Where I am today, Thank you Annie Lennox

“Usually I’m on stage as a performer, but today I’m not going to sing, I’m going to talk, which is something I don’t usually do very much in public.

We live in complicated times. Our lives are too often overloaded with information that usually has the effect of adding to our inner stress and turmoil. We seek, but we don't necessarily find the ultimate things we long to experience ... contentment, joy, love, inner peace. The World tells us that we should be successful, rich, beautiful, famous.

In a consumer society the power of media and advertising constantly bombards us with messages and images reminding us of our “lack” and we so often feel like failures.

Life’s condition means that at any given moment the things we value most can be swiftly taken away from us at any point in time. Our health, our safety and security, both emotionally and physically are not always lasting. The comfortable status quo cannot necessarily be maintained or guaranteed...

So we carry our anxiety and fear of loss within and around us unwittingly.

We strive for a “better moment” than the one we are currently in, while dragging the burdens of our past into every present situation, so that we are rarely, if ever, “here and now”.

How do we find meaning, value and connection in a society that is dislocated and in many ways dysfunctional? We have lost our sense of community, or belonging to anything much beyond our own individual circumstance. We have become voyeurs, vacuously gazing at reality TV shows and sitcoms while exhibitionists and ever new ‘celebrities’ grab their pot shot at 15 minutes of fame. We vicariously become engrossed with the prurient details of other people’s lives, as we compare and contrast them to our own.

We digest the endless details of mankind's abuse and exploration, while our polluted planet heats up around us. I have therefore come to the conclusion that the world is completely and utterly mad. And perhaps I am mad to have an expectation that it could be anything otherwise. But somehow I still cling to the notion that there is still come kind of intelligence, sanity, goodness, compassion, or hope somewhere on this planet.

I know there are many people who feel the same way as I do. They are everywhere ...

Positive change is happening, and we should be encouraged by this. I applaud all ...who refuse to give into pessimism in the face of what often seems like a lost cause ...

I’m proud to be here with you. To stand up and be counted as one of the lunatic idealists ... who passionately endorse the notion of the better, safer, kinder world."

2006 Speech during Resurgence Magazine's 40th Anniversary ceremonies