One of my daughters performed in a talent contest tonight. She sang the song, New Soul, all by her lonesome up on stage, accompanied only by her choir teacher on piano. She did wonderfully. Of course, my eyes welled up with tears, watching her brave young self, looking so confident and proud. Wow. The imperturbability of a 4th grader. Wouldn't I like a mainline dose of that?
As one grade schooler after another marched up on stage to show off their talents, I kept admiring these girls for their willingness to stick their necks out there in front of a crowd of about a hundred people. And it was mostly girls on stage. Not very many boys at all, curiously. A few boys did puppet show pantomimes of popular music, which isn't terribly risky, hiding behind a sheet, now is it? What is up with that? Maybe boys are NOT the bravest sex, afterall? (wink).
So anyway, all these girls, with their strong, lean bodies, their slender, muscular legs, not letting their fear of ridicule stop them from showing us their stuff, from having fun performing. So much innocence and trust and self-confidence.
I kept thinking, enjoy this while you can, girls. Enjoy feeling carefree in your bodies, doing dance steps and martial arts and splits in front of a crowd, because eventually adolescence will hit and the cult of self-consciousness will win the day.
I wanted time to stand still more than any (recent) moment in this journey called parenting.
Here's a video of New Soul performed by the artist, Yael Naim, for those of you who don't know the song.
As one grade schooler after another marched up on stage to show off their talents, I kept admiring these girls for their willingness to stick their necks out there in front of a crowd of about a hundred people. And it was mostly girls on stage. Not very many boys at all, curiously. A few boys did puppet show pantomimes of popular music, which isn't terribly risky, hiding behind a sheet, now is it? What is up with that? Maybe boys are NOT the bravest sex, afterall? (wink).
So anyway, all these girls, with their strong, lean bodies, their slender, muscular legs, not letting their fear of ridicule stop them from showing us their stuff, from having fun performing. So much innocence and trust and self-confidence.
I kept thinking, enjoy this while you can, girls. Enjoy feeling carefree in your bodies, doing dance steps and martial arts and splits in front of a crowd, because eventually adolescence will hit and the cult of self-consciousness will win the day.
I wanted time to stand still more than any (recent) moment in this journey called parenting.
Here's a video of New Soul performed by the artist, Yael Naim, for those of you who don't know the song.
11 comments:
aw, that would make me tear up, too.
my 11-year-old niece dances ballet and has for years. takes it very seriously. loves being out there performing.
last christmas, she fainted before going on stage for the nutcracker. (nerves? hadn't eaten enough? not sure.) but she came to, and went on anyway. wow.
oh, i'm proud of your singer too!
i do love that video .... cool song, artsy fun video ... i especially likes when she starts unapacking the "friends" box ....
I think I used to get nervous even at that age when performing in public. Still wanted to do it though!
laurie - bravo to your little dancer : )
e - I love the New Soul video too. cool concept.
How wonderful.
I get very tearful at moments like these. PracticalMan thinks I am a complete sook.
These are such special moments that you do, in some sense, want them to last for ever. With my daughter, I've always loved a stage and wanted to somehow freeze time but then the next stage rolls up and, guess what, I end up wanting to freeze that too.
It's our job to help our girls hold onto that--and it's a tough one.
This kind of unabashed courage from young girls gives me goosebumps. May they never lose it.
hp - sook? a new word for me. but yeah, I think I'm one of those. I was tearing up watching this girl do a jumprope routine to music. She didn't have enough room and her rope kept catching on the curtain. But she just kept trudging on, finishing her routine (a long one, at that). I barely know this girl but her determination was so moving. So yeah, plenty of tears. My son thought I was losing it.
Jenn & Mrs G - I'm trying, I'm trying!
It makes me think of the end of this year, when my girl leaves primary school and how I'll have to wear sunglasses at the ceremony for leaving. It also makes me think of my girl cos she loves pink so much too.
It's so heartwrenching being a parent sometimes innit?
alison, it absolutely is wrenching. with nowhere to go but onward. I mean, the ultimate goal is for us to love them and sacrifice and worry and cry ... and then have our heart wrenched out of our bodies when they leave us. and that is the successful ending. its kinda crazy when you think so many people ASKED for this.
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