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The Susan Boyle Phenominon I love Susan Boyle! If you haven't heard of her, then you must be hiding under a rock. Susan Boyle is Britain's Got Talent singing phenomenon who is sweeping the world by surprise. They say that there have been over 100 million hits on YouTube so far and even though there is stiff competition, she is a big favor to win this talent reality show. If you have not watched this video yet, I encourage you to treat yourself to an inspirational experience. What has made Susan a sensation is not just her powerful voice that brings many of us to tears when we listen to her, but the fact that she is the most unassuming average person, much more like you or me or our neighbor or our cousin rather than fitting with the iconic figures like Madonna or Beyonce. Who would ever expect that a single 47-year-old woman professing to never being kissed and living with her cat Pebbles, or more importantly someone that most of us would pass on the street without ever noticing could be a star and the cream of the crop. Shame on us, for Susan embodies the epitome of the human spirit. If I had the opportunity to meet one famous person in the world today, I would love to meet Susan Boyle. There are two distinct gifts to this phenomenon that we are being given. First, as is well-displayed in the long 7-minute version from the show on YouTube, we see a blatant example of cynicism and cruelty, as the judges and audience react to Susan's appearance and the answers that she gives before she sings. Simon Cowell, notorious for his less-than-compassionate treatment of contestants, rolls his eyes to the other judges, who also appear skeptical at what they are about to hear. Simon and the other judges were only reflecting the typical reaction that many of us are guilty of when we frequently assume talent and beauty only come packaged in a narrowly-formed standard. Susan's courage to walk out on that stage knowing in her heart that she had an incredible gift to offer us and standing unwaveringly as she took the laughter and the sneers when she dared to profess a desire to obtain the level of success of someone famous, teaches us a huge lesson in class and humility that we ALL should reflect upon. In the end, the judges and the audience redeem themselves after Susan sings and we are all left feeling we have witnessed something incredibly special that does not come along that often. How easy it is to fall into the habit of prejudging someone else. How many Susan Boyle's have we overlooked in our education system, in job interviews, and in everyday life based on appearances? I believe that most of us are drawn to Susan because, at one time or another, we have been treated like that. We have suffered the humiliation of being overlooked or underappreciated. And I also believe that we are taken in by this event because everyone is guilty of judging someone else like that on occasion and have been awakened to how terribly cruel this response can be for the person on the receiving end. I hope that moments like this bring awareness to how many opportunities we have missed in the past in discovering another gift that could inspire the world. The second side of this phenomenon is the realization that dreams are worth following. It is obvious that Susan knew that her singing ability was very special, but at the age of 47, she could have easily given up her dreams of becoming a professional singer. She had many things against her. Her plainness, her unemployment, and her being alone in midlife are enough reasons that many of us would use to throw our hands up and settle for less. But Susan held on to her dream, believing in her greatest potential. She had the courage to step up and leave herself vulnerable to an occasionally cynical world and in so doing showed us what is possible in our own life. She is an inspiration for all of us to hold on to our dreams too. We have every right to follow our dreams. I want to be the next Susan Boyle in the writing world. Writing is my personal gift that I want to share with you. I also want to enjoy discovering the next Susan Boyle in the medical world, the next Susan Boyle in the education world, the next Susan Boyle in the corporate world, and the next Susan Boyle in the political world. The SIMPLE TRUTH is that every person born into this world has a gift to give that is meant to move us forward in evolution and these gifts come in a myriad of styles. Most of us will not make headlines like Susan Boyle and maybe our talents are of a different quality, but we can make a difference in our own little worlds. I hope that this experience that we are sharing across the continents right now will stay with us and remind us on occasion to look compassionately at each other and remain open-minded enough to see the gifts that others have to bring us. What dreams have you been holding back on?
posted by Jodi at 8:53 PM
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Acceptance ...the way forward As life gets rockier and rockier, acceptance seems like a strange cure. For those of us facing major challenges of finance, health, or relationships these days, accepting where we are can be difficult. Over the summer I came down with a terrible intestinal disorder that could have ruined my long-awaited family vacation in the Bahamas. It was the first big vacation in five years at an all-inclusive resort and I spent most of the five days there barely eating and managing my distress, but still had a wonderful time. A few weeks ago, the same symptoms came back just as bad as the first time, and tests finally showed that I had a bacterial infection that did not appear in the tests the first time. This news came just before I was to celebrate my 50th birthday at my favorite restaurant with my closest friends that I had been looking forward to all year long. There was no way my infection would be cleared by then. So you can imagine my disappointment realizing I would not be able to eat much or drink champagne to toast the emergence of "Vintage Helen". Ten years ago, this sort of setback would have devastated me and I most likely would have sunk into what I like to call a "spiritual hissy fit", as I would spend numerous days or weeks lamenting over my cursed life. Five years ago, I would have reduced my hissy fit to one or two days and then picked myself up and carried on. While most of my struggles in life have been physical challenges, this would have been my reaction to anything that went wrong in my life, whether it was the loss of a job or a family dispute. I don't know exactly when it happened, but one day I realized that fighting the challenge I was facing was not only counter-productive, but actually made things a lot worse than they had to be. I believe that on the energetic level it is because we sink to that lower level of energy and actually strengthen its hold on us. The SIMPLE TRUTH is that life is about adversity, at least to some degree, and acceptance of our situation actually keeps us at a higher level of being that more easily overcomes our challenges. It is not what happens to us, but how we react to that situation that determines the outcome of how long it lasts or how much it robs us of the quality of life. It is quite obvious that all of us will be facing challenges in these next few years, as life readjusts our priorities. By accepting our situation, we can avoid wasting precious energy on the parts that we cannot change, and apply this energy to creating the answer.
posted by Jodi at 3:01 PM
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