Our lives and our actions are not without impact. The Lehigh Valley is unique because those of us who live, work and play here are powerfully and directly affecting our communities. For creatives and entrepreneurial-idealists, this may be one of the most exciting times to live here. Opportunities, like the many new businesses we are seeing on our Main Streets, continue to spring up. Where those opportunities don't already exist, ambitious locals have taken it upon themselves to create them.
I've watched as the Lehigh Valley has welcomed more provocative and progressive design. I've witnessed increased cooperation among community enhancement programs and experienced the desire among colleagues and neighbors to have more face-to-face interaction. It is apparent that a new wave of residents is working to leave their mark on this place and is increasingly eager to embrace emerging visionaries. Through the vehicles of art, marketing and design, and the cultivation of a thriving community of like-minded locals, these Lehigh Valley inhabitants are giving us something noteworthy.
Lehigh Valley Girls Rock! Camp
Confidence, encouragement, collaboration, self-awareness: these are the foundations of Lehigh Valley Girls Rock! Camp where music, art and youth empowerment combine in one unforgettable, week-long summer camp experience.
The first girls' rock camp was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 2001, as a grassroots effort to encourage participants to find empowerment through writing and playing music. Girls Rock! Camps across the country celebrate the ethos and spirit of the 1990s' Riot Grrrl movement that created a supportive environment for girls to speak out, provided opportunities for girls to learn DIY skills, fight sexism, cultivate positive body images and encourage cooperation with other women. Lehigh Valley Girls Rock! celebrated its first summer camp in 2014 and continues to light up the Lehigh Valley year-round with workshops and benefit concerts.
Co-founder Kelsi Page volunteered at a Girls Rock! in Austin, Texas, in 2008, and upon moving back to her native Lehigh Valley, she wanted to create one here. Page was in awe of the female-fronted bands that she followed while she was growing up. They were powerful women who wrote songs, toured and raised children. Though she played bass, she harbored insecurities about her own abilities. “It wasn't until years later that I realized that you don't need to know how to write songs and that you don't need to be very good to play in a band, you just have to put yourself out there and do it,” Page says.
But it's not all instruments and songwriting (though it's definitely those, too). “The girls get to express themselves by designing and screen-printing their own band t-shirts, they write songs, they dance and bang on the drums without any judgment or critiques, and then we really let it all out in our scream circles,” says co-founder Felicia Lockett about the camp. “They get to dig deep in workshops focusing on powerful female musicians, inspirational role models, ladies in the music business and positive body image. But most importantly they get to meet and connect with other girls in the LV who are just like them,” Lockett adds.
I had the honor of teaching a workshop on positive body image and self-esteem at camp, and felt the palpable good energy of the experience from the second I walked in the building. That morning during a group meeting, one of the volunteers reviewed a Self Love Manifesto with points like: “Choose to see the best in people” and “Never delight in anyone else's misery.” To create the bands, the girls are put into groups of four to five members according to age. In one week, they will hit the practice rooms and learn how to play instruments, sing and compose their own songs from lyrics to music with band “managers” (local musicians) and band “mentors” (volunteers who oversee each group). Throughout the day they attend additional workshops on women in history, yoga or creative writing, and experience live concerts from female-led touring bands during lunch. Once or twice a day when everyone is together in the main room, they celebrate what they call “Ridiculous Time” and turn up the radio, then campers and adult volunteers alike dance wildly until everyone is gasping for air and laughing. There are a lot of smiles, a lot of hugs. Camp is about the music, but it becomes an experience about remembering our value as women, and forming connections as humans.
“We're so quick to say ‘sorry' for making a mistake and it's so much easier to not even try when the fear of failure is looming overhead, but coming to camp helps to change that,” Page says. “It lets the girls make mistakes and encourages them to keep going.” Girls to the front!
Kelly Miller, Lehigh Valley Wellness Guide
With the desire to create a more vibrant life came the drive to form a thriving wellness community. For Kelly Miller, the health and wellness field was not where she expected to find herself a decade ago, but she's quickly becoming one of the best resources in the Lehigh Valley for self-care on an individual and local level.
Her talents are in media and marketing, though Miller is also a certified wellness coach with her own online program, a cookbook and a best-girlfriend-you've-known-forever personality. Her approach is about betterment, not perfection. In the summer of 2015, Miller is launching the Lehigh Valley Wellness Guide, a hardcopy book that compiles information of a broad range of people and businesses in the health and wellness fields located in the Lehigh Valley. In addition to a physical resource guide that will include everything from personal chefs to chiropractors, Miller is most excited about the in-person workshops and classes she'll teach on small business marketing, sustainability and increasing profits.
It is Miller's own knack (and obvious enthusiasm) for working and connecting directly to others that is one of her favorite components of this new endeavor. “When we want wellness or small business advice we go online, venture to other areas for retreats and conferences, or watch outsiders on TV. I want to shed light on what is going on right here at home, and connect us on a local level,” Miller says.
Born and raised in the Lehigh Valley, Miller has lived in several states and worked as a bank teller, hotel manager, insurance agent, notary, realtor and franchisee of a local publication. A single mom, she wanted a better life for her and her daughter and a schedule with more flexibility.
Sometimes it takes a while before we find our way, and this concept is one Miller knows personally. “I am the daughter of one of the Valley's unsolved murders, which kept me small and scared my whole life. I am finally reaching out, building relationships, community and networking which is allowing me to find my voice, natural gifts and true calling. I want to help others to do that.”
We don't often equate a strong business mindset with one of personal wellness and deep sincerity, but that's exactly what Miller's wellness guide and corresponding workshops are aiming to achieve.
“Our members' meetings are a support system to connect with one another in a community. We can share what is working in our businesses, what isn't, as well as help our clients find other practitioners. We naturally refer people to others in our practices. With this guide and social events, we can meet other members and support each other while best serving our clients' interests,” Miller adds.
The goals are to teach local wellness practitioners to thrive financially and personally, and to create a network of cooperation among like-minded locals rather than competition.
Relationships are powerful forces in our personal lives as well as our careers, and Miller is encouraging both to flourish.
“Building relationships is key,” Miller says. “When we are authentic to who we are and what we can share with others, great things can happen.”
As is my custom with this column, I will leave you this month with a couple of inspirations: a local's look at Valley life through his pictorial eye and one of my most favorite and flavorful recipes. Enjoy everything!
Thai Mushroom Lettuce Wraps
(vegan. gluten-free.)
These fresh, crisp lettuce wraps are full of flavor without the heaviness of a traditional wrap. The recipe can be easily doubled, and kids will love piling the ingredients into the leaves.
Mushroom Filling
4 cups sliced mushrooms (shitake or your preference)1 Tablespoon olive oil2 Tablespoons Braggs Aminos Liquid Seasoning (or soy sauce)1 clove garlic, minced1 teaspoon sriracha1 inch ginger, grated
Set mushrooms aside and whisk together remaining ingredients. Add mushrooms to a pan on the stove on medium-high heat and stir in the sauce to coat. Mushrooms will absorb the sauce and are ready when all sauce is gone and mushrooms have started to brown.
Additional Filings
Bibb lettuce leaves or Romaine lettuce leavesCooked brown riceShredded carrotsDiced cucumberFresh cilantro/Thai basilSesame seedsSriracha or hot sauce
Using the whole lettuce leaves as the “wrap,” fill with mushrooms, rice and additional vegetables and herbs, as desired. Or chop lettuce and add ingredients on top to create a salad, using the dipping sauce (below) as a dressing.
Dipping Sauce
2 Tablespoons Braggs Aminos Liquid Seasoning (or soy sauce)2 Tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil1 teaspoon maple syrupJuice of one lime1 clove garlic, grated1 small chunk ginger, gratedWhisk together and dip or drizzle sauceover wraps.
@markmcdphotos
@markmcdphotosName:
Mark McDonald
Location:
Easton
Camera Used:
Instagram: Strictly Sony Xperia Z1S (cell phone) and a Sony Nex-5 with a variety of lenses both vintage and new.
Day Job:
Photographer
Passion Project:
“I just recently completed my Process series, which candidly takes the creative process of six local artists working within their studios and attempts to show that as a product,” McDonald says. “I have a whiteboard filled with other various projects in differing states of completion.”
Where can we find your work?
“The Elucidator magazine, Connexions Gallery in Easton and Alternative Gallery in Allentown.”
What do you most love to photograph/where do you find inspiration?
“Photography is dynamic. It's not about people, bridges or anything confined to a noun. I don't really see it as art as much as I see it as curating your vision, like when I was a young kid, squinting in the back seat, looking at lights during long drives. It's perspective, sharing a very specific view, a fleeting moment of beauty,” McDonald shares. “To me, composition is infinitely important, as it is what can mean the difference between penning a sentence within a photo to creating a narrative.”
What's your favorite thing about the Lehigh Valley?
“I love that, despite having grown up here, I can still discover alleys I've never traveled down, each with their own unique vibe. There's plenty of bars and restaurants I've never been to and yet the whole area is familiar; that alone is comforting.”
