Thoughts on Northern Lights at the end of 2023 and the closing of the official funding and reporting period of the Sounding Crisis project
Dear friends and followers all over the planet,
In different ways a tough year and even tougher years lie behind us and in different ways tough years lie ahead, tougher for some of us on this planet than for others. I sincerely believe that we will only overcome the challenges of this century's multiple crises together - and with good care of ourselves and our loved ones. Only when we learn to accept and love ourselves can we increase the love around us and thus multiply the love and peace on this planet that does not belong to us. The greatest miracle of all is that we belong to planet Earth, our only home, and in that we are equal and all connected.
During the field research of the Sounding Crisis project in November 2021, I had the unique opportunity to see this beautiful Northern Lights with my own eyes, near Nuuk, the capital of Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). For me, it is the most poignant image of what it means to be human. I am not telling you this to make someone envious who would also like to fly to the Arctic to see the Northern Lights. It would be a heavy toll we would have to pay individually and collectively if more and more people, who don't live there, flew there to see them in person. Nor did I travel there primarily to see them, but to learn and report on how colonialism, sound, suffering and the struggle for decoloniality can work and how these complex issues be changed for the better in the name of creating a different human-nature relationship than the fatal one that dominates this planet today. That I was able to experience this beauty at the same time as I was doing hard labour was a precious opportunity that allowed me to experience awe, beauty, joy, peace and gratitude all at once. This sight reminded me that we are all just crew members on Spaceship Earth. No one is just a passenger.
I share this today, as the official funding and reporting period of the Sounding Crisis project comes to a close and another year ends for all of us. By sharing this image, I wish you all with all my heart: may you have a peaceful holiday season and recharge your batteries with peace of mind, love and joy. We all will need all of that.
Sincerely yours,
Ania