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Dear Friends, Aficionados and Dancers,
A very dear friend of ours has just stepped away from
Earth as we know it. I write to you to relay Degala's
last known flight plan before a collision beyond our
imagination changed her trajectory forever. I've just
returned from a Memorial service held amidst her art
installations at the Pleasant Hill home of James Derr.
James provided a wonderful poolside retreat for Degala
where multi artist projects flourished under her
tutelage and support.
Along her path of self discovery Degala joined
seemingly disparate peoples that should be a model for
the inspirational recovery of suburban America. Open
up the fences, share your gardens and fill them with
art, people, food & a touch of fire... . Degala gave
me new friends for life Nate and Cristen just a couple
of 4th's ago and helped me expand my horizons to
include and thrive upon the unlikely. I will always
cherish the family that she brought out for kayaking
and dinner here on Tomales Bay. She raised champion
Aquanauts Norda and Ozzie.
She made the most lovely and committed personal
assistant to my friend Vicki, then publisher of the
Black Rock Gazette, while the dust of Burning Man
swirled about. She also showed me just how cool and
scintillating the hula hoop is.
Rather than some heroic phoenix arisen from the ashes,
Degala chose to fashion her life around the vision of
the miraculous survival of flora and fauna amidst the
harsh bleakness of a lava flow. She knew that life was
no oasis of pleasure awaiting the lazy. She worked
graciously with diligence so that each of us would
have a chance to change the world with little more
than a pile of pennies.
Degala left the best synopsis of her philosophy
revolving around momentum, joy and purpose:
www.iamdegala.com
Share the love, introduce the unlikely, start a new
party.
Love, Tylan Billings
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