the lady with the voice

Its been all over the internet, and if you are connected to the world by any medium you know about her--Susan Boyle--the Scottish singer who has taken the world by storm. She opened her mouth and touched a chord that reverberates in all of us. Why? That is an extremely powerful thing--companies spend billions trying to get that response from people--and yet here is this little lady with nothing going for her on the outside who does it just by virtue of being herself. Part of it is the internet and television, which made it possible for a great many people to participate in this moment of epiphany. But that simply reflects the number of people who experienced it, and not the power of the moment itself.
I have read a fair amount of analysis of this event over the last few days and I think a lot of people may be missing the boat. Yes its true that you can't judge a book by its cover. Yes its true that we love an underdog. I think it goes deeper than that. I think that people are starving for authenticity. I think we are downhearted and discouraged when we see the plastic, dishonest, unconscionable among us elevated to the heights of social hierarchy when they don't deserve it and have no ability or intention to live up to any kind of lofty expectations other than their own opinion of themselves. We see the effects of hubris gone rampant and fear the consequences of having let huge amounts of power over us, over others and over our world slip into the hands of people so obviously unworthy of that trust. We may fall for flowery rhetoric, or go along with the winks and nods as people destroy our very foundations for their own gain, but we KNOW in our hearts that what is truly valuable is honesty and humility. TELLING THE TRUTH.
Susan stood on that stage without any pretense. She wanted to be a professional singer and she said so. Her nervousness was apparent, but she controlled it. She stood and faced the skepticism and ridicule that came from the people "in the know". I am sure she knows what she looks like--and I am sure she has faced the same kind of ridicule or worse many times in her life. And yet through love for her mother she packed her bags and WENT--not knowing what would happen. Yes she had survived one regional audition before that--but I suspect that was a lot less intimidating than this performance. She stood on that stage, KNOWING what was possible within her and let the negative attitude that came at her like a wave hit her with all its destructive force.
Then she opened her mouth and all was forgotten.
An audience of snide, skeptical and shallow people suddenly became her friends. People instantly loved her and (this is what matters here) were THRILLED to love her. That is what we need to remember about this moment. People fell in love with Susan because that is what they had wanted to do all along. It is what we all want to do. We need to remember this moment and how it made us feel for the rest of our lives. For me, watching the little drama unfold to its triumphant end, the beauty was twofold--both in the person and voice of this woman, AND in the beautiful true kindness and love she uncovered in the hearts of all those people at that moment.
People can be brutal and cruel and awful to each other--but the truth is--we really don't want to be. It takes a person of true humility to stand before us--ready for the punishment we are capable of meting out to bring us eye to eye with the beauty of the human spirit. No one could fake what Susan was or did. It was pure and real. It was what we are yearning for.
My personal belief is that Susan appeared before the world because she was something we need to see NOW. And I thank her for her life, her courage, her voice and her beauty.