What skills or lessons have you learned recently?
Shutting down my voice and pen have been a strategy for doing no harm. Today, I can say there are great reasons for silence.
What could you do less of?
As much as there is a need for strangers to trust one another there is a mass rising of people who are targeting benevolent individuals with scams and outright malicious designs. Society can boast about having new levels of connectivity while thefts and a host of other violations of people’s rights seem to be increasing. When we are in distress help sometimes appears before we send out an SOS, but these days when help arrives – police and emergency services – the trust is not always there. I do not need that kind of caution, whether it is official agents, strangers or random people, when I offer or need help.
If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?
Instead of sleeping I would and dream of 90 cm coconut trees, nibble edible cannabis buds “from the vine”, swim in purple oceans, and visit my myriad children across the galaxies; assuming of course that everyone else was in that sleepless (and work-free!) utopia and were fascinated by the promises to Abraham (he of Ur, Canaan and Egypt).
Who are your current most favorite people?
If you thought I’d tell you why musicians, girlfriends and religious bigots are my most favorite people, you are mistaken. I only want to continue my list of favorite people with guitar makers, doctors, grocers, bus drivers, pharmacists, farmers, fishermen, candy makers and airline pilots.
Do you trust your instincts?
Both the humble and the proud know that trust can be misplaced and fulfilled. My nth degree is the territory of my limited humanity
What part of your routine do you always try to skip if you can?
I do not persistently try to skip parts of my routine. If I did, it would not be done. None of my fellow activists, none of my sisters or brothers in faith can do what is on my agenda. Every part of my routine is part of a whole. Even those things that get onto my routine that are not my responsibility get a fair shot.
Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?
Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican sage and songster, took the time to walk from his hotel to my village, where he chatted with a small group of young men. He may have had a day off from his shows in the capital. I remember thinking “What a gentle looking soul he is”. I know I was struck with awe to the extent that I don’t remember what I asked him, but he was all positive encouragement for aspiring musicians and young people in general. I was definitely budding with my own guitar strumming and songwriting, and he was showing me the path. I swore “On my life”! Look up the song “On my life”.
How do you manage screen time for yourself?
Screen time is out of control. More and more I find myself parking the screen in order to get in touch with the kind of information that is usually not found on a screen. The screen has its own agenda these days, which looks like my agenda, and that creates an unhealthy tension. Screens are not my first choice for education or entertainment, but screens are front and centre with no relief in sight. Screen time comes and goes like night and day.
Screen to greet and screen to meet,
But I'll be damned if it ever replaces the beat of guitar music.
Life is Fun, But Not a Joke 