It's 6 months to the day that I decided to create the 'it's up to us...' project. The idea came to me as I was considering what I wanted to accomplish in 2009. I've always been a musician and I've nearly always been a songwriter. Being an artist is very fulfilling. What's better than being able to live a creative existence? Well, this I wondered about for a few hours on December 27th, 2008 - and then, the purpose of my project was crystal clear to me. I was ready to seriously start making a difference in this world, with my music. THAT would be even more fulfilling than being an artist alone. I have followed countless commendable artists and creatives that have also chosen to serve through their art. I myself have had brief stints of serving with my talent. But when I really made that concentrated dedication, I was filled to the brim with bliss. Magic.
With that magical decision came the songs on the project, one by one, letting themselves be known. Most were written in very short and wonderfully inspired writing sessions. All were written with an intense love for humanity and the planet. I didn’t feel the need to over produce or analyse these songs. Most of them moved into the mixing room within a week of being born. Anton took the gold dust to another level on this project as well ~ taking a personal stake in this as if it were his own – the traits of a wise and sympathetic producer. I’m so proud of him and his work.
And now, it's done! This week I will release the project and begin the work of using it to see how it may contribute to making this world a safer and more hospitable place for all living things.
My personal cause is a small community in rural Paraguay where my sponsorship of a child has blossomed into a family friendship and support system. I subsidize the family financially and they keep me grounded and focused on what is important in life. I consider this family to be more successful than most North American families because if you asked them on a scale of 1 to 10 how happy they are, they would score higher than most people I know and love who I consider ‘privileged’.
I’ve also just recently taken on another sponsor child in Sri Lanka. She is displaced, living in a refugee camp. I’ve been watching the conflict there for several months and when the opportunity arose to get involved I didn’t have to think about it for long.
I have faith that when your intentions are good and you stay on your path, good will come.
I am now making my project available to non profit organisations as a means of fundraising. I look tremendously forward to what that will bring to my life and this world.
I toss it to the wind…with my blessings and a prayer for the planet and it’s inhabitants.