Sky Nelson plays boogie-woogie piano with his band to accompany his version of “A Peaceful Solution.” The blues breakdowns they play as an instrumental interludes to the lyrics adds yet another Americana flavor to this Sky Nelson version.

Sky Nelson demonstrates his expansive grasp of the American musical idiom and gives us a statement that bears reading more than once. I cannot help but think that these aspects are related.

Over and over again we find intelligent and creative people advocating peace. Certainly the capacity and willingness to stand up for peace and be heard in front of a crowd indicates a level of commitment to high values sorely lacking in our current political leadership.

Once again we can read the advice that to try to change others is folly, but to change oneself profoundly alters everything in the world around you. When you seek to change others conflict becomes a matter of course. But when you change yourself it impacts all around you.

This all goes to show you that here in the United States of America we also have people of peace. In fact, once you discount the blatant propaganda spewed by the main stream media, it seems that the majority of We The People would rather have peace.

Yet our government, our leadership, proves to be mired in destructive self-interest and willfully ignores the mandates sent by their employers, We The People of the United States of America.

After World War II many people in the United States wondered how the people of Germany could allow such a scheming monster as Hitler first assume power and then stay in power.

Now many people around the world wonder about the quality of We The People of the United States of America that we can allow such a lying, greedy, remorseless and unconscionable leader steal not one but two elections and perpetrate blatant wars of aggression.

We The People of the United States of America have become irrevocable tainted by the acts of this country’s civil government and military. As long as histories are written we and our decedents for generations to come will have to bear the stigma and consequences of the recent past.

The path to redemption must include peace and art.

I believe Sky Nelson is correct when he suggests the times we are in call for all individuals to step into a roll of personal power. Indeed, we must all reclaim our personal power and exercise it to the utmost.

This personal power holds the capacity to extend the madness or to end it.

To end the madness, personal power must be exercised with love and understanding. To consciously choose any other path will confirm the already low opinion the world community has of We The People of the United States of America.

Sky Nelson offers his life as an example. He doesn’t preach.

I suggest the peaceful solution is obvious and requires no lecture.

Choose peace. Take Back America.

* * * * * Artist’s Statement * * * * *

Why are you passionate about creating peace?

I’m driven by a need to have my perception of the world match the reality around me as much as possible. When I see people talk about war or enemies, what I really see is a scared person who doesn’t know how to feel safe in the world. I see someone who knows no better solution for conflict than becoming as big and defended as possible.

Or, when I see someone criticizing their own child, I see someone who maybe feels inadequate themselves, and is passing on inherited behavior. These are the types of global human behaviors that I feel can be healed on a human level, and translated to a national level.

I have come to find in my own life that there are many other more powerful tools for resolving conflict on a personal level, such as careful listening, compassion, timely honesty, compromise, and acceptance.

I see evidence that this is also true on a national level. The work of Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, and Martin Luther King are obvious examples. It is a truism in my work with physics as well that the macroscopic behavior often mirrors the microscopic behavior.

Why have you chosen the path of Art for Peace?

At the core of my work is a spiritual practice, one that is summarized by the phrase “Think for Yourself, Do What You Love, and the World Will Change.” What this means is that by focusing my need to change the world into an ability to change myself, and change my own life, I feel I can have a profound impact on my surroundings.

I have learned that when I try to change others, conflict nearly always arises. Does this seem familiar on the national stage as well?!

I see a lot of what I call “certainty” on the national stage: people on TV or in the newspapers stating their opinions vigorously and backing them up at all costs. There are some certainties that, to our detriment, we come to take for granted.

A couple examples might be ‘what a terrorist looks like’, or ‘support the troops’, or ‘what patriotism is’. When we don’t even have time or space to evaluate what these things mean, our culture loses touch with reality. For instance, supporting the Bush administration’s call to war is seen as patriotic, or supporting the troops, yet this very same administration neglects to treat veterans properly.

I believe the times that we are in are calling for all people to step into a roll of personal power, one in which they transform their own lives. I have found that as I become more satisfied with who I am as an individual, I become less attached to the problems in the world.

I have become a more loving person through the process of committing to doing what I love, and this has had a profound impact on my life as a whole. Since I am very public with my music, I would like to hope it may have an impact on others as well.

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