Susan Boyle is the dowdy, frizzy haired, overweight, single, never-been-kissed, unemployed 47 year old woman who lives with her cat, Pebbles, and appeared on Britains Talent Show (similar to American Idol.)
She took the show and audience by storm. And, now she (her performance) has the world writing, reading and viewing this extraordinary event beyond belief.
If you haven’t seen the video (viewed by over 80,000,000 at this point) see it now. Try one of these links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk, http://www.youtube.com/user/BritainsSoTalented or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
I spent at least 3 hours Sunday playing the video over and over and over. It brought a veritable flood of feelings and thoughts that I could not let go. I was mesmerized.
What’s the appeal? What’s the power?
Much has been written on the power of her performance and I too, want to share my thoughts?
So, who is Susan Boyle?
You look at Susan Boyle and you see yourself. You don’t want to admit it, but you see yourself. There is this self in the hidden recesses of the greater you that you avoid. You look at Susan and see that part of you that is unattractive and dowdy. You see the part that feels isolated, that feels alone and unconnected, that part that long ago had a dream but that dream shattered by the perceived reality of your world. You see that dufuss.
And you see that part most powerfully when you are in crisis, when you face loss, when your worth and essence is called into question when you face failure and when you live the life flattened by the shattered dream. There she is… that dufuss.
And so, the audience looked at Susan and in their latent anxiety began to roll their eyes, ridicule, mock and deride Susan for her seeming dowdiness. What a dufuss! Simon rolls his eyes. Amanda, “What’s THIS?” Piers laughs. (The panel of judges.)
And then Susan begins to sing… and her voice emerges. This is the “real” Susan. This is the part of her that for so long wanted to be expressed, wanted to emerge. Her dream speaks! Beautiful! Powerful! The heart and soul of Susan in all her inner boldness and confidence stands before us.
The anxiety bound ridicule of the audience is transformed to cheers and applause as Susan begins to sing, “I dreamed a dream in time gone by When hope was high And life worth living,” She sings her dream. (Yes, maybe for me too, there is that inner core of strength and beauty that wants to sing with notes of clarity and perfection. I too remember that dream in time gone by.)
The camera shifts to Piers who swallows that lump when he hears “Then I was young and unafraid, And dreams were made and used and wasted.”
And Susan ends:
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.
This is all of us. This is all of us, especially as life around us seemingly recedes. We lose. We lose the “dream.” We believe we are diminished.
But, perhaps it was the wrong dream? Or, not MY dream? Or maybe there was something else… all along.
…That the audience and judges (and the other 80,000,000 views of this video) discover as Susan becomes her Dream.