Susan Boyle is us

The media  is all a flutter over Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s Got Talent.  An overnight success with the extraordinary voice that came out of  a 47 year old dowdy woman from a small village in the UK.  It was almost painful watching her walk onto the stage and then engage with the 3 panelists as she described herself.  The cameras panned the audience and focused on individuals making disparaging faces at the possibility that the woman in front of them could perform.  Much to every-one’s  chagrin,  the voice that emerged was jaw-dropping remarkable.  In that moment nearly everyone in the house was standing, cheering, clapping and some tearful.  What is it in us who in a moment, doubts the ability of someone who is not “classically beautiful”, and within seconds, emotions change to rally for the voice who touches in us a heart-response?

What has been written, talked about, and criticized is the possibility  that the performance was contrived.  Many cynics suggest  the panelists already knew Susan had talent.  One could surmise that she did having made it to the stage at all.  The other side of cynical thought lies the hope that a common person, such as ourselves, is able to achieve a dream, pure, simple, earnest.  In that moment she became our hope.  Hope is the the essential foundation that provides us the will to move forward, to strive to overcome obstacles that feel like they work against us.  Hope provides us motivation, gives us strength, shares common bonds, restores belief, and is paramount  to our mental and spiritual health.  Celebrate  the success of hope in Susan Boyle who restores faith in dreams, as we are ever aware, that we are her and she is us.