Dear Reader,
My name is Will Crawford. I am the founder and the creative director of quietnote. I would like to use this space as one for openness, clarity, honesty, and most importantly communication. I will start by acknowledging that I identify as a White British, heterosexual, man (he/him). I personally believe that important social, socio-political, cultural, and climate issues in any situation must be acknowledged, spoken about freely and communicated clearly.
quietnote is an open to all, friendly, space that is meant to be a place to share, indulge, and experience the various practices including but not limited to music, meditation, and mindfulness. I personally try in everything I do to ensure that quietnote does not discriminate and does not welcome discrimination against anyone regardless of age, gender identity, sexual identity, race, religion, belief, ethnicity, social position, class, and ancestry.
A large amount of the practices quietnote indulges in takes inspiration and influence from a range of ethnic, native, indigenous, and geographic backgrounds. I would like to acknowledge that a large amount of the cultures these practises originate from have at some point been subject to Western oppression and/or white supremacy. This tragic history is one of suffering and sadness but sadly this cannot be undone or changed. It also, however, cannot be ignored. I hold a great deal of respect for these ancient cultures and practices. When I realised the truth behind the corruption and tyranny of Western colonial history, I felt a deep sadness and pain. Even though we cannot change this past we must strive to create a present and a future in which a mutual respect and belonging is found amongst our planet and species. This comes not from ignorance but acceptance, understanding, and education.
I respect and acknowledge my past. I respect and acknowledge the influence and inspiration from the different cultures my compositions and practices have. I also hope that it is understood that by taking influence from different cultures it is not my intention to culturally appropriate nor offend but it is one of personal development and growth, one of genuine interest and a want to indulge myself in these practices for my own personal development. It is the idea that we as humanity can move towards a place of unity through sharing and collaboration. We can gift these rich and diverse heritages of all our pasts into a unified species which is free to explore, practise, educate, interpret, and understand cultures whilst respecting tradition and acknowledging our history.
I also feel that I should speak openly about the importance of positive climate action. The world is currently in a situation where a climate disaster is a very realistic possibility. At the same time the collapse of the natural world is happening every day: our rainforests are being cut down, our oceans and skies polluted, and our natural world being dominated by humankind. To put it bluntly, in my opinion this is unacceptable. However, there are many solutions, and there is always hope. Personally, I strive in every action I take, to be considerate of my impact on the planet. I try to work towards a carbon neutral lifestyle and always try to live by the rule that everything I take from the planet I must in some form return. As a business, quietnote is young, I sadly do not have the financial capability at the moment to be able to move to eco-friendly online servers. I try to balance this carbon output by actively engaging in climate schemes including reforestation programmes abroad and locally here in the UK. Through reforestation and tree planting I hope I can do my part to increase biodiversity, support natural space, and remove carbon through natural means. I promise that as and when quietnote moves to a financially stronger position that I will move to an eco-friendly online position. However long that takes, quietnote will also offset the carbon emissions it created to get to that point.
I do not claim to have a perfect knowledge of these important matters, however I can promise that I will continue to educate myself. I am always willing to actively join in discussions and conversation. I hope this message comes across as one of peace, this is a small gesture from me to you that I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Yours Faithfully,
Will Crawford