When Anger is a Constructive Driving Force

I’ll be brief and will quote from a letter I sent to Cari Cole today, for her part in inspiring me to turn one gift into an outpouring:  

“Thanks again for your initial response to me, a total stranger, someone you did not know. If it hadn’t been for you, I would never have started this ‘campaign’for Liz, and I suspect now (now that I’m hitting my anger again re. WHY this happened—no healthcare b/c she damn well couldn’t afford it—and I’ve now heard from two other MySpacers in the same position, one who is now bedridden!!! and another who is paying off a $10,000 bill after still not being treated) — now, this is growing in meaning for me. I am lucky to have ‘universal healthcare’ in the UK and Canada, but let me tell you…I’m not impressed with Michael Moore’s take on the ‘NHS’ here in the UK. He was more honest in his appraisal of the system when his film aired here and he was interviewed by the BBC. It is broken and needs fixing…it IS about money. Rant done. 

My focus now is turning towards Liz and away from this campaign…actually here is what I said to our online songwriter’s forum: 

Liz is VERY ill. And I won’t be helpful if I get ill.

Heeding a few of your messages of concern, I’ll be

brief here today and will keep up the tracker etc.,

but I have (strangely) lost all my inhibition in

BLUNTLY asking my friends directly to please do

something, and oddly they are. If you would do the

same, if you are involved in this, I truly need some

help now. Tricia did not report on Liz’s condition,

but if her mother is very ‘tired’ after this

respiratory incident, then I suspect all the time in

the world is not available here. If you have any

intention of acting, please do so now. If you can pull

in ‘a’ friend or two, please do. 

I will probably turn my attention now towards writing

TO Liz, rather than rallying FOR her. So, I turn this

over to you and to the universe. I have tried

to fulfill a small mission here. Maybe numbers don’t

matter. They do for me, because I want this to have

‘magnitude’. I want this woman who has felt so very

alone at times in her life (not going into it) to KNOW

she is NOT ALONE. Furthermore, this is a stand on what

has happened here, re. this travesty of medical

injustice. This is an attempt, also, to pull together

a community—musical artists—around an issue that

SHOULD matter to us: uninsured artists who cannot

afford health care insurance. Enough on that. 

I must now turn towards Liz. 

Thanks. I’m here if anyone needs an address.

Otherwise, help me keep track of numbers.

We are ALL  doing great!”

The point is: I have spent most of my life hiding behind my convictions, afraid to put them out there, to stand up for what I believe in as an artist. Take it from me and others who have advised me over the years: there’s no reason for this. There’s no reason to pussy foot around issues that matter to you,. Let anger, when you feel it, be a driving force for your music.

I heard a saying about anger many years ago. It is not the base emotion, but rather the emotion that masks ‘disappointment’ or a sense of injustice. So, anger is not an enemy. It should be examined, worked with, and constructive in our our work and our healing. As Cari might say: it should be ‘transformative’.

Peace. Just needed to get that off my mind. And also…I love Michael Moore.