I like to look at all the colors, and think of all the possibilities 🌈

I was on a Zoom conversation this morning and a friend held up a coffee cup with some Planetudes artwork on it and said, “I like to look at all the colors, and think of all the possibilities in there…”

Another on the Zoom call said, “So what is Planetudes? It’s a band, right?”

I answered, “Yes. Planetudes is definitely a band. It’s also— an attitude.” It’s a way of seeing the world— paying attention—to nature— intersectionality— the good things coming together—because where we place our attention— that grows. This is expressed in music and art— let’s bang a drum about it.

It’s a feeling too— wild awe—the expansive joy of wild synths, strings, guitars and drums arriving at a vista— like cascading waterfalls.

And joy in small things we may overlook while we are on our busy way. It’s taking the extra moment to notice the golden leaves blowing on the wind, noticing new seasonal neighbors who are in the garden— varied thrushes, migrating hawks. Noticing the pure joy a child feels experiencing a snail or a tiny mushroom or green glowing moss, and remembering that we adults and artists have access, any time we choose, to this same perceptual joy.

It’s remembering that the outdoors, the woods, our cities, our countries are for Everyone— all people, all genders, languages, all races, all abilities. Here the diversity of healthy wild ecosystems is a mirror of what we should see in healthy cities and healthy ways of living— wildness, diversity, room for many points of view. I’ve lived in NYC (11 years) and Berlin, Ann Arbor, Williamsburg and now, Portland, Oregon, and the sanest places in these cities hold the most diversity combined with the most wildness— in beautiful balance.

So trust in diversity. Trust in weaving together multiple insights. There’s joy in this, and strength. An image from our new video in progress is pictured here. Cheers 💚🌍💚