Moved to tears, Hymne A L'Amour

It’s not very often that in the course of an ordinary day that this happens, but I was moved to tears today. And it happened in the strangest of places. The gym.

I am in the habit of scrolling through YouTube, catching up on bits of information and news while in the gym, and I happened to watch the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics,?while in between benchpress sets on the Smith Machine;?and I had to stop and sit up and listen in awe to the powerfully passionate and moving vocal performance by Céline Dion on a magnificently lit-up rain-drenched deck of the?Eiffel Tower. And, somewhere around 2nd minute of her 3 1/2-minute performance, I found myself struggling to quell the lump in my throat and the tears that welled up in my eyes.

I must admit, I’ve never been a big Celine Dion fan, being a bit of a classic rock snob myself, but I am today a total fan of Celine Dion the human being. And, what an immensely inspiring example of the human spirit of perseverance and resilience, at that! ?The documentary “I Am: Celine Dion” on Prime Video (a must-watch, in my opinion), captures the authenticity of Celine as someone who seemed to, as they say, “have it all”, until life with its twists and turns, threw a huge spanner in the works. First, with the passing of her soul mate and husband of 21 years, Rene Angelil, of throat cancer in 2016. And then, being afflicted with a rare progressive neurological disorder called the Stiff Person Syndrome, which in addition to causing uncontrolled and extremely painful spasms all across the body, also threatened to “freeze” her vocal chords - irrevocably impeding her ability to sing. One of the most moving phases of the documentary “I Am: Celine Dion” captures her in the throes of one such spasmodic attack and it’s truly disturbingly riveting to watch. Celine Dion, totally vulnerable, but totally real. Celine at 56, has been very brave, vulnerable, and gracious to share her personal struggles and her fight to cope and regain her sense of true self with the world.

And yet, when I saw the gusto and passion with which she sang “L'Hymne à l'amour” at the Ceremony, ?one could hardly imagine that here was the same Celine that one saw in the documentary, especially in the scene with the spasms. And that’s when, on the Smith machine, I found myself inspired, in awe, and teary-eyed.

But as I reflected I wasn’t quite sure if it was only Celine Dion who made me well up.

My mind made connection to a rather sad piece of news from earlier in the week. A dear friend of my wife’s, barely 40 years old, had shared that, in the past few weeks since they last met, she was diagnosed with stage three cancer and had to immediately go through a double mastectomy and then commence her chemotherapy treatment. ?And she chose to go through this all alone. Without telling anyone near and dear. ?And even though she was part of a caring circle of friends, she somehow chose not to reach out and share with them about what was happening. ?And, when asked why, she said “I didn’t share the news of my cancer because I felt ashamed”.

That was stunning. The fact that, sometimes, we might choose to suffer alone because we feel that somehow we are to blame for what’s happening to us. Because we somehow feel guilty for something we might have had no hand in. And perhaps also because we think “What will they think?”. I found myself wishing that this dear friend who shall not be named, would have been a little more like Celine, which is to reach out to share her story, and her suffering and not fight through alone.

In our darkest moments, I hope, like Celine Dion, we can muster up the strength to know that we might have no control over the circumstances we find ourselves in. That we can be kind and compassionate to ourselves enough to know that sharing our pain with those who care is key to our healing. And knowing that it takes courage to be vulnerable, and that same courage is what helps us rise through the pain. And that those who care for us truly will not just be around for the good times, but will be there for the tough times as well. But we need to muster the courage to reach out. The world exists to support us through our tribulations just as much as it exists to celebrate our successes.

Well, the good news is, that this person did reach out and a wonderful support group has come together to help her to navigate through this tough period in her life. And just as Celine Dion did last night at the moving finale to the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games, I do hope that each one of us, if and when the time comes, will be able to dig deep down, find the resources within ourselves, and from those around us, heal ourselves and grow from strength to strength. And like Celine Dion, may we find our true voice to inspire so many others who are going through their own invisible struggles, and help them find their true voice and their healing.

A true never-ending Hymn to Love, L'Hymne A L'Amour for all.

Here's the YouTube link to her performance. It might leave you teary-eyed as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYOZaNfzBvI