“I want to live” a phrase which kept ringing in my ears when I first heard it. A young woman sitting in front of thousands of viewers telling her story. Everyone listened. She touched so many people who suddenly woke up and thought “What am I living for?” , “Is this it?”, “Am I really fulfilling my purpose?”
Some couldn’t believe that this woman was so positive a bout something so tragic. She smiled at the world and the world smiled back confused, yet so stricken by her determination to spread a valuable lesson to all of us. Life is really precious and you only get ONE! She was a true inspiration Annabelle was a breath of fresh air.
When I first started taking singing seriously and thinking it could be my career, there were many exciting and positive experiences. Very soon though I started to realize that my career gave me the opportunity to encounter a myriad of life experiences and allowed me to view many individuals’ lives from a different perspective. I wasn’t the artist vs the audience anymore, but rather I was a person who came into contact with people who I would’ve otherwise not known about.
Sometimes I don’t think I’m strong at all. I’ve been to the rainbow ward and to cancer patients’ homes many a time and I break down after every single time. And I cannot even begin to imagine the pain that their and they families are going through. But what makes me emotional is the courage and brave disposition which so many cancer patients have.
Ten years ago I remember receiving a phone call from another Annabelle who was only 7 years old. Every time I visited she would be painfully shy, however on the phone she would open up and chat endlessly, she also told me her wish was to become a sea captain when she grew up. Her parents invited the nurses at the ward and myself to her holy communion. Annabelle passed a week later.
This Xmas wasn’t the best ever. The lows outnumbered any highs and I spent days walking around in London trying to make some sense. I had just walked into my friend’s apartment when I received a text message from Luke’s father telling me that, after a hard fought battle with Leukemia Luke had passed away. I stood in the bathroom staring into the mirror instantly feeling ashamed of myself. I was feeling sorry for myself because of a broken heart, when this boy of 14 years of age, was never going to fall in love OR have his heart broken.
Life falls into perspective quite suddenly. Our petty fears, worries and loathes fade away, when we realize the magnitude of what others go through. I open my heart to whatever life may throw at me and I hold within it these beautiful souls who I have learnt the true meaning of life from.
