Don’t Sweat the Heavy Stuff
What happens when we have a ‘big cause’ and want to tell people about it without frightening or emotionally downloading on them? How do we gracefully invite others into social activism/ charity work/ social causes?
Many of us want to make a difference and to draw attention to important social issues and causes. There are many urgent and potentially catastrophic issues facing us as a species which need to be seen, heard and acted upon. How do we communicate about these in a graceful, enlightening way which can be received by people and which is not overwhelming?
Lynn Serafinn has outlined an amazing way of creating graceful, ethical business practice in her book The 7 Graces of Marketing. Following our conversation about these questions, she asked me to write this blog.
I have been incredibly inspired by the work of WaterAid and particularly by the project founded by composer Helen Chadwick, Sing for Water, which I want to describe as an incredible successful model of graceful contribution. Helen initiated Sing for Water at the Mayor’s Thames Festival eleven years ago. Every year a choir of 800 singers gather together to sing songs about water and raise funds for WaterAid. The event is a high energy experience for everyone involved and draws choirs from across the UK and beyond. Helen describes it as having a magic formula - people have a wonderful experience doing what they love, whilst making a difference in the world. Their friends, families and communities are touched and engaged by sponsoring the singers. It is a cause whose serious intent is communicated gracefully, creatively, passionately by people who love singing. The contagious enthusiasm generated by the Thames Festival event has lead many other Sing for Water events - including Sing & Swim ! - across the UK and Europe. In the last ten years this project has raised over half a million pounds for WaterAid - this year funds will go to life-saving projects in Ghana.
The facts about water are grim for those in some parts of the world. Water scarcity and pollution causes more deaths than any other cause and has a vast array of devastating effects in deprived communities. 1 child dies every second from water related issues. Many girls and women walk miles every day to collect and carry heavy containers of water for their family risking rape, attack and damage to their bodies whilst missing out on school and other vital community activities. Lack of adequate sanitation also creates massive issues as communities unwittingly pollute their own precious water sources. WaterAid are active in these communities, working alongside local people to help them build facilities that give them access to clean water (taps, wells etc) and create safe hygiene practices.
Encountering some of these facts brings me to tears and I was so inspired by Sing for Water, touching as it did on my own commitment to raising awareness about water issues, that I ran a concert this year in London featuring 180 singers which raised over £3,300. I learned so much - mainly about how to ask gracefully - ask for support, donations, resources, performers, venues, ideas, contributions, publicity. Sometimes of course I made mistakes - but I’ve learned that if you ask one way and it does not work, another question will open another door. What works is passionate, unswerving commitment to the cause. What also works is friendliness, fun, playfulness, laughter, creativity and beauty.
We need not be afraid to apply lighter ways of communicating about so called ‘heavy issues’. For example I created a song with some beautiful WaterAid images on YouTube - which was foremostly an audio-visual experience - offered like any other - to bring pleasure to the eyes and ears as well as conveying the key information about the event. WaterAid have also run incredibly fun and funky awareness raising campaigns such as wrapping up politicians in toliet roll, delivering 18,314 signed toliet rolls to Downing Street as part of the Make Poverty History and forming a toliet queue outside the G8 summit. Details of these and current campaigns can be found www.wateraid.org
This is why Sing for Water has captured so many people’s imagination - because it is ultimately aesthetically and sensorily pleasurable on many levels whilst also being socially committed. The power of singing with 800 people, whilst knowing it is having a ripple effect across the world is indescribable. This is just one example of how much creative power we have when we join in shared intent. We need not apologise for having fun while we do it!
Wishing you passionate and playful communications
Katie Rose
Sept 6th 2012
Sing for Water takes place this weekend at the Mayor’s Thames Festival -
3pm, 9th September, The Scoop, open air amphitheatre outside City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London. SE1 2AA.
Further events take place throughout the year.
If you would like to thrown some cash in my virtual bucket and sponsor me as a singer at this event, please visit my Just Giving Page
I am offering any one who donates over £15 (the amount it costs to give one person access to clean water for life in Ghana) a complimentary copy of my album Shiva’s Rain
What happens when we have a ‘big cause’ and want to tell people about it without frightening or emotionally downloading on them? How do we gracefully invite others into social activism/ charity work/ social causes?
