Me, Myself and My Blog. Day 5...A New Dawn

yesterday, i  was privileged to witness something truly amazing. i wasn't at a particular event. i didn't stumble upon migrating ladybugs (actually, that did happen once and it was pretty amazing but that's not it). i was at home in my pajamas, no makeup, fingers sticky with drying mod podge when my stepdaugther comes home, all but prances towards the computer and says to me, "stepmother! you HAVE to see this!!!"...





from the moment this young girl opened her mouth, i was transfixed. my heart swelled up and my eyes filled with tears formed from a mixture of awe and wonder and disbelief and longing. music can do this to me, certainly, but it was so much more than that. the best way i can describe it is to say that it was  the... the...beauty i was seeing.

back in 1979, i remember being at the drive-in with my mom and watching the black stallion and just sobbing at the end when the black's hooves are hitting the track with the sound of a freight train and he and alec are winning the big race. the scene changes to the time when the horse and the boy were stranded on a deserted island, having no one but each other and forging a deep and unbreakable bond. my mom turned to me and asked, "why are you crying? it isn't sad...nobody died," and i distinctly remember saying to her, "it's just so beautiful!"

i don't watch the x-factor. i've never heard of this young girl and i don't know what she's been doing, musically speaking, since this performance. i hope and hope and hope that she knows what an amazing gift she has. not just a wide musical range, a round sound and an amazingly soulful voice that smacks of such greats as etta james, billie holiday or dinah washington. this gift, in my humble opinion, is that ~ with just the first few notes ~ she can bring tears to the eyes of her listeners. every note swirling together and felt deep in your chest, every moment of love and pain and joy; awe, excitement, disappointment, loss, beauty, grace, holiness...everything you've ever felt reverberating in your soul.

Stars when you shine, you know how I feel
Scent of the pine, you know how I feel
Yeah, freedom is mine, and I know how I feel..
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me

p.s. don't you just LOVE the look on simon's face when he first hears her?!?