"If You Whisper, No One Will Hear You" and Other Terrible Things Not To Believe

Last night my son and I sat down for our weekly brain candy, American Idol. Only, I don't know. It didn't really feel like the kind of candy you get truly excited about. It felt like old, salt-water taffy that gets stuck in your teeth. No offense to the artists. It wasn't about them. It was just about all this "advice" they get and all that "in it to win it" stuff that made me feel like I was about to lose a filling.

Wow. That was negative. I'm sorry.

Despite the discomfort, I stuck it out for a while, waiting for my muse Steven to give me a gem. At first he just kept saying the same thing to each performer. "I liked it" or some such. Even when the judges were telling people how amazing they were and how they were "in the game" now or whatever, it all felt fake and insincere. It really did. I'm sorry.

But then it was Casey Abram's turn and of course they always show the singer meeting with the music mentors first. So he's in the studio with Jimmy Iovine and Will.i.am and he begins to sing his song, "Nature Boy," when Jimmy interrupts him and tells him the song makes him "small."

Oh. No.

"This show's like a hurricane," he said. "If you whisper, no one will hear you."

Oh. No no.

I hate that. I hated it so much. I hated that my son heard that message. Blah.

Jimmy said Casey should sing Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" which sounded, to me, like the worst idea in the world.

So what would you do? Would you dare to say no? Would you follow your heart and risk being "small"? Or would you go for the bigger song that isn't you?

Casey risked being small.

And the thing is, I think, sometimes when you whisper, the room goes quiet. Sometimes when you do something unique and inspiring, people stop and pay attention. They strain to hear because they don't want to miss it. It's like they're waking up to a new awareness. And they DO pay attention and they DO hear.

I'm so grateful to Casey for showing my son that. For showing all the people watching that.

Casey wasn't small last night. He wasn't a whisper. People definitely heard. Did they like it? Who knows. But they sure did listen. And I think they listened a lot more carefully than they would have if he'd chosen to sing "In The Air Tonight."

After his performance (and a standing ovation from the judges), my muse Steven said, "You believed what was in your heart and you went for it...That's the truest sense of the word artist."

And Randy Jackson said, "I don't think we've ever had anybody like you on the show. I hope America gets that its about education and embracing who you are. This guy is a jazz artist. There's a place for this and a place for you."

Yes. I think so too.

The funny thing is, just this morning I had an e-mail from an author friend. She'd sold a book she's been shopping around for a very long time. The rejections were all of a similar vein: "You can't do this in YA literature."

But my friend knew in her heart that her story needed to be told. So she kept searching for the editor who would hear her whisper and stop. Listen. Wake up and pay attention. And be inspired.

And because she didn't give up, because she believed what was in her heart, that is exactly what happened.

Believe what's in your heart.

Yes.

You don't have to be a hurricane to be heard.