so that if anyone had those rights violated, they could have “heroes with big guns” making sure that you (whoever you are) get “due process of law” (5th Amendment) no matter what continent you are on; this is why there are embassies attached to the U.S. government– to make sure that if you have your rights violated, etc., that you will be able to have a “redress of grievances” in court, & you could have the officer (they HAVE to give you their badge number when you ask for it & know your rights) arrested for United States Code Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law by filing a “sworn affidavit” for a “Citizen’s Arrest” of the offending official. This process of asking the soldier could be filmed, & if they did not comply, that proof could be shown (this is related to B-12 I swear & yes I’m talking about the vitamin & not some jet plane or anything just give it a sec & no its not gross) to the embassy, & then to the court via a simple request to meet with a judge, & the judge could send a vibration down that executive branch to make that sector of the executive branch “Cease & Desist” (see Cease & Desist Order).
Anyway– I was just explaining cool parts of our government that could change the world so you know why I would speak of a veteran in such a way because they’re TRYING to uphold treaties despite what the Representatives do.
So that said– I did it– & didn’t eat animal foods for about 8 years when I was walking down the train tracks in Ames, Iowa after I’d been hitchhiking the USA, learning to live outdoors, & studying native american plant & tree uses & traditional wilderness survival skills– & so I was coming from a different historical background persecutive than what people of European descent are raised in, but it was strange how proud (to me at the time, being from Iowa) that Native (American) people are of veterans & The Constitution because the history I learned was Euro-centric & inaccurate– for instance I did not know that The Constitution was based upon The Great Law of Peace which Hiawatha translated for who was called a Prophet– that wasn’t taught or perhaps I didn’t listen– but getting back tot he B-12 (oh dear its all connected)—-
So, I learned in Kauai about 7 years into the journey from a Krishna devotee woman of European descent (I’m just saying peoples’ descent because races of people tells important stories– not racism– observation & reading the material in front of us) about the Jains of India– when people die in that culture (I have heard), there are large arenas with nets, & vultures come down & take their bodies to the Heavens & transform them.
I had also learned how the Zorastrians had “Vulture Shamans” who wore “vulture-feather-cloaks”; when people passed in that culture (Persian region) they put their bodies atop “Towers of Silence” so that the vultures could take them away; I have heard they were forced into India, & helped form the Sehks, who wear turbines & swear to protect India from invasion from The Moors (Muslims, I have heard). When the Zorastrians when north, spicy food was introduced to India, & so there was a cultural convergence & strong alliances made.
& I learned from Lonewolf that the Tsalagi (formerly called “Cherokee” after Andrew Jackson mis-registered them during The Trail of Tears) were the only North American tribe (this has to do with B-12 but the background story helps give it more credibility) who had boomerangs, blowguns, & feathered, waterproof cloaks; the “abOriginal” people of Australia (which i feel is an offensive & inaccurate term for the *original* people of Australia (cough cough rightful owners treat it well).
& Cheyenne/Tsalagi educator White Feather told me that the vultures are a “Medicine Bird”, because they “clean up the dead & prevent the tribes & animals from getting sick”. They “transform” that which was not healthy & make health from it.
So– in Ames Iowa walking along the tracks with Randall Scheiner, & there was a small deer on the tracks (vegan of 8 years at this point), & we shown a light on it & it wasn’t a deer– but a coyote!!!
I looked around to see if there was a place to take the body that was peaceful, but it was the middle of the city, & it was very clear that there was no forest nearby to put it in peacefully, & the body would be desecrated if left on the tracks. It had just been hit, & when I felt it, the body was very warm, & I heard a clear voice (this was not my first interaction with spirits) that said: “I am a scavenger– scAvenge me!” Another thought came to me: “If I were killed unjustly & I were a coyote, would I want to be worn as a party favor or on the loudest Animal Freedom Artist I could find?”, & we took it to my brother Victor’s in the middle of the night & hung it from a tree & tanned it, but the pelt was stolen, but the heart lives on through & with me, & I have designed the most efficient wilderness gear on the planet & it costs currently about $1500/person to gear them up so that they “won’t need a sleeping bag, backpack, or rain gear, & they’ll have everything on their body they need including 4 ways to make fire, 2 ways to purify water, & 2 ways to quickly make cordage from plant fibers (for making rope).
Video tour (first draft, seeking funding): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Erd9UPMFyQ
Since that day 4 years ago, I’ve tanned every unjustly fallen animal I’ve seen & “saved” them from the secondhand stores to design this gear using “ancient techniques from around the world”, & the hearts of the possum, the skunk, the raccoon, the vulture, the rattlesnake, the squirrel, the fox, the mouse, & need I go on, although everything else I consume is basically similar to what Native (American) people ate during pre-agrarian times which is why www.WildWillpower.org got built as a public resource to help teach that knowledge very swiftly to everyone at no cost– just cinching the websites together before applying for our Tax ID number.
So anyway– thanks for reading. I use Oak tree galls or curly dock root to tan the hides & I learned from Richard Lonewolf Survival School (www.RichardLonewolf.com), & so Lonewolf is a great teacher of the wild skills who respects vegans very much & knows that the Choctow, for instance were completely vegan traditionally including ALL their dwellings & gear– Cattail down is 95% the efficiency of goose down & acorn flour is a complete protein by itself.
In the desert (for years) I learned that instead of regular clocks that tell time, we have a different time telling mechanism– & that is the bugs. There is “ant-o-clock”, “fly-o-clock”, & mosquito-o-clock each day like clockwork, & when they all flock in & are biting, I have learned that it in real wilderness survival to simply slap them swiftly after they bite you to kill them *instantly*, & then eat them because the nutrients are literally attracted to your smell like a venus fly trap in a way which you cannot control. By eating many of them, I believe we build strong immunity swiftly by inundating our system in this way– I’ve stayed very strong for years & have rarely been sick, & when so I’ve taken the proper “traditional medicine” picked personally by a wild plant because I “know the plants” & bam it has knocked it out or healed the wound– whatever– its amazing. Everyone should know the plants I believe, because when they learn the plant they will realize that hunting is completely unnecessary & there is plenty to eat without hurting the forest– agriculture is less productive than applied ethnobiology & positive-impact harvesting techniques. Remember than when The Pilgrims came off The Mayflower that they were bleeding at the mouth with scurvy & I believe it was the Wompanogs who saved them (Pocahontas) by using the “Annuetta tree” (the pine needle tea– they call Pine Annuetta or at least some eastern tribe does I know read it in a book I’m out west– may have been Huron tribe).

Every stitch was an emotion & every patch holds a story; to every design a lesson:

Also, very special thanks to those who have set aside their doings & helped establish Wild WIllpower during its seedling phase. Without the unpaid determination of Rain Lou Aster, Sir Wonderous Mountain, Meredith Thompson, Natasha Lavdovsky, Sjeanne & Rudradeep Chakravarti, Joy Sassoon, The Butterfly House, The Hailey Family, Worth Hartzell, Dave Taylor, Dan & Kiki, Ron Zaleski, The Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles & Maytrelli Diaz, as well as every samaritan who picked us up hitchhiking on our photo documenting journeys, Wild Willpower would not have been able to flourish into what it is today. 

Thank you plants for holding all our needs that are gently guarded in humility just behind the voices of our elders.

Thank you animals for your patience with humanity.  Wild Willpower is doing our best to help the people honour you once again.

Here are some past events that Distance put together in the early stages of WIld Willpower’s development:

Click here to hear some of Distance’s songs on Reverbnation!

    After learning of an invading asphalt factory coming to Petaluma, California’s Shollenberger Park, Wild Willpower was contacted by Occupy Petaluma & Inhabit theGround.org & asked to help bring awareness to the community concerning all the natural resources surrounding the area so that the people could hav e a glimpse of *new possibilities* for our public wildlands that will help show not only their intrinsic value, but their economic potential, & how by learning “the old ways”, the people could craft an economy based upon mutualism rather than upon disbalance.  Richard Lonewolf, Bill Hill, Distance Everheart, & Mia Andler came together to offer a free class *for the cause*.  

Flyer by Distance

Official event flier below!

Click here to visit The Stonehouse Old Brewery’s webpage!

     This page contains several grassroots film projects put together during the earliest days of Wild Willpower.  We plan to release many higher quality films in the future.  Enjoy!

     This hour & a half long documentary was released by Distance in winter 2014– it introduces topics addressed throughout www.ReUniteTheStates.org & other parts of Wild Willpower as well; much as developed in our strategy since this was filmed, but its good to remember our roots!  This documentary, called “Cashmere for the Homeless”, addresses issues that homeless people face & juxtaposes these issues against real-world solutions which averts these problems from continuing via introducing ethnobotany & ancient wild living skills into peoples’ lives.  Many problems society currently faces will cease, but the first step is education & advocation:

A Tour of Distance’s Highly-Efficient,
All-Weather Outdoor Gear
Crafted from Secondhand Materials
using Ancient and Original Techniques

      Richard Lonewolf on some of the many uses of “Cattail Plants” {Typhus latifolia} from “The Forgotten Abundance of America’s Wildlands“.  This video is also located inside The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App:

2014 “Fungus Fair” hosted by The San Francisco Mycological Society (a brief tour):

Introduction to Wild Willpower; The Beginning of it All:

Thanks for Watching!!!

     If you like what you see and you want to see this important plan take root- if you would like to also see high-quality productions & publications and the further development of The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App, please consider offering a heartfelt Campaign Contribution to Wild Willpower.  Thank you so much!

   Although Wild Willpower has evolved quite a bit since the early days, below is a list of some I did which led me to founding this organization.  A bit of a timeline.  One day I’ll get to editing it.

Jan 1, 2018:  Public Disclosure of Our Adverse Possession Case Against Kern County (CA) Officials— After legally taking a neglected property in Lake Isabella, California using a legal process called adverse possession, seven months into our claim, five Kern County sheriff’s deputies and a building inspector trespassed onto the property without a warrant, ignored our right of possession, and arrested us on false pretenses.  Since that time, after losing the majority of  our property and becoming homeless, we’ve nearly finished an initial mapping of the U.S. legal system on www.ReUniteTheStates.org.   We plan to disclose all the evidence and follow-up on the case on July 1, at which time you can view all the evidence here! Follow this important, unprecedented case!

Click here for the Facebook event page!

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