Premiering NOW: I LOVE PEOPLE Official Music Video
??About Humanity Day??; when we celebrate all things human we love.
?? I am dedicating this song to YOU, all humans of the world ?? beautiful ones who I know, and who I’ve yet to meet, and the rest all forever.
Let me tell you about this song.
It is a grey December morning in Scotland. I wake up realizing I had missed my alarm. As I grab my bag hastily stumbling outside, my thought is “Bad Karma Day”. So on my way to work I call my sister to distract myself, only to get a response by her screaming baby full volume inside my earbuds. Did I mention PMSing. I pass by a car window only to notice my hair was doing it’s own thing as usual, so uncooperatively. Crap. ??
Lifelessly paddling to campus along the bumpy brick road. I pass by a majestically lit sign at The Pear Tree Garden pub. In the corner of my eye I vividly catch a shockingly large screen. It is larger than the building and brighter than daylight. Projecting on it is a beautiful video of a warm fireplace. I fantasize for a few seconds ``my god if I ever-” but immediately “definitely not me, far from it”. Somehow, a brainwave challenging my assumption, Landmark's coaching repeats in my mind ‘Bold Leadership is Acting Against All Disagreement’ to me this means my practice is to confront my inner state, place my thoughts aside, and get into action. Warner Erhard’s quote on my bedroom door “The world doesn't care..how you *think*..or how you *feel*… look for yourself and see that the world only moves for you when you act”. ??
So now my fears and thoughts are distinguished. I place them aside together with my bicycle which I lock to the street poll.
I walk in. Yikes.
An intimidating good looking bartender asks me “Can I help you?”
I freeze.
“Um like, your large screen outside is incredible..! Maybe I can ask -”
Bartender swiftly points ahead “Right behind you, do you see that corner table? Our manager, his name is Brian”.
My thoughts get louder 'I am a loser' 'hopeless' 'Bad outfit'. Very familiar feelings.
Snowball. I did not expect a snowball. I have never imagined such a snowball in my life.
Definitely not today.
Brain will turn to be of the kindest people I am about to meet. ?? In fact until today, our entire team still calls him “Brian Sweetheart” due to how I saved his name on my phone, later shared with them. Melting away I learn right there about the kind of person he is. How much he cares about the people in his life, adores his daughter to tears, how committed he is to those who deal with mental health. Still hesitant for no good reason, I share my work with him, to speculate costs of renting that screen for my graduation in 2 years. Sharing how I co-produce music videos on mental health, with young people, to reach the public. Brian with incredible generosity comments “let's bring several projects on mental health together for a big event?”.
Blown away is me right now.
What Brian doesn't know is that for the past 10 year I had this dream. I called it “PosiFest”. A theme park with research based wellbeing games, practices, performances. Long collected written pieces in plan were accumulated for 'one day.. when I am sixty or so'. This fantasy started at Harvard when I sat in the PSY1504 Happiness course and decided to dedicate my life to bringing such helpful information out of the ivory tower to the main street.
My heart blooms and booms as I leave the Pear Tree, still not believing this could ever happen.
Thirty minutes later I am on campus. My Eating Disorder Awareness team combines post graduates. We facilitate events on campus. As I acknowledge what we have already been doing, I ask if they would like to create with me something a bit bigger. We speculate together what an umbrella festival would look like, celebrating all coping skills and encouraging togetherness and belonging. 6 out of 7 of us are in. Budding here is the founding flower team of my PosiFest dream. We invent rolls: a PR outreach group, a minutes taker, a volunteer-coordinator. Brian has already begun enrolling a list of celebrities, comedians, as we add musicians, researchers, practitioners, and positive DJs to create PosiFest.
That evening I met Mario who now becomes our DJ event master. We drive to the farm house to look at equipment like lights and bubbles. This farm will later become our broadcasting headquarters. My recent declaration to overcome my vocal fears and make music, was hesitant in this practice. However, today that began as "bad karma" is my first time ever in my life when I feel certainty like this: melody, words, instruments: This Is My Song. Today.
I don't care if it sounds cheesy. It is exactly what my heart dictates.
I love people. YOU are amazing. I celebrate what we can do. What we ARE doing. Together. Belonging.
So, what happened later and where am I today? Brian invited our growing team for weekly meetings at the Pear Tree restaurant, providing free hot drinks on the house, also hot chocolate ??. We arrange performances, activities. We order rainbow sashes for the expanding volunteer list. More special guests plan their arrival in the capital of Scotland for the big day of PosiFest, some to fly in especially from across the world ??. Preparing for March 28th, PosiFest 2020. The request flow in so we plan an additional follow up full week event for late in September. An after party is suggested at The Dome, of the most tourist attracting stunning fancy venues in the capital of Scotland.
Covid-19. Quite an entrance. It is about three weeks before we launch. Brian sits with our team and expresses with so much care how much he loves us and how committed he is to safety. Now even the biggest Festival canceled. We collectively introspect on our context to empower ourselves: our WHY. 'Bold leadership Acts Against All Disagreements' and whilst each of the other events cancel, we choose to not. To us, this is likely more needed now than ever. Over the next three weeks we reorganize. PosiFest goes live on March 28th for just over fifteen hours as a live digital Festival. Our Facebook views reach eleven thousand. Being allowed performers that otherwise could not have come, such as a poet from India, a pop-celebrity in California, a cancer patient and resiliency coach isolating from his home, an NHS mental health clinician with her daughter, and so many more... all from their home. You can check the list on www.PosiFest.uk
We feature human togetherness and mental belonging.
This vast turnout encourages us to broadcast daily. Sharing music, games, coaching, skillshare workshops and fun unicorn dance, performances. We are featured in international magazines. Our PosiFest family is joined by hosts from The Gambia, Spain, London, Boston, Kurdistan, Islands. We play weekly capoeira and dance with the Jeevan Utthan orphans in Nepal who by now sing our song by heart https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=704943783552641 . We walk peacefully with Black Lives Matter in Scotland. One of our hosts is 10 years old and another is a grandma... a sneak peek of a sharing team.
Beaming with more colors than the rainbow.
POSIFEST is a celebration of people and of what we could do for each other. It's a celebration of my dreams and us all being Care Bears with our shared heart.
Together, we create fun and belonging. We declare into existence a loving world that cares.
To you ALL we dedicate this song. I also invite YOU to share with us and tell us what you love about people, or anything that would benefit peoples togetherness, belonging and well-being.
This 'horrible' day, this song was born.
??
Just like that.
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#celebratehumanity
#celebrateconnection
#celebrateposifest
Humans still surprise me. My team humbles me. I feel like a music video just in their humor with moments of awe I have from them...me crying.
CREDITS:
ILP landmark
PosiFest humans
Landmark Worldwide DFW
Peter, Julia, Elijah, Jacob and Gabriel Adefowora.
GRO team: Jungle Andy, DJ Kemal, Sami Okan, and their posi non alcohol parties in Glasgow.
Heroes of the world from online and beyond.
Dedicate to the children of the Nepal orphanage who love singing this song with me
EcoGlimmer
True Citizens Nepal
Impact Festival Vancouver
Lumyr Derisier, Tooky Kavanagh, Anrek Watts, Stephen A Winterroth, My Grandma Ruth Kolko Cohen who loved to sing with me “anashim tovim beemtza haderech (good people come across our path)”,girl in hug w me, Naomi Cohen, My family.
And all YOU people of the world ??… Those I know who helped us and those I will never know who did.
Link to song on spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/23jy6U37PPApaRBe8mYxJG?si=f1588fe8793247a0