I saw an amazing video the other day. If you have 20 minutes to kill, actually if you can make 20 minutes to sit down and watch this video, it will really be worth it: www.storyofstuff.com.
It wasn't long ago that I started to really care about the environment. In fact, all through college I don't think I gave trash, waste, or using chemicals a second thought, except perhaps admiration and gratitude for the people that are taking care of it so it's out of my apartment.
Sure, there is a major green movement throughout the world right now- as there should be. But, as the story of stuff video shows, the green movement is not only about organics, reducing, recycling, and reusing. What occurred to me that if we can all start to think more about ourselves as part of the environment, then we will significant changes to our lifestyles on a deeper level. We do live in a consumer driven culture and we work so hard to maintain our ability to spend that our lives have truly become some form of alternating between working and spending. Our days go by at a faster pace then ever, everyone checking their i phones (me included), crackberries, and scheduling every block of time with appointments, and our "physical" bodies run with it where our "emotional" and ultimately the most important soul of our system cannot keep up.
This is how I connect my passion for being kind to our environment and music.
To me, as a pianist, I want to give people a chance and beg them to slow down and listen. Some people might have a hard time listening to an hour of Schubert and Mozart- it might not be enough "intensity", "excitement", it might not draw you where you're completely overwhelmed and consumed with what your eyes are witnessing like a movie, and it might be so beautifully soft to be almost inaudible to our ears that are so used to getting gripped by high decibels. But I think that's okay. That's the beauty of music. It's like a prayer- it gives us a way to connect with ourselves again. You don't have to know and understand what you're hearing. You can daydream- think about anything you want, but at the end of a concert, or a CD, you will come away with a renewed sense of being- like you just spent time being good to yourself and listening to your thoughts. That's part of the healing power of music.
Environmental awareness is very similar. You just have to stop and let yourself stand still. Then we can get out of this never ending work-play cycle and when you don't feel that you have to keep using and buying, you will give the earth a chance to breathe and to catch up, and in the meantime you'll be good to yourself.
Enjoy the video!
