I hope Songs will rise together with millions of voices that are fierce in the defense and protection of human and more-than human life on this Earth.
“more than anything, I want to hear a great song of thanks rise in the wind.
I think that song might save us. And then, as the drum begins, we will dance, wearing regalia in celebration of the living earth”
(Wall Kimmerer, 2020, p. 384.).
As Chilean artist and poet, Cecilia Vicuña (2024), states: “when there has been change in humanity is when the emotional universe changes, that's why art is so important and poetry, because the human feeling is what needs to change. The pain in the face of seeing that this is the last representative of this butterfly, of this little bird, of this snake, of this little tree. That moves your soul.” (Volvamonos Verdes Podcast, 2024, 00:16:25). Throughout these pages I have argued and emphasized the importance of Song to affect and transform emotional geographies as an act of restoration in a damaged planet. In a patriarchal, western-dominated world, where reason dominates other ways of knowing and experiencing the world, I offer Sonic Geographies of Hope as an attempt to redirect attention to the realms of emotional geographies at the heart. Through Sonic Geographies of Hope a pedagogical space for hope can emerge, where an exchange of emotions and ideas swirl like seeds in the air, creating collective resonance from the heart to restore our relationship with the Earth.
While some of the limitations of Sonic Geographies of Hope have been already discussed in the previous section, I see many of them as possibilities for further artistic research. Especially how to attune this methodology with creative, hands on grass-roots work and community engagement music projects. I am interested in how to expand on the concept of collective resonance for ecological restoration, while understanding that dissonance and conflict is part of our damaged planet, and that it should also be understood and listened to.
Where do I find hope now? I agree with what Gaston Soubblete, Chilean philosopher and musicologist, suggested when asked the same question. He said, the hope is to understand that: “the power that brought life to this planet is stronger than human senselessness.” (Volvamonos Verdes Podcast, 2023, 1:13:44). I decided to believe and trust that power, the same power that I experience in Song. I find refuge in music because in its resonance I sense that very same power that brought life to this Planet, vibrating through us for restoration to take place.
With this work I hope to have responded to some extent to Robin Wall Kimmerer (2020) call for acts of restoration. I share her dream: