It’s so easy to feel powerless in the face of extreme violence such as the horrors caused by terrorism in our world these days.  It is so easy to believe that there is nothing we can do about it.

Because I am quite sensitive, I never watch the news on television, and I’m often the last one to find out about public events. But today I happened to stumble upon news about the atrocious massacre of children in Pakistan, and I’m glad I did. Because it motivated me to DO something about it … in whatever small way I could think of.

First, I wept.

For the children, for their families, for their friends, for the survivors, for Pakistan, for the world. These are OUR children who were killed. Children of OUR world. What does it matter where we live or where we were born… a child is a child is a child.  So I wept.  Feeling things deeply is very important. For our souls, for our music, for the world.

Then I remembered the last time I wept for violence, and I remembered that my anguish caused me to pour all of that feeling out through words.  You can read what I wrote here, if you’re interested: “I Weep from Violence”.

Today, I picked up my violin instead.  I made music for those children…for Pakistan…and I decided to record it. I uploaded the result of that poor living-room recording onto YouTube… you can hear it here: YouTube: Violin Music for Pakistan.

Art is for expressing the deepest feelings and qualities of the human soul.

It is for moving those energies through us – both pleasant and painful – turning them into something that can help move the hearts of others, uniting us in our common experience of humanity…whether it be shared grief, horror, pain… or bliss. Music touches us, and it connects us in a way that goes beyond the limitations of language. Music helps turn the unspeakable into a mutual experience of love – if we let it.

Making music for the children who had died was my way to connect my hearts to theirs… to express my grief and my well-wishes and blessings upon their souls. And upon grieving Pakistan…and grieving all-of-us.

As musicians, we are not powerless.

Especially if we unite together in our deepest yearnings for world peace, I believe we can be more than powerful.

So then I decided to create a facebook group, because I want musicians to see that we have this potential to use our music to bless the world with our positive, creative energy.  Please take a look at this group if you’re on facebook, join it, and consider making your own music to post there for peace. It doesn’t have to be perfect – this is not about how you sound in the recording. This is about carrying out our best intentions in a proactive way.  And if you have more ideas about what we can do, please share your ideas here and on that group page.

JUST THIS ONCE…FOR WORLD PEACE….PLEASE LET US….

– let go of our inflated thoughts about our small self – how tiny we are in the grand scheme of the universe, after all!

– let go of our worries about what people will think

– let go of our perfectionism and worries that we’re “not good enough”

– let go of the idea that we can’t let people see our vulnerability, our imperfections, our mistakes, our deficiencies, our limitations

– let go of the belief that one person cannot do anything to help save the world

– let go of whatever is stopping you from sharing your beautiful and compassionate soul with the world

– let go of fear and concerns that we don’t know how to do it – TRUST – and LEARN how

– let go of the never-ending thought that we don’t have time – just let go and do it NOW

– get out your phone or your computer or some other recording device, and play for peace.

Keep it simple. But please do this for yourself and for the world. It’s a small thing, but every small thing added to other small things adds up to a NOT-SO-SMALL thing. And it feels good to feel like you’re being proactive and contributing in your own small way, too.

So that was my day today. I had other plans about what to do with my day – I have a “to-do” list about mile long, along with deadlines that are uncomfortably close.  But this was more important to me today. It just didn’t seem right to sit in my living room, eat chocolate, sip tea, and work on my business after becoming aware of the tragedy in Pakistan. I just had to DO something. So I did.

Please join me. What can we musicians DO?!??  Make music.

Pour your heart out. Touch humanity with the beauty and compassion of your soul.  And share whatever comes out.  You never know the beneficial effect you might have, and how far the your positive vibrations might reach. Music is a very powerful thing. Let us use it consciously, and let us use it well.

JOIN “MUSICIANS MAKING MUSIC FOR PEACE” BY CLICKING HERE

Please post your comments – I would LOVE to get your feedback today! Let’s have a conversation about musicians for world peace. What do you think??

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