Aaron Ableman

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aaron Ableman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aaron below.

Alright, Aaron thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?
Once upon a time, I was a new parent to a 3 yr old – forced to stay at home from preschool due to the pandemic – and then the worst wildfire season in planetary history hit our community and we couldn’t even go to outside or to the grocery store. I immediately lost all my clients and sponsors deals, plus my new book and TV series were shelved due to the collapse of civilization as we knew it. As I lay down on my bed about to cry (again) for the state of my life and the world, I had a spiritual teacher call me out of the blue. She had no other intention of speaking with me other than to check-in, share a brief breathing practice and pray with me. It was deeply nourishing for my spirit and that night I dreamt of a beautiful light that covered the earth, a feeling of gratitude for every small thing in my life. Ironically, nothing outside or around me had changed; still the same crises and challenges. Nonetheless, I felt unstoppable simply because of this gesture of supreme kindness. Sure enough, that very day I was awarded a grant, had a song + script commissioned from a global organization and my luck also started to match this shift I had experienced in my heart. More importantly, I’ve carried that lesson and paid it forward to thousands of people over the past few years: that a simple, creative or heartfelt act of care for someone in your life can have unbelievable ripples.



Aaron, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My journey started with auspicious beginnings: being born down the street from the first Hollywood studios in the basement of the actor Michael Douglas’ house! My parents were gardening and cooking for the Douglas family but always vowed to have a home birth, so there I was born, innocently straddling the vast realities of fame/riches and creativity/activism. We moved to a small farm at a year old and I grew up in a wild world of nature, agriculture and reverence for all life. When I was 9, the small organic farm came under threat of development – the whole surrounding valley had already tragically been bulldozed for 22 fast food restaurants in a 2 mile distance and a smart bomb factory across the street! Luckily, my family stood strong against this wave of development insanity (ie. 30k acres of farmland lost to development every day across the USA in the 90’s) to fight for the land and we formed a land-trust education center called “Fairview Gardens: The Center For Urban Agriculture”. The story of how we saved that land through arts festivals, community action and love for the earth is the reason why I’ve spent most of my adult life focused on using my gifts as an Artivist to drive change on climate, water and food systems solutions.

This work has led me all over the world, reaching over 10 million family audiences alone through my award-winning media, books and music. I’ve become an acclaimed songwriter/performing artist, a best-selling author and a storytelling/cultural advisor or ambassador for many campaigns at the intersection of social justice, the environment and innovation. Some of my achievements include writing & starring in a music video series that planted 1 million trees in 1 day; working with Michelle Obama’s Turnaround Arts White House/Kennedy Center model education initiative; and being featured on MTV, HBO & the United Nations global platforms. I have studied with the 14th Dalai Lama and collaborated with the likes of U2, Michael Bernard Beckwith, Sadghuru, Raffi, Michael Franti, Mos Def, Joan Baez and more.

When my child was born in 2016, I had many realizations, from spiritual to ancestral. One of the main systemic realizations, however, was that if I can help continue to champion the purpose-economy through cultural movements, this will support the rekindling of human consciousness to remember that we are all connected on this one home planet. Most importantly, it all starts at home: by how we are practicing care or kindness for self, others and the planet.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The most important thing we can all do is to invest – be it via time or money – in our young creatives, artists or innovators. Education is a key component to this: we need to stand strong for the research that shows society is a better place with artists, innovators and creatives in every sector. We can also get behind great organizations, accelerators or platforms that help uplift or catalyze these next generations of brilliant people. Lastly, finding ways of building more institutional support for arts & innovation will be very helpful in building a more resilient and healthy human society.



Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
The most important thing for me is that creativity, like nature, cannot be understood or boxed in or regulated simply because it’s convenient or earns on a steady ROI structure. Certainly, creatives need to be able to operate within these financial structures, but not at the peril of the quality or authenticity of the work being created. The best example is to think of a farm: imagine you went out to the peach tree and told it to rush it’s production of fruit! Or even worse, you yelled at it to tell it to produce bananas! That’s simply impossible, unless you’ve got some GMO Frankenstein approach, which we know has only failed the health of ourselves and planet in the long run anyway. Thus, try to take the time to learn how your creative team best harmonizes and creates according to their unique methodology (or lack of). This will help tremendously in terms of the levels of excellence being produced. Also, make sure you honor, credit and pay these creatives as well as anyone else (within reason, of course); this will also build a more inclusive, equitable and ascension-focused enterprise, no matter the industry or sector. - Canvas Rebel