Three months have gone by in the blink of an eye, and Roland's rapid growth screams at me to prepare for the future, as it morphs into the present faster than I've ever seen before. As he gets older, I want to be sure that he sees the morals put into play that will teach him about compassion for the planet and other human beings, respect, and hard work.
I find myself noticing things in a different way than I ever have. A deeper way. Everything I do, and everywhere I go has a taste of the future inside it. These are the places and the people that will be vague memories in the back of our child's growing mind, as we make the decisions that will define him as a human being. I am urged more than ever before to take up the hobbies and activities that I know to be the most rewarding.
Community service. Yoga. Meditation. My artistic identity comes from a stirring in the soul but a peacefulness in the mind. Ian (below) and I played two shows a couple Saturdays ago, the first being at the Town of Amherst Sustainability Festival, and it was a beautiful reminder of why I started harnessing my power as a teenager in the first place: I want to help others, and bring awareness to those things that we aren't thinking about every single day, but should be.
We have the ability to change our planet on a macroscopic level. We are able to achieve no less and no more than we are able to believe. I chose at a young age to try and believe that I could help the state of the world through writing, and music. Over the course of my journey, I've found other reasons why I want to be great, and these other reasons can become distracting. I am blessed to have such amazing, hard working people in my life that I can surround myself with, who remind me of why I work hard. They bring me the joy that tells me I'm on the right track.
So thank you to all of you who are reading this, to all of the people who support us at shows, and to all of our friends and family; I feel part of a potent coalition. One that can eliminate the feverish thought that it's too late to start doing something that you should be doing, or that we are too small or insignificant to change anything as individuals. This is a short post, between moments, originally with no intended moral, but I could elaborate for a long time on the importance of self-love, and how it inspires compassion for others - and vise versa. Give love and be warm; that's what it's all about. In the end, it always comes down to family.
Happy anniversary, baby. Your support is unique and abundant. Thank you to the end of the earth for giving me the greatest gift of all.