The Milwaukee Sikh shooting and art as a teacher

The Sikh shooting in Milwaukee was disgusting,  and terrifying, and  serves as yet another powerful reminder that love and acceptance are increasingly important to our human experience.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

The shooter - Wade Michael Page - was the vocalist and guitarist of several white power bands.  While I will not suggest that music led Page to this hate crime, I do firmly believe and assert that some music teaches people how to hate; it helps people become better at hating and better at being angry.  Music and art can plant seeds of anger, self-pity, insecurity, revenge, and pride. Great art plants virtuous seeds that inspires us to think and feel in ways that enrich our experience and foster appreciation for others.

I think it is critical that we own our thoughts and emotions - that we recognize that anger is inherently deceitful and destructive. Art has powerful influence over our thoughts and emotions.  We should seek art and entertainment that supports our best self.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/07/us-usa-wisconsin-shooting-idUSBRE8740FP20120807

Walden Pond and a Deliberate Life

I recently visited Walden Pond for the first time and touched some of the rubble of Henry David Thoreau’s simple home.  Near the rubble stands a sign bearing a famous line from Walden “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

I have read and reflected upon this sentence during several intervals of life.  Each time I read it the words pierce through any comfortable routine I have created and push me to question what it means for me to live deliberately.  I find it hard to make out a crystal clear image of a deliberate life. 

Over the last few years I have had to make some very difficult decisions about what living deliberately means to me.  My intuition and sense has guided me a few scary steps into the dark. 

 “One cannot expect to discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”

-Andre Gide

With All My Love – the final track on our recent mini-album – describes some of the heavy fears and hopes I have wrestled with as I have tried to understand myself in relationship to other people and the world. I wrote the song as the experiences of a few confusing years converged into a metaphoric chemical reaction; the result was a new song – my favorite to date – and a guiding epiphany:

Ultimately I want to have exceptional relationships with people that bring out the best in me and pursue activities and dreams that are meaningful to others and me.  Nearly everything else remains unclear.

-Michael