The search for solutions to real problems needs us artists. They need our heartfelt cries and our intellectual self-discipline. They need our pageantry and ritual. They need us to carry the creative flag. There’s nothing wrong with telling a good story to entertain, but balance that with responding with substance to the here and now. We artists so we can imagine with all five senses, with specific images actions and spoken words. We directors are practiced at listening; could we put that to use? We actors are uninhibited about reaching out to get our needs met, and able to take a beat, to hear the other’s voice. Actors are trained to hear, acknowledge, to reflect back another’s communication. We have learned how to try a different tack in fighting to be treated the way we need to be by another; could we put that skill to use? Most of us have loved a true love for long decades, with loyalty and perseverance. Most of us have mended our own hearts after they were broken, so we are unlikely to cave in to cynicism or despair. Some of us have parented infants or helped the vulnerable, and so we know how fiercely we must protect the helpless, the voiceless, the powerless.