Derrick Ashong – Winning From Change
I will say that I am kind of an optimist, in that the reality is you can’t live in a state of war forever. So when I look at the problems facing the world, I am like sooner or later people are going to have to be honest, people are going to have to be truthful and in that honesty we can start to make further progress.
Marlise: Yes. I was on a boat in Egypt with people from eight different cultures on board, and I gave a Stillness Session where everybody connected to that heart space and with each other. When you are in that space it breaks down all the cultural laws that separate us.
Derrick Ashong: Exactly.
Marlise: It seems crazy but I have seen it again and again and again.
Derrick Ashong: And for me a lot of that happens through music, that’s why I became a musician first. Because I felt like that was a way where people automatically go to that heart space, they can’t help it, and so to start from a position of power, you start from a position of being able to influence one another with artistry. Unfortunately politics doesn’t necessarily take artists as seriously as maybe they should.
Marlise: Yeah, well look what Pharrell [Williams] did, right? [with Happy] Suddenly people made videos from every country. It was unbelievable, that’s leadership. That’s the power of the individual
Derrick Ashong: Exactly, perfect example.
Marlise: Pharrell was crying on Oprah because he was so moved. And sitting in a recording studio you don’t know that you are going to have that level of effect, it was beautiful. So do you think that changing the way we look at our identity would make a difference? And not only culture, but to actually find an identity that empowers you and that helps you to continually manage change and have the courage and passion that you do.
