Happy 70th, Yo-Yo Ma.

I turn 70 today. For 7 decades I’ve had the privilege of living out my childhood dream, which was simply to UNDERSTAND. After spending more than half a century meeting people from all over the world willing to tell me their stories, I have found meaning, purpose and hope through advocating for their voices with music. I am deeply grateful to them all.

But today, I am worried. In the year 2100, my youngest grandchild will be 76. She will be meeting a world I will not see. I wonder what the world will be like then? And what can we all do now to ensure that today’s children can live with hope, purpose and meaning?

I try to remember that WE ARE NATURE. Embedded within nature, and in us, are the seeds of incredible creativity and terrifying destructiveness. My deepest birthday wish is that all of us humans become constantly aware of these opposing forces within us, and that we actively choose to create rather than destroy. Only then can we be free to imagine, invent and construct a new way of living together. Only then can we live in equilibrium with one another and with our planet, include all the wisdom of the ages, allow awe and wonder to be a part of our lives, and most of all, treat every human being with dignity: a PLANETARY HUMANISM.