We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kristen Muñoz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kristen below.
Hi Kristen, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Ever since I started working with glass, it had been in my heart to make lighting that looked like vines and leaves with glass shades that looked like flowers. That dream got shut down for years when I discovered that in order to sell lighting legally, it had to be UL listed and that costs about $2,000 for each piece. On top of that dream crushing information, I didn’t know how to create the glass. I was a single mom, didn’t get any child support and was the only care giver of my children. I didn’t have the time to figure it out. I put that dream on the back burner. It wasn’t until I got myself into a legal situation, that it came forth once more.
I am Indigenous. My church uses a sacrament known by the U.S. government as peyote. To us, it is a Chief Medicine, Pejuta Wakan. This medicine is a huge heart opener for me and transformed the way I perceived myself and the world around me. He made me see that we are all related and showed me reasons to love myself when I didn’t know how. I had harvested and was carrying a lot of medicine for the most important prayer service of the year, the Sundance. I got busted. DSS took my kids, I lost my Spiritual Community, my friends, and all my family lived so far away. I lost everything important to me in the blink of an eye.
I was broke, a bit suicidal and most definitely hopeless. Once I got out of jail, I showed up to my first custody battle without an attorney. The judge looked at me in pity and said, “Miss. Muñoz, I know that you are a good mother. You need to leave this courtroom right now and get a good attorney. In fact, you two really good attorneys one for your criminal case and one for this custody case. Then come back and see me.”
The way he spoke to me, with such compassion, gave me the hope I needed. Just hours later, my attorney called me demanding to know why I hadn’t called her. “I’m done for. I lost my kids. I have no money, I’m looking at 10 years of incarceration. I didn’t call you because I am broke and broken.”
My attorney said: “I love you and your children love you. Your children need you to pick yourself up. You need an attorney and I need lighting for my new house. I am certain with your talent we can figure this out.” she said. I, having found a smidgen of hope, immediately found a landscaping job so I could raise the funds needed to buy glass materials. I didn’t have the kids to take care of, so I got busy trying to figure out how to bring the light through the dark night of my soul that I was going through. I prayed a lot and I asked for my Spirit Guides and Helpers to work with me and through me. That they would guide my body to co-create through me.
I figured out how to make lighting globes that would attach to existing lighting. My attorney and her family were overwhelmed with the lighting for her home. We were all blessed. And, I was successful in getting my children home with me. The Court was able to see that religious prayer did not place my children in harms way.
This is how I discovered my purpose. My purpose is to bring the light through the darkness with Moon Girl Glass.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Moon Girl Glass is the name of my glass art business. I own and operate a hot glass studio in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, right outside of Asheville. I built this studio 16 years ago with a friend I met at our school, Penland School of Crafts. I use quartz crystal that is local to where I live and known to be the purest quartz in the world. I make mostly functional art, everything from tableware, ornaments and hummingbird feeders to chandeliers, pendant lights, and wall sconces. I love color! You will find lots of vibrant colors in my art to bring joy into any space.
I love to play with fire. I work with it to transform fear into beauty. My studio is a therapeutic setting for people to witness the magick of glass, as well as create something out of molten earth. I have several different class options including Beginner’s Glass Blowing, Hot Glass Date Night Classes, Bachelor/Bachelorette classes, Birthday parties, Employee/Boss bonding classes to name a few.
I value communication and quality of service. I use my artwork as A Spiritual Practice and I invite you into my sacred space to experience Empowerment, Inspiration, Creativity and JOY! If you are looking for a unique experience to build self confidence and have FUN, Moon Girl Glass is the place for you!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The most impactful qualities on my journey have been tenacity, courage, and Spirit. What is your intention? Get clear with it, become one with it. As you live and breath it, allow what doesn’t feed it to fall away from your life more and more. Be your true authentic Spirit. There is no other medicine like it. There’s nobody like you, not in all of space nor time. If you do not express your authentic nature, it will be lost FOREVER!!! The world will never have it. I have almost given up countless times. I would put my business down and retreat into working for someone else just to put down all my hats and regroup. After I felt rested enough, I would pick up all my hats and start again, refreshed and ready to let my inner Divine Badass Shine!!
I have been blowing glass full time for the past 6 years now. I walk with gratitude surrounding me like a cloak. I am committed to my daily Spiritual practice of asking to be a hollow bone so the Holy Spirit can move through me. Yoga and breathwork help me to get out of my own way. I have frequent giveaways and help those less fortunate than I to give back to the community. This keeps me humble. Remember who you are and where you come from. You are worthy of and capable of walking your life’s purpose.
I will leave you with my favorite quote from Terence McKenna: “Nature loves courage. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the Shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magick is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering that it is a feather bed.”
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
My father taught me the importance of laughter and making jokes. He and my aunts and uncles are all musicians and they taught me about the medicine of sound. Carlos also taught me of the importance of having a strong body. I am so grateful for this wisdom.
My mother has been the greatest influence on my life. Karen’s unconditional love and faith in me and my artwork has gotten me to where I am today. Her kindness towards people in need has gifted me with a generous Spirit. Her work ethic continues to inspire me and keep me motivated on my most challenging days. When I discovered my passion for glass and was discouraged by the high dollar amount of money the classes cost, she reminded me of what a good writer I am and encouraged me to write an essay that awarded me 8 scholarships to go to art school to learn about glass. When I got into that legal trouble she showed up to countless court cases to support me in winning my children back. Karen taught me how to be a fantastic mother while never giving up on my dreams. When I didn’t believe in myself, she believed in me and never stopped believing in me.
I think the most important thing she taught me, was the art of self love because now I can show my children what that looks like. It is the prayer and the mantra I have been putting into all of my glass creations recently, that people will feel self love and remember where they came from so that they can experience more JOY in this beautiful, unfathomable, magickal, awesome world.
Contact Info:
- Website: moongirlglass.com
- Instagram: Moon Girl Glass
- Facebook: Moon Girl Glass
- Yelp: Moon Girl Glass
Image Credits
Yvette Freeman with Red Angle Photography
