I have a daily practice, as I’m sure many of you have. It defines and gives purpose to my days. It’s pretty simple: “How do I make the world a better place…today?” I write music that I hope inspires singers and audiences to do good in the world and encourages them to think about the world and themselves in new, transformative ways. I try to treat others with kindness. I attempt to live out my value that our earth is a living planet I respect and that my choices reflect how I care for her. But one person can’t all do it all and sometimes we can do more. Thank you to all of you who are out there working hard for climate change or restoring trails in our wild spaces. Thank you to everyone who has been marching in the streets, those of you who are on the front lines of civil rights, or promote artists of color and artists that identify as women or trans, or non-binary.

We all have to figure it out: What we can do, and how much time and money we have to do it? I was recently prodded to re-think how I interact with the world. I felt this internal nudge to step it up a bit, to get out in the world and interact with people more. I was inspired by two of my pieces, Street Dance and Whether the Weather. In Street Dance, the dreamer dreams that all the people, everyone around the world, are holding hands and dancing — yes, dancing — in the street! Yet when the dreamer wakes up, it’s not true. No one is dancing. Then they reach out a hand to a stranger and two are dancing, then four, and then more, until everyone around the world is dancing! In Whether the Weather we are asked to “whether the weather,” and maybe each other 🙂 “whether we like it or not.” I wanted to live my words.

And so I had an idea—I’ll reach out a hand to strangers on the street, ask them a question and then I will listen to their answer. I would write down our conversation and share a photo of us together. I decided to launch my “Reach Out a Hand” campaign in New York! Some of you might have seen the video from Central Park (see video below). Some of you might already be following the campaign! Here are two photos from New York with people that loved the idea! Click here to read their answers to the question: “How do we make the world a better place?” Here’s where I need YOU! This is OUR campaign! I need a few of you Beta Tester types to take the #ReachOutAHand campaign on the road and come back with feedback. Once we solidify the steps we’ll launch it to the world! Let me know on my website contact page or through Facebook if you would like to help with this next step and I’ll send you the “Reach Out A Hand: Steps To Follow.” We will adjust these steps with your input as we move forward. Thanks for helping out! Follow and share #reachoutahand on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.