Positive mindset with musicals
The past few weeks have been elevating. And it all started when my colleague came back from UK and told me that she watched The Phantom of the Opera (POTO). So, please bear with me while I explain this journey.
POTO has a deep impact on me. It was introduced to me by my late cousin June back in the 90s and when she died, the only thing that I can remember were both of us singing the songs from POTO. She had handwritten all the lyrics for me and she would play on the piano while we sang together.
The weird part was years before she left, we seldom talk about POTO. In fact, months before she left, we were going different paths, with her going more into music and performing live while me more into meditation.
In 2004, 4 years after she left, when POTO movie finally came out, it took a lot of courage for me to watch it. And when I finally did, I sobbed throughout the movie though it wasn't that sad. And I thought I had let it go completely.
So, when my colleague came back from UK and shared the full show on YouTube with me, it took me some courage to watch it all over again, afraid I would be sobbing again. It was the 25th Anniversary live in the Royal Albert Hall, performed by Ramin Karimloo as The Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine. And when I finally did, again I was sobbing throughout it, but something else happened. Whatever that made me sad, whatever grief and unhappiness that I couldn't let go, whatever regret, everything to do with late cousin June, all gone.
I don't know what it was, but it has to be some energy that Ramin and Sierra emitted. The Phantom and Christine I used to know where Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. While each of them have their own unique voices in portraying their characters, Ramin and Sierra has this amazing chemistry, this beautiful combination and their young and vibrant voices stuck on me. Found that both of them were more to my age group and so young and incredible. In fact, read that because of the 2 of them, they attracted more young people now.
Also, the 25th Anniversary was so beautiful and in my opinion, different from the movie, which was dark throughout. And the casts were so amazing. In fact, it was the first time that I watched it live on theater, though on YouTube. And to watch all of them coordinate and cooperate and sing so beautifully live, error-free, there has to be something, that makes everything went so well. It's a quality. Could it be passion?
Then I attended a motivation course - Personal Quality for 2 days. It was about how to improve ourselