Are you as happy as this ?

And if not why not ? 

Last night I had the opportunity to go to a concert which was unlike any other I had been to. It was a collaboration of creative minds and Buddhist sentiments and it worked beautifully. On stage was Tenzin Choegyal, Tibetan singer and musician with a number of other talented musicians, an amazing tabla player Shen Flindell, a guitarist with a lovely Italian name, a talented songwriter and singer, Marcello Milani, a violinist Richard Grantham  and a brass pot and gong player, Michael Askill.

The other guest on stage was Michael Leunig, Australia's celebrated cartoonist, http://www.leunig.com.au/about/biography with his shock of white hair and his paintbrush. The story begins some fifteen years ago when Tenzin met Leunig busking in Melbourne. They have been firm friends ever since and last night was a coming together of their friendship and creativity in aid of Tibet.

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Music and song accompanied Leunig's doodles and drawings.The Theme was "Nurturing the Earth" and it was a feast for the senses and the soul. In the course of the concert he created five canvases of his familiar and much loved happy humans who dance with light and laughter, love and lightness. His strokes were assured and his explanations humble, this is what he knows how to do, and he has been doing it for years, and people respond to them, and appreciate the sentiments expressed in each one. 

At the end of the night two of these canvases were auctioned off to support the Australian Tibet Council and the Tibetan Children's Village. I was floored by people's generosity of spirit and can tell you that one canvas fetched $7,500 and the other a whopping $9000. That is amazing for the cause. I was sitting next to a woman who was a passionate fan of Leunig and his work and bid loudly and hopefully for both. She was out bidded by a little in each auction but I am happy to say that she felt so strongly about it that she went to meet him and secured one of the canvases where the funds once more will support the cause. 

We live here with freedoms that are fundamental to our happiness and creativity so it is hugely important not only to remember those places in the world which do not  have these freedoms but to actively participate where we can to make sure each day they are one step closer to achieving them.