Have you ever wept while  you watched a Hallmark commercial?  Do certain movie scenes make you tear up?  Is one box of tissues never enough to see you through the funeral of a friend or loved one?  What is it that stirs deep within our souls and draws that tender portion (and yes, we all have one) up from the cloistered depths to the surface so that our emotion slips over the rim of our stoicism to slide silently down our cheeks?

Every so often, something touches me in a way most unexpected and shatters my well-constructed walls of preconceptions and cynicism.  I absolutely LOVE it when that happens because it wakes me up to the fact that, no matter how hard we try, we will almost always fall back into the pattern of fallen flesh.  We judge.  We look askance.  And we fall.  Again.  Repeatedly.

Twice in the past week, I’ve had a moment like that described above.  The first was while we were watching one of the Tonight Show reruns with Conan as host.  The closing act was by a group of performers from Cirque du Soleil’s “Zumanity”.  I adore Cirque du Soleil.  I wish we had the wherewithal to see their various shows multiple times.  We were able to take  our two teenagers to Vegas a couple of years ago to see “O”, and it was an amazing experience.  We’ve talked about going back again to see “Ka”.  One show that we told the kids was 100% off limits was “Zumanity” because it’s very, VERY R-rated as far as we’re concerned.  I’ve seen the costumes and some snippets in various forms.  I’ve seen enough to know that it’s not going to be a show I attend.  So, it was with a bit of a crinkled nose that I began watching the performance on The Tonight Show.  And it pretty much reinforced my decision about it not being a family show.  However, I found myself transfixed by the main performer…a sinuous young woman with more double joints than is humanly possible.  Not only could she maneuver her limbs into unimaginable positions, but she had unending reserves of muscular strength.  What she did on and around that pole in the center of the stage was mind boggling.  I found  myself admiring her to the point that tears welled and lower lip quivered.  I cannot imagine the discipline and the dedication this woman has toward her craft.  What she did on that small stage was beautiful and 100% art.  In watching her, I forgot the context of the piece and all the other performers.  It was a humbling moment.  I still won’t take my kids to see “Zumanity” in Vegas, but no longer will I turn up my nose when the name is mentioned.

Moment #2 came yesterday.  During some search I made for something online, the Grammys were mentioned, and then there was some blurb about the singer Pink.  Now, I love Pink’s voice.  She has an amazing vocal instrument.  I have also admired her spunk.  I have, however, not admired her choice of and broad use of expletives throughout her song lyrics.  Hence, no Pink music lives in this house.  But, I find her intriguing, so when I saw the blurb about her Grammy performance, I clicked over to YouTube to watch it.  WOW.  I’ve watched it 3 times now, and I will most likely watch it many more times.  If you haven’t seen it or heard about it, imagine this…Pink meets Cirque du Soleil.  The song “Glitter in the Air” was performed as the “clean” version.  (I only found out yesterday while looking on Amazon.com that Pink’s albums are released in both “clean” and “explicit” versions.)  I won’t go into details about Pink’s Grammy performance, but it was another of those moments where time was suspended for me while I was transfixed by a young woman who is a master of her craft.  How Pink could sing while she did what she did….well, let’s just say, it was inspirational.  And the entire performance was beautiful.  And again, I found myself weeping by the end of the song…not because of the lyrics but because I was able to appreciate Pink in a whole new way.  I’m pretty sure that her music WILL live in this house after this.  I’m sure it will be the “clean” versions, but that’s just me.  🙂

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3stsDXki__U