Songwriting and the Humanitarian, environmental agenda.

We are entering a new phase in human history. Perhaps mankind has always felt it to be so but now more than ever the sizemic pressures humanity faces are such that it is like humanity is in a pressure cooker with a timer ticking away. Never before have there been so many of us on this beautiful fragile earth, never before have we faced a climate crisis so grave that extinctions could happen in the blink of an eye ( following a unvierse based clock). Also, we have reached a point in human economic history where the cracks of capitalism and the free market economy result in a global pandemic of poverty: the difference between rich and poor across the world is now immense. Add to this a raging pandemic and we have a perfect storm, and, not just a storm in a teacup.

There are a variety of responses that we could have and no doubt all will be expressed: we could be the proverbial ostrich with our heads in the sand, we could be like the last days of the roman empire and party till we drop, we could - in our insecurity- become small minded , nationalisitic, warring and fighting over resources and think only of what is in front of us and reach and grab so that we try and secure security for those we love and in our immediate environment.

Or, we could seek to do something different- something that takes down the selfish blindfold that creates a damaging societal myopia. Poets, philosophers, mystics , people of different faiths through the ages of man have observed that the world and its eco systems and humanity as a species are all linked. We are in actual fact all just part of one big universal flow of life. Are we capable of thinking with that magnitude, of seeing the checks and balances that work to create an equilibrium in the whole? If we have a thorn in our foot, the hand does not leave it to fester…it automatically reaches to remove the source of pain and potential infection. Nature naturally balances- life seeks to live in wholeness .

It is our own lack of wisdom, selfishness and inability to think with empathic far reaching forethought that causes and has caused so many problems . We are, in fact, our own worst enemies . We could have many better conditions on this planet if we challenged ourselves to think with joined up thinking, with connectivity , empathy and a little more wisdom. Can we make this evolutionary jump?

Life is asking this of us in the coming decades . Can we create a fairer , more loving, more ecological world where nature is in balance?

I believe that whilst there is life, there is hope and what makes today different in several ways to epochs of the past are these following factors. Humanity has incredible scientific powers and understanding which allows us to understand the damage in the natural world and what could be done, we now have miracle powers in our communication abilities- never before have we been able to communicate from one side of the world to another in the time it takes to draw a single breath. We have diverse talents and abilities that can be fine-tuned to create positive differences.

Each area of expertise can “wake up” and become part of a global solution based response to the challenges we collectively face.

There are already many people working quietly around this world of ours to that effect. But each of us has a job to do in this regard, on an individual personal level and also in the world in which we work whether it is as a nurse, a scientist, a mother or a musician.

It is my belief that in time to come our future generations will look at this time and be able to see both the threads of destruction and the threads of life, growth, hope and optimism. We will be able to see the positive trajectory of waking up, dynamic , wise, compassionate and catalystic action . Each of us now can choose to remain asleep, remain narrow or reach to wake up, grow and evolve.

As a singer song writer I believe passionately that music can now play an important role in our changing world. Music can be one of the catalysts that helps wake us up, that makes us wonder, reflect, want positive change, connect with one another. Scientists can deliver practical solutions but artists can help create the changing dynamic mindset we need to stop being sloths and become creatures with a thirst for connected positive change.

I am drawn to songwriting partly because it is where my natural skillsets lie but also in equal measure because I believe it is a powerful and transformative tool for good in the world. I have a job to do, I wish to gently help people to wake up ….to grow and evolve their humanity in so many positive ways that we make a better world and we make that evolutionary jump that life is asking us to do .

I am just one unknown and new songwriter but I bet there are many other artists, creatives and musicians and poets with the same vision. It is time for us to wake up and evolve and use our skills to aid this process.