Art really does Matter

A Friday night I won't soon forget...

I happened to be in town to catch a Spoken Word event held through Concordia's Art Matters festival at the Hive on the Loyola Campus. And umm... thank God!

Michelle (I can still hear her saying it: Meeeeeeeeshelllll) was so warm and inviting and the Throw Collective and Capital Poetry Collective made me feel like I found home in the middle of a crazy winter storm, and when I walked in, mom was warming me up a cup of hot chocolate and dad was roasting marshmallows by the fireplace, as if they knew I was going to show up at any moment.

The event blew my words right out of my mouth (and those who know me know how hard that is to do) and inspired me beyond the realm of inspiration into pure spirituality.

Yes, I did get up and speak my own word. The energy, the encouragement, the laughter, the finger-snapping, the music, the letters put together to form words with the hope and the inspiration and the peace and the heightened sense of just being... wow. I stumbled upon a little piece of paradise and got a new sense of resolve that *this* is where I was meant to be.

I bow down in grace and appreciation. Thank you, Michelle, for a Friday night to remember. Thank you, Concordia, for succeeding in proving that Art really does Matter.

a smile found

It isn't every day that someone tells you that you were brought into their life by the grace of God. It isn't every day that someone says your presence made an indescribable impact on their life. No, it isn't every day that someone finds their smile, their hope, and a desire to pay it forward because of you.

It isn't every day that you can take a person's life and sprinkle magic into it just by granting their wish. And what is a wish, anyway? Winnie the Pooh said 'A wish is a dream your heart makes'. So can we make a heart's dream come true? And if we can, will we? And if we will, when? And why not now?

I don't remember why I joined the Make a Wish Foundation, but one day I decided to stop talking and just do it. I was assigned a family where the parents only spoke Hindi. Woohoo, I speak Hindi - let's go! I met our wish child and told her she could have any wish in the whole world - anything!

Her wish? To decorate her parents' room because they had no furniture so they slept on the floor. Wow... There are not many people who are selfless, and even fewer who would give up the pyramids in Egypt for their parents' comfort. But that was her wish. We pushed and convinced her to switch rooms with her parents and have her own new room decorated instead, and she finally agreed - though reluctantly. This was the kickoff to my first wish, and I already had tears in my eyes!

I won't go through the endless months of details, but in the end, we granted her wish, and so much more. More importantly, though, she gave me the best gift of all in return for ours - her smile... her laugh. I could see her road ahead, and it was recovery... it was life.

Today, her mother thanked me. It isn't every day that someone tells you that you brought something into their life that they wouldn't have been able to bring into their own. No, it isn't every day that someone looks into your eyes with newfound hope, and tells you that you are a gift from God.

No, it isn't every day. But it was today.