Values over Party

January 20, 2021 is quite the significant date in American history. We witnessed the peaceful transfer of power to Joseph R. Biden from his predecessor who decided not to participate in this centuries old American tradition. The peaceful nature of this transition today is juxtaposed freshly in our minds against a merely two week old terrorist attack on the United States Capitol. We witnessed the first female, the first African American and the first Indian American Vice President in Kamala Harris. We witnessed the first Jewish senator from Georgia take office. We witnessed the first Jewish Senate Majority Leader begin his term. And we witness a raw, wounded, divided population, all seeking to be heard and be seen.

The Americana Fabric may not be shredded to bits, but it certainly requires serious mending.

As I search for personal significance in these unprecedented moments of America’s democratic experiment, I realize the values that bring meaning to this collective sigh of relief. There is hope embedded in the values that our new leadership seems already to embody. We will now all unpack and begin to understand our shared PTSD of the last 4 years, despite which side of the aisle we most identify with. And as somebody who does not subscribe to magazines, tout parties, or push fundamentalist perspective, it is truly our human values that bring alignment in truth and action for me, despite party affiliation.

Here are a few that resonate with me, especially in this moment:

Peace • Love • Empathy • Integrity • Compassion • Humor • Optimism • Togetherness • Courage • Innovation • Creativity • Stewardship • Environmentalism • Respect • Unity • Responsibility • Leadership • Science Minded • Learning Agile • Of Service • Selflessness • Humility • Strength • Wisdom • Empowerment • Authenticity • Confidence • Trustworthiness • Positivity

What other values do you identify with? What values did today’s events bring to mind? What values are you hopeful to see in Washington in the coming 4 years, and beyond?

I’m eagerly learning to stitch and sew empathy and listening into the threads and fabrics. Call it a newly acquired quarantine-era skill.

David Attenborough’s Witness Statement: ‘A story of global decline during a single lifetime.’

One of my personal heroes is natural historian, BBC broadcaster, and planet Earth champion Sir David Frederick Attenborough.  If you’re unfamiliar with the mind altering and innovative documentaries that Mr. Attenborough has brought us beginning in 1979, be sure to binge them all.  Some highlights include: Life on Earth, The Living Planet, The Trials of Life, Life in the Freezer, The Private Life of Plants, The Life of Birds, The Life of Mammals, Life in the Undergrowth, Life in Cold Blood, Life on Land, Life on Earth, Planet Earth, Planet Earth II, Blue Planet, Blue Planet II, and many more.

At 93 years young, David Attenborough’s recently released and extremely compelling call to action is presented in documentary form on Netflix “A Life On Our Planet.”  This film moved me to tears.  After 45 minutes presenting the context of how we’ve arrived at this critical moment throughout his life, he presents his witness statement, as authentic as it comes.  His visceral on-screen disappointment in humanity’s trajectory should be seen and felt by all of us — the human race living together on planet Earth. 

I felt compelled to write out each word from Mr. Attenborough’s witness statement as I rewatched and paused this powerful segment presented midway through the documentary.  

Thank you for reading his words below.  I hope you watch the film as well (link at the bottom).

David Attenborough’s Witness Statement.  ‘A story of global decline during a single lifetime.’

Our imprint is now truly global.

Our impact truly profound.

Our blind assault on the planet has finally come to alter the very fundamentals of the living world.

We have overfished 30% of fish stocks to critical levels.

We cut down over 15 billion trees each year.

By damming, polluting, and over-extracting rivers and lakes, we’ve reduced the size of freshwater populations by over 80%

We’re replacing the wild with the tame.

Half of the fertile land on earth is now farm land.

70% of the mass of bird on this planet are domestic birds.  The vast majority chickens.

We account for over one-third of the weight of mammals on earth.  A further 60% are the animals we raise to eat. The rest, from mice to whales, make up just 4%.

This is now our planet, run by humankind for humankind.

There is little left for the rest of the living world.

Since I started filming in the 1950s, on average, wild animal populations have more than halved.  

I look at these images now and I realize that, although as a young man I thought I was out there in the wild experiencing the untouched natural world, it was an illusion.

Those forest and plains and seas were already emptying.

Um, so, the world is not as wild as it was. 

Well, we’ve destroyed it.  Not just ruined it.  I mean, we have completely… destroyed that world….

… But it doesn’t end there. 

If we continue on our current course the damage that has been the defining feature of my lifetime will be eclipsed by the damage coming in the next.

- Sir David Attenborough

A Typical Situation

As 2020 unfolds with each moment more and even less alarming the previous, it begins to truly feel like a Typical Situation. Rewind a year before an epic 14 minute jam like this was possible to witness with twenty five thousand of your fellow tribe, and it’s difficult to image today’s landscape -- pandemic, social unrest, climate change, political firescape, literal firescape here in California, John Lewis, RBG, okay enough with this list 2020.

When the typical situations overwhelm, I turn to universal truth. Nature. Music. Love. The ultimate embodiment of truth in music is improvisation, the letting go of structure, the contrived, the constraints. What flows from the universal soul and out through performers, synchronized and reflected with the energy of every single person in the space is the ultimate truth. The moment, the now, the present, has never been like this previously, will never be like this again, yet is all happening concurrently in timespace.

Like so many improv-centric artists, Dave Matthew Band reflects truth and love to their participants, and receives truth and love back cyclicly on a nightly basis. Wether it’s witnessing Jeff Coffin’s explosive sax lines, him trading bars with Rashawn Ross’ captivating trumpet, hearing Tim Reynold’s & Stefand Lessard’s acoustic stringed stories unfolding, or feeling Carter Beaford’s rhythmic syncopation driving this loveful truth, it’s as if during this entire 14 minutes the pandemic wasn’t preventing more of these magical moments in 2020. Release. Six senses feeding five.

Too many choices leads to one choice. Truth and Love. Make your choice wisely… it all comes down to nothing.

“Ten fingers counting we have each
Nine planets around the Sun repeat
Eight ball will last if you triumphant be
Seven oceans pummel the shores of the sea

It’s a typical situation
In these typical times
Too many choices, yeah
It’s a typical situation
In these typical times
Too many choices, yeah

Everybody’s happy
Everybody’s free
We’ll keep the big door open
And everyone’ll come around
Why are you different?
Why are you that way?
If you don’t get in line
We’ll lock you away

It all comes down to nothing

Six senses feeding five
Around a sense of self
Four seasons turn on and turn off
I can see three corners from this corner
Two’s a perfect number
But one is not enough”

— Dave Matthews

My 2020 Song

This is my song for 2020. Pandemic, social unrest, unchecked racism, climate change, forest fires, pivotal election, fake news, gaslighting narcissist, economic decline, sick-care over healthcare, decaying education, personal losses. How easy to get down and dark for so many of us. But PERSPECTIVE and LOVE are the secret ingredients found in this song.

Trey Anastasio's live release today of "Burn It Down" includes this passionate version of "Rise Up/Come Together." (LISTEN BELOW)

Thank you Trey Anastasio Band for performing this vehement version that lives on beyond the magic moment.

LYRICS
The ocean is only a lot of drops of water
And the land is only a lot of grains of sand
And the people of the world all love the way
We going to break down the walls one day
And come together, come together, come together

From high above we're all the same down here
Without a map the lines all disappear
We're so tired of our senseless fight
The one thing we can all do right
Is come together, come together, come together, come together
Come together

We're all looking for a little more love
To shine a light and lift us up
When you hold me heartbeat to heartbeat
I'm a part of you and you're a part of me

And we rise up
And come together, come together, come together
We got to rise up
And come together, come together, come together