Essays

I am a musician because I have witnessed the extraordinary power of music to unite people and to enrich our lives. Many of the best memories I have involve playing music, singing music, dancing to music, or just quietly listening to music. To bring that same joy to others would be the highest form of accomplishment for me.

But while I am compelled to communicate through music, I don't feel I have much to say about it. And as much as I would like to be a great composer, my larger aspiration is to improve lives, which is frequently achieved through more prosaic means. These essays, therefore, will be about various topics pertaining to quality of life: the ways I believe we can enhance our own, that of our future generations, and that of others who share the planet with us but are often forgotten. I am not any kind of expert, and so I write generally from my own experience and from my admittedly limited research on subjects which matter to me. I do so because I think even we non-experts have tremendous potential to prevent or at least ameliorate much of the suffering and injustice that takes place in our world. I also think that the sort of people who are passionate about music tend to be the same sort who can be motivated for positive change.

If you decide to read the essays, I ask that you approach them with an open mind and a tolerant heart. If you see any mistakes or have any questions, please feel free to let me know. I hope you will find something useful here.

• Cleaning Up
• Healing Pain
• What Not To Wear – Part 1
• What Not To Wear – Part 2