You may not have noticed, but over the past month my weekly Inspiration posts have been conspicuously absent. From this moment forth I plan to aggressively remedy that situation. Starting with this early Monday news flash…
ARMLESS PIANIST WINS CHINA’S GOT TALENT
That’s right, the hit American tv show has made its freshman debut in the world’s most populous country. And of the over 1 billion people in China, the talent that rose to the top this year and swept the hearts and (heart)strings of the nation… a 23 yr old Liu Wei who lost his arms in a freak electrocution accident while playing a game of hide-and-seek at age 10.
At 18, Liu began to teach himself how to play the piano, using only his toes. 5 years later, he sweeps through the talent rounds of the show, performing the following James Blunt song to win the finale.
Now, I am no musical expert but what strikes me watching this video is the incredible unifying power of inspiration over adversity. Liu Wei doesn’t have the greatest singing voice, his piano playing isn’t elaborate or fancy. But none of that matters in the sheer passion and emotional honesty he transmits through his performance. And the fact that he’s playing with his feet while singing in front of hundreds of millions of jawstruck viewers, all moved to the point of tears… because this young man determined he had talent, he was capable in spite of his disability to create beautiful music. AND the result won him the competition, proving my theory that inspiration is universal –transcending tradition, culture, nations, politics, religion, race and class. In the end good deeds and great underdog stories touch everyone equally.
Congratulations Liu Wei on your epic WIN!!!
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