Meet Stephen Loftesnes And Cambria Herrera

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephen Loftesnes And Cambria Herrera a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephen Loftesnes and Cambria Herrera, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

The most powerful and beloved source of confidence we’ve found lately has been, to much surprise: nature. Even if it’s just going to see the sunset, or paying attention to the plants around our neighborhoods, meditating with nature has been revolutionary for our understanding of ourselves. A virgo and a pisces, both with scorpio risings – we’re over thinkers. This often serves as a strength but can just as easily lead us down a spiraling cavern towards negative senses of self, at darkest times even self-loathing. We are both the youngest and only queers in our own families, so it’s often been an uphill battle to find our footing. In nature, we find no overthinking, there is no complication, there is only pure action, and the result is harmony. We’ve had to intimately observe, listen, and breathe with nature’s rhythm in order to learn what this looks like in ourselves, and in our daily lives. We practice often and know we’ll never achieve a final destination. We’re often fed ideas that confidence is a process of building ourselves up or in another word: addition. But in our experience, it is much more like breaking ourselves down, cutting away that which doesn’t serve us: subtraction, and returning to our source. Now that we’ve given the most essential parts of ourselves room to breathe, they can flourish and expand, and we can trust them to operate as they naturally do, no overthinking required.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

We are co-directing an original movement-theatre piece, Allelo, this September 13th and 14th for a residency at Art Produce. Our inspiration is in nature, from a unique perspective- how it may supply the key to healing: one that our society is failing to give to our hurting communities. For us, the process of making theatre is the art of theatre itself, as much as the performance. If every person involved with a production doesn’t walk out of the experience grown, more confident, and empowered, then why go through the trouble of making a play at all? Our process is hierarchy-free, community oriented, and open to all possibilities. Everyone is a director/writer/performer/designer/animal/plant/seed. The relationship between our team and audience will ebb and flow between play, investigation, education, and wonder. Our audience members may not be used to the way our show is going to be presented, but it will be a totally natural and innovative theatre experience. Theatre uses real human resources at every step, and we want our process to give this aspect the significance and respect it deserves.

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?

Water: We MUST stay fluid. Goals are beautiful but hold them loosely and trust that gravity will bring you into yourself. The best outcome for your life is something you probably could never imagine in your wildest dreams. If you observe a river – how it is open to all, twists as need be, has dry seasons, and fuller seasons – you’ll learn to flow without holding on to anything too tightly. We also cry a lot. No one is saying fluidity will be easy. When the frustration and grief rises, cry it out. Water never questions or resists where it’s pushed, which is what makes it such a mighty power.
Earth: We MUST stay grounded. Where water teaches us great wisdom, earth teaches us great strength. Without somewhere to firmly plant your feet, there is nowhere for your fluidity to give life and flourish. The ground is as important to the being of a river as its water. Our fluidity must stand on conviction, on decisions, on intentionality, in order to have any connection to our senses of being at all. Earth is fluid too. It’s just a lot slower. All of those mountains and boulders are moving and transforming as sure as a river does. The earth teaches us to trust ourselves, to hold our shape through change until it doesn’t make sense, at which point, it’s okay to topple over. Become what you are, and become it fully.
Fire: We MUST embrace our passions and our energy. They are our very life-force, the thing that drives us forward in life as surely as sunlight guides the growth of a tree. Fire is energy being released. It comes into our world, burns everything it can, and then vanishes. This teaches us to not compromise on our purpose. Fire may sometimes cause destruction, but destruction is just a mark of progress in the process of transformation into something new. In all of us, there are energies which need to be released. The frustration and fear that we painfully hold on too may have a purpose somewhere else in the energetic exchange of life. It is fire that teaches and empowers us to let go and to burn brightly.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Yes! We are curious to collaborate with fellow queer nature-loving creatives, and anyone looking to empower their community through nature and art! Acoustic sound and visual artists are especially welcome to reach out to us at [email protected] or on IG at @alleloponderings, @caambriaa, @loftesnoffulas

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @alleloponderings | @caambriaa | @loftesnofolus
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

Karina Ortega

J Nuñez