EXCELLENCE & ETHICS

Updates from April, 2009

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  We all have gifts, some of us just open them later than others

  Matt Davidson posted in Character Blog at 8:07 pm on April 22, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  

  “We all have gifts, some of us just open our gifts later than others.”  That’s what my friend and colleague, Phil Catania, likes to say.  I couldn’t help thinking this when I saw Susan Boyle. Hard to know why she, and by extension we, didn’t know of her gifts, but I think that’s part of what surprised everyone. It turned our beliefs on end:  if she had talent we would have known of her; if she had talent she would be young, not old; if she had talent she would have a hip visual appeal.  Must have been an incredible inspiration for folks who haven’t opened their gifts in the expected time frame, or haven’t really been sure what exactly their gifts are. Makes me think that at least for the time being, when I’m watching Idol or looking at somebody approaching a Karaoke microphone, I’ll be hoping to see another Susan Boyle opening up their gifts.

  

   

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  Susan Boyle--you can't judge a book by its cover.

  Matt Davidson posted in Character Blog at 7:52 pm on April 22, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  

  I admit, I’m not much of connoisseur of the ”gotta see” features being forwarded around the internet.   Frankly, most of them strike me as somewhat cheesy and many of them may simply fall prey to being over-hyped. Someone saying, “You’ve GOT TO see this” tends to put me into an “I doubt it” mindset.  But when I watched the clip of Susan Boyle on YouTube, I was intrigued.  Clearly, she’s amazing. She’s talented, humble, courageous, unassuming, and refreshingly unhip–which sort of makes her good hip.  But I was taken back more by the moral character of the judges, the crowd, and even myself.  Basically, this was a shocker because we expected–really, hoped–that she would fail.  We wanted to laugh at her, to have fun at her expense.  We weren’t hoping to be amazed, we were expecting to be humored.  It was unspoken, but we were making fun of her hair, her dress, her age, her voice–absolutely every part of her was being torn down before she ever said a word.  Why was this such a shocker?  Because nobody with a great voice would ever not be dressed cool, with a great hair style–or God forbid–over 30.  I know how these expectations have come to be (what with all the American Idol tryouts featuring folks believing they had talent and not being afraid to embarass themselves).  But, it was a good reminder that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Susan Boyle On YouTube