What We SHARE

All right, I haven't got a whole lot of time tonight to blog.

But I had to take a moment to say this...

Do you know what happened today?
Something unprecedented, profound, and awe inspiring...
I write today not to tell you about another school shooting, or the ill effects of war or Bush.
I write today to tell you:

The New York Philharmonic played in Pyongyang, North Korea.

I'll say it again...

The New York Philharmonic played in Pyongyang, North Korea.

And to anyone who would look me in the face and tell me that art is trivial in today's world, I would smile and say:

On February 26, 2008, The New York Philharmonic played in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Art speaks to the soul
To the human experience
To the spirit
To the commonality we all share
In a way that NOTHING else can.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Especially politics.

I love that today, art did what politics could not do.
Today, art, if only for a few hours, reminded us of what we SHARE instead of what divides us.
Politics tends to remind us only of what divides us.

It is these moments, how ever fleeting or small
These moments when meeting of two opposing forces throw down their differences
To share in beautiful music
That I am filled with hope for the world
And filled with hope for my place in it.

Art IS important.

Stand offs get us no where.
Rhetoric gets us nowhere.
Politics without understanding gets us nowhere.
Today, where there once were only vehement differences, there was commonality and LOVE.

Today, the New York Philharmonic played in Pyongyang, North Korea

Please excuse my jubilation when I say:
HECK YES!!!!!!!!