August: Crossing the Bridge
Updated: Sep 1
Month In Review
On the heels of turning 60 in July, August felt like a bridge from the old to the new. Like all roads have been leading here.
That feeling was reinforced in two spectacular ways.
After I closed my entertainment business back in 2021, I put performing tribute shows on the back burner, with only the occasional one-off here and there. My last one-off show happened at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2024.
Or so I thought.
Last autumn, I received a random email from James Acaster’s tour manager asking if I would be interested in performing my Diana Ross tribute for several of his tour dates. They had found my promo video on YouTube which lead them to my website. They had seen on my website that I had retired from tribute shows, but thought they would ask me anyway.
The offer was good. And I saw the money I could make from it as a way to fund my work. This work.
So I went for it.
And what an adventure it became, beginning at the London Palladium back in March and finishing at The Hall for Cornwall in Truro on the 24th of August.
Now, back to those two spectacular ways.
First, I travelled to Truro, Cornwall, for my final James Acaster tour support gig. On the train journey there, I was feeling melancholy. I was excited, but it was muted.
Then came the introduction.
I remember relishing James giving me this huge build-up. I was taking in every word. And when he said, 'Performing Supremely Diana Ross, welcome to the stage the fabulous… Gloria Millerrrrrrrr!' it was like I returned to my body after a long absence.
I pranced out there in the persona of Diana Ross, but as the totality of Gloria Lynette Miller and all the other names I have worn.
I finished my set with Home from The Wiz, connecting it to the very end of Defying Gravity, where I hit that big sustained note.
The audience erupted.
But it didn’t snap me out of the fullness of myself. It restored me.
I bowed, blew a kiss and waved my way off the stage, hugged Acaster and Jilly, his fabulous tour manager, and stepped into Rainbow Glo.
I felt it.
Then came the second moment.
On the 28th of August, just a few days later, I travelled to the other end of the country, to Colne for the Colne Blues Festival, to sing backing vocals for Chloe Josephine. From there, we travelled on to Lymington for a second gig on the 29th at Temperance.
The festival was just okay for me.
But at Temperance, Rainbow Glo was in full effect.
I love singing with Chlo Jo. Being able to connect on stage with another artist the way we did that night was magical. The whole band was in the zone.
And then there was the audience. Temperance is intimate. You can see people. Feel people. Exchange something with them.
That connection was such a contrast to standing on a huge stage with all that space between you and the audience.
This is what I love about performing. Intimacy between me and the audience. That feeling was so strong that it is still resonating with me.
Let me just say this: crossing this bridge has been hard. Scary, even. Because in order to fully embody what’s next, there has been a lot of letting go.
Which brings me to what happened right in the centre of the month.
On the 16th of August, I attended my Black Medicine Women’s Circle. Oya, our guide, creates the most amazing environment for self-care, expression and support. But that morning, I woke up tired. Had I not already agreed to pick people up from the train station, I probably would have bailed.
Part of crossing this bridge has meant dealing with a broken heart from the trauma that can come with being in the skin I’m in. And not all of that trauma is mine. Generational hurt cuts deep too.
In my personal oracle readings, matters of the heart kept arising. Again and again.
So the work was already being done to accept what is and allow healing to flow. About a week or so before the gathering, I had put together a combination of herbs, flowers and crystals to support the healing process.
When I selected the medicine, I had no idea what any of the ingredients could mean on a spiritual level. I simply went to my starter kit of plants and herbs — ordered from Amazon, nothing fancy — and chose from the jars that resonated with me.
Then I did some research.
Every ingredient pointed to the heart. It felt like I had intuitively created a healing salve. I placed all of the ingredients into a little mesh pouch and left it sitting on my office desk.
Then, the day before the gathering, I put the pouch into my bath, allowing the water and steam to integrate with the medicine.
And somewhere inside that deeply relaxed state, I said to myself: I feel incredible. It was like falling in love. You know that moment when you suddenly realise it? That.
And that feeling was something I had to share. First with the women in the circle, through physical medicine pouches.
I am so glad that I pushed through the tiredness to attend the gathering. And when I arrived, I realised I wasn’t the only one who was tired. We all were.
Oya seemed to understand exactly what was needed. She gently led us into rest. There was no pressure to perform, produce or push through. We rested. We swung in the hammock. We ate nourishing food. We talked. We listened. And, one by one, we shared our medicine through the different offerings we had brought to the circle.
Something began to loosen in me that day.
I had already been feeling that crossing this bridge into what’s next required letting go, but during that gathering the letting go became something I was actually doing. Through what I offered, and through what I received from the other women, I began releasing some of what I had been carrying.
And now I share this medicine with you, through words, knowledge and understanding.
You can create your own Heartseed Medicine Pouch using as much or as little of each ingredient as feels right for you. I’ve shared my recipe in the downloadable PDF.
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