Divine Divas Are Everywhere

When it comes to observing people, places and things, one definitely needs a sense of humor. Every day, we see a multitude of events and interactions that may or may not register with us. But…every once in a while, something stops us and makes us notice it. It may tickle our funny bone, it may tenderly touch our hearts, it may frighten us or it may anger us. But whatever our reaction, it will affect us, motivate us or create any number of responses within us. The point is……that we will forever be changed by it and may just relish the memory of that moment; when we seized fate by the hand and took unsuspecting and seemingly innocent bystanders down that fateful path to the unknown.

This series of articles are about those events……the ones that leave you laughing, shaking your head in wonder, perplexed or just plain speechless.

Divine Divas are Everywhere, Part 1

I’m sitting here at my computer watching 27 dresses with Katherine Heigl and James Marsden, the ridiculously handsome actor who play Malcolm Doyle. The scene is playing in which they are at a bar, singing Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” and the words are completely wrong. “…she’s got electric boobs, a mohair shoot, you know I read it in a magazine, woa, BaBaBaBennie & the Jets”. Anyway, you get the picture. If you haven’t seen the movie, please do so.

In a past life, I did quite a bit of public singing. I was the cantor for my church and sang both Sunday morning masses plus all the holiday celebrations. At this point, I must admit……I am way out of practice. Every now and then, I get a wile red hair (who would ever guess) and sing out loud. Sometimes it erupts in a store where there is enough sound-dampening space that not many people can hear you. But, there are moments when we are in our cars, it is our won private studio and we are a STAR , all the dashboard is our stage and we never think that anyone can see us or that anyone is paying attention to us. Boy, am I gonna have fun bursting all kinds of bubbles today…hehehehe!!!!!!

So, earlier today I am at a red light when a car that is truly “rockin’”…and I mean it is movin’ from side to side, bouncing up and down and the base is tangible. In the front seat, all laid back in his chair, is a young man, bein’ all cool like dat and singing (supposedly) at the top of his lungs. This is an older Motown tune and he is a fairly young guy. Now, for the Dallas / Fort Worth area, we are finally cool enough to drive with our windows down. Y’all have got to know that I am the epitome of stealthy, short round redhead with bright green eyes and striking features…..in other words, BOLD!!!

I drive a little closer and I very sneakily rolled down my window to listen. Damn!!! That poor boy couldn’t carry a tune if you gave him a tractor to put it in….and the words were all wrong. How does one mess up Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, “It was just my imagination runnin’ away with me, it was just my imagination runnin’ away with me….soon, soon we’ll be married and raise us a family…”??? I didn’t know the words were hard to understand. Anyway…… that is when I got caught…I began singing to correct his words, at the top of my lungs with my window open. Well the look on his face was that immediate action of him closing his mouth, clenching his jaw, furrowing his brow and giving me the “evil” eye…though I couldn’t tell which one was supposed to be evil.

He begins mumbling something, and I respond with a very sweet smile. He continues to scowl at me, and I start singing again….he rolls his window up part way, but I’m still singing. The light turns green, and I’m still singing and off he goes. As he drives to the next light, I can see him sit up in his chair a bit more….now, I am wondering what he is up to. We can never be too careful these days, but I have faith in people. I believe that people are inherently kind and I can typically bring out the sweet in a badger.

I find that driving what I affectionately call the “clown car”, with an ahooga horn helps lots. I can’t keep up with him, but I do get to the next red light. And I make it a point to pull up next to him, windows down and now I am singing something different at the top of my lungs. I’m smiling, clapping my hands, bouncing in my seat, and let me tell you….there was a “whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on” in my car….and he rolls his window down. He is shaking his head, but now he is smiling and shaking his head, but continues to smile…I made a difference for him and for me.

The best part about this whole thing was that I changed his experience. He probably went to where ever he was going and talked about the crazy redhead in the candy apple red clown car with the ahooga horn who was singing and dancing in her car and I hope he keeps this memory with him for a while. You see, this wasn’t about me, it was about him, and someone reaching out to him.

There are questions that I ask myself every day….when I start the day, “Can I make a difference? During the day, “Am I making a difference?” and at the end of the day, “Did I make a difference?’.

I also ask, what am I grateful for today? Today, I can say that the young man in the car next to me made me grateful that he was there because this was my opportunity to serve today. There were probably others, but this is the one that stood out.

Go ahead, let yourself go, set your spirit free to fly, don’t worry about what others think……think about what might be worrying others and how you might relieve their tension or suffering, even if only for a moment. You will be surprised at how much you will get in return. Kindness always comes back to bless us.