Many of us want to make a difference and to draw attention to important social issues and causes. There are many urgent and potentially catastrophic issues facing us as a species which need to be seen, heard and acted upon. How do we communicate about these in a graceful, enlightening way which can be received by people and which is not overwhelming?
Lynn Serafinn has outlined an amazing way of creating graceful, ethical business practice in her book The 7 Graces of Marketing. Following our conversation about these questions, she asked me to write this blog.
I have been incredibly inspired by the work of WaterAid and particularly by the project founded by composer Helen Chadwick, Sing for Water, which I want to describe as an incredible successful model of graceful contribution. Helen initiated Sing for Water at the Mayor’s Thames Festival eleven years ago. Every year a choir of 800 singers gather together to sing songs about water and raise funds for WaterAid. The event is a high energy experience for everyone involved and draws choirs from across the UK and beyond. Helen describes it as having a magic formula - people have a wonderful experience doing what they love, whilst making a difference in the world. Their friends, families and communities are touched and engaged by sponsoring the singers. It is a cause whose serious intent is communicated gracefully, creatively, passionately by people who love singing. The contagious enthusiasm generated by the Thames Festival event has lead many other Sing for Water events - including Sing & Swim ! - across the UK and Europe. In the last ten years this project has raised over half a million pounds for WaterAid - this year funds will go to life-saving projects in Ghana.
The facts about water are grim for those in some parts of the world. Water scarcity and pollution causes more deaths than any other cause and has a vast array of devastating effects in deprived communities. 1 child dies every second from water related issues. Many girls and women walk miles every day to collect and carry heavy containers of water for their family risking rape, attack and damage to their bodies whilst missing out on school and other vital community activities. Lack of adequate sanitation also creates massive issues as communities unwittingly pollute their own precious water sources. WaterAid are active in these communities, working alongside local people to help them build facilities that give them access to clean water (taps, wells etc) and create safe hygiene practices.
Encountering some of these facts brings me to tears and I was so inspired by Sing for Water, touching as it did on my own commitment to raising awareness about water issues, that I ran a concert this year in London featuring 180 singers which raised over £3,300. I learned so much - mainly about how to ask gracefully - ask for support, donations, resources, performers, venues, ideas, contributions, publicity. Sometimes of course I made mistakes - but I’ve learned that if you ask one way and it does not work, another question will open another door. What works is passionate, unswerving commitment to the cause. What also works is friendliness, fun, playfulness, laughter, creativity and beauty.
We need not be afraid to apply lighter ways of communicating about so called ‘heavy issues’. For example I created a song with some beautiful WaterAid images on YouTube - which was foremostly an audio-visual experience - offered like any other - to bring pleasure to the eyes and ears as well as conveying the key information about the event. WaterAid have also run incredibly fun and funky awareness raising campaigns such as wrapping up politicians in toliet roll, delivering 18,314 signed toliet rolls to Downing Street as part of the Make Poverty History and forming a toliet queue outside the G8 summit. Details of these and current campaigns can be found www.wateraid.org
This is why Sing for Water has captured so many people’s imagination - because it is ultimately aesthetically and sensorily pleasurable on many levels whilst also being socially committed. The power of singing with 800 people, whilst knowing it is having a ripple effect across the world is indescribable. This is just one example of how much creative power we have when we join in shared intent. We need not apologise for having fun while we do it!
Wishing you passionate and playful communications
Katie Rose
Sept 6th 2012
Sing for Water takes place this weekend at the Mayor’s Thames Festival -
3pm, 9th September, The Scoop, open air amphitheatre outside City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London. SE1 2AA.
Further events take place throughout the year.
If you would like to thrown some cash in my virtual bucket and sponsor me as a singer at this event, please visit my Just Giving Page
I am offering any one who donates over £15 (the amount it costs to give one person access to clean water for life in Ghana) a complimentary copy of my album Shiva’s Rain
