Desire/Talent
This may be one of the very few times I deviate from my usual blog entries about camera related ’stuffs’, but if anything deserves being deviated to, this is it…
As you can see from the image above, we are no longer in Kansas. No talking about Nikon vs. Canon, f-stops, how to light your subject, etc…. No, I am going to talk about talent. More so, how society pre-judges people to assess talent based solely on looks. How your age is a determining factor of the worthiness of your contribution.
Shows like American Idol (man, it even hurts to type that name) have always been lower on my list of to-do’s than running a cheese grater between my toes. The last couple of days, I have seen floating on CNN a story about a woman on the show Britain’s Got Talent. Up until a couple of days ago, I blissfully ignored the story.
Then, I clicked on that story. What I found was astounding and saddening at the same time. A Scottish woman named Susan Boyle; 47 years old got up on stage and embarrassed hundreds, if not thousands of people by proving it is not what is on the outside that counts, but the inside.
As I sat there listening to her amazing voice, I couldn’t help but think of her 47 years of life. Of how people/society didn’t give this woman a second look, because she was not “beautiful”. As if beautiful can sing, or take a good photograph. And not just regarding her singing talent. What about the other aspects of her life? 47 yeas old and she has not had a kiss (something that usually happens in your teens). How many times had she been teased as a youngster? How long did it take before she started believing what she was hearing in those muffled whispers? How long would she have stayed hidden, burdened by societies cruelty? By the grace of God, somebody convinced her she was worthy… and the rest of the world benefited from it.
We can all learn from this. Don’t be so quick to judge others abilities based on their looks or their age. You could be slighting a Susan Boyle. Most importantly, don’t listen to others opinions on what you can or can’t do. Don’t ever let someone else define your happiness. You and you alone know in your heart what you enjoy and are capable of.
I now know there is a reason for why shows like American Idol (shit… I can’t get away from that name!) or Britain’s Got Talent are on the air.. For without them, the world may have never found out about Susan. I have the highest hopes that she will finally realize her dream of singing professionally and start to unwind the many injustices she has had to bare in her life…. And that many can find inspiration from Ms. Boyle and break free of their chains. God speed, Susan Boyle… God speed.
