Once upon a time, in a land not too different from ours today, there was a man who was faced with a grave life choice: either stay with his family and be sent to a “concentration camp” or leave freely, alone, to another country. Being a noble and compassionate man, he chose to stay and endure the horrors of the ethnic cleansing and war. The story goes that despite being persecuted and witnessing his family perish, he was so unbreakable in his creative and jovial spirit that he practiced a wisdom rarely spoken of yet felt throughout history. So here’s the wise man’s teaching: at the end of the day, humans live based on meaning and passion, not the physical conditions, social constructs or politics of the world. Above all, and no matter who we are, we are a species of purpose and creativity.
With this historical parable in mind, I’d like to propose that the many troubles and horrors facing humanity today can be solved through our creative and inspirational voices. Not just in the rich, powerful or famous, it’s the everyday voices of courage, ingenuity and passion that light up the world like a constellation of stars shining brighter because of the darkness all around them. These are your stories, these are my stories, these are our collective stories and these are the ones we can no longer afford to scroll past like a robot racing a machine.
For example, just the other day, I almost missed the fact that in one hour alone, I was witness to over 100 + videos about profound acts of compassion, love and innovation. As a musician, author and entrepreneur, this type of content doesn’t often shock me - ie. seeing humans achieving ridiculous feats in the most ridiculous situations on earth - but for some reason it hit a fever pitch ... and ... I broke down to cry in the middle of the room. I literally started bawling my eyes out in the middle of the co-working space I was stationed at! Some co-workers and the secretary came over to me thinking I was hurt or had received some terrible news, but I told them it was all the beauty of the world that made me go “EMO” in the office ...
One of the most inspiring vignettes I read about highlighted a group of humanitarians, actors and sports players who had managed to tweet to an airline and get them to agree to aid the Somali hunger crisis in a country ravished by drought and war. They came together with their collective power in mobilizing finances and nutritional food to fly the aid to a country in need. This story reminded me of my own time dropping everything to volunteer in Haiti after the earthquake bringing high-nutrition, biodynamic agricultural products and knowledge sharing circles.
Just a few minutes later, my friend (a 16 yr old world-leader) sent me a text bringing me back to the present moment … it was an article about his “activism”, which consists of him and 20 other youth plaintiffs from across the country suing the government for jeopardizing the health of future generations! By neglecting the overwhelming science to avoid fossil fuels in an attempt to avert global ecosystem collapse, they argue, the government should held responsible. Oh, and of course, these were just a few of a multitude of uplifting triumphs by everyday humans making the world a better place.
So as I was walking home that day I began noting similar stories across my social media news-feeds. Sure enough, the positive stories far outnumbered the others … but even the negative ones had some form of purpose or creativity written into their digital DNA. It was as if the only through-line which united these states of disunited states was that everyone felt their story mattered. This came across despite the partisan divides or wars of opinion and judgement … everyone is simply yearning for a type of purpose that could only be described by the wise man we began with in this story.
Ps. Since I am more convinced than ever that my purpose is to remain purposeful, I’d like to end with this sharing with an uplifting new music video about health and wellness. May it inspire something in you like you do for me:
What does “real health care” look like in a world of disease?
If we don’t eat right we can’t read write like vitamin D'z.
What’s the ABC’s of body, mind, spirit connection
If our breakfast, lunch and dinner won’t let us rest when
It’s time for sleep or to awaken?
We can’t solve a crisis or overcome a villain
if we don’t feel good energy flowing first from within ...
And if you’re feeling extra-inspired, you can support the next wave of my work here @ www.gofundme.com/aliveandawake