Wild Swans Rising

04/16/2025

In every woman’s journey, there are moments where the road disappears entirely—where there is no trail, no map, and no guide but the resilient dun-dun of her own heartbeat.

This is where the Bushwhacker archetype rises.
She is not the polished hero. She is the woman with trembling hands and a steady will, cutting through emotional overgrowth, tangled shame, and inherited burdens. She's made friends with loneliness and silence. Nothing but her prayers, intuition and grit fuel her bumbling steps.

This archetype lives in every woman who’s ever had to forge her own way through trauma—not around it, not above it, but through it. Through systems that minimized her pain. Through families that asked her to be quiet and compliant. Through relationships that confused control with love.

I’m sharing this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xc_r2BTvjY4 because it captures something that's on fire inside of me ,even as I am older now.

This is not just about surviving the hurricans of life.
It’s about reclaiming the compass of your own body, your own truth, your own God-given voice. It's for those who are bushwhacking side trails, figuring out their side hussle and trying to do mommy and business in tandem.

If this resonates, or you know someone who’s quietly bushwhacking their way through, please share this.
You never know who might finally feel seen.

🧡 With tenderness and fire,

,

01/27/2022

Happy Chinese New Years February 1st! May this year of the tiger be roaring with rich insights and breakthroughs!

03/25/2021

Sharing a song I am working on. So looking forward to collaborating with musicians in the open air again! Thank heavens for Spring in and

Praying in solidarity with the suffering lilies can grow in the shade of the valleyThen Lord I...

05/08/2020

05/08/2020

My name is Yiya. Wild Swans Rising is an indie podcast dedicated to protecting the creative wilderness in each of us. We are wounded healers around the world who believe storytelling can proximally alleviate the post-modern mental and spiritual health crisis! We believe:
Art heals.
Art liberates.
Art relaxes.
Art comforts.
Art delights.
Art detoxes.
Art renews.
Art represents.
Art protects.
Art dreams.

Art must meet its purpose
Art must show its colour.
Art must have a voice.

Welcome to the first episode. Today we Interview local indie Singer-songwriter, Artist, community facilitator Bre McDaniel:

https://soundcloud.com/yiyayin/bre-mcdaniel

Transcript:
Bre McDaniel embodies a balance of receptivity and confrontation through potent lyrical storytelling. Upon surface listening, you can’t help but be tenderized by her warm, smooth and gentle voice, but upon deeper listening, you’ll soon discover this she-wolf wants listeners to learn to howl in the face of social injustice and environmental degradation. Bre is a true trail-blazer. She is one of the few local artist with the vision to create a full length album with all-female Canadian musical collaborators:
Olivia Quan
Coco Culbertson
Jen Foster
Kathryn Calder
Lisa Jacobs
Catherine Hiltz
Elisa Pangsaeng
Laura Smith
Jenny Banai
Trish Klein

This pack of talented she-wolves masterfully co-created the unique Pacific Northwest sound in this album.

In this short and sweet session, Bre will share how she navigates song writing and metaphor-making to cause people to sense both their connection and responsibility to the land. She’ll share about the people and poems that have inspired her and what helps her refuel. We record this session from Bre’s kitchen in her basement suit in East Vancouver.
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Thank you Bre McDaniel for the beautiful wild echoes from your heart, from sacred waters, from indigenous west coast forests, from the human pyramids who helped you see further from the spirit and legacy of your mother and grandmothers who now loves and sings through you.

Your presence and song scapes is a gift and prayer to the world.

We hope today’s storytelling was a tonic for your soul. Maybe something Bre said helped you migrate out of old neuro pathways and inspire you to new creative possibilities.

We invite you to share your feedback and perspectives.
We also hope you’re support Bre by purchasing her album Howl and other other EP albums.

Thanks for listening. My name is Yiya. Wild Swans Rising is a podcast dedicated to protecting the creative wilderness in each of us, to empowering wounded healers around the world who believe storytelling can alleviate the post-modern mental and spiritual health crisis!

Support Bre:
www.bremcdaniel.com
bremcdaniel.bandcamp.com

RESOURCE:
In this episode, Bre read an excerpt from Wendell Berry’s poems called Sabbaths 1979-iv.
You can read the full poem here:
onbeing.org/poetry/sabbaths-1979-iv/

Today on WSR, we interview indie singer-songwriter Bre McDaniel who embodies a balance of receptivity and confrontation through potent lyrical storytelling. Listen to Bre McDaniel's Music: https://b

04/30/2020

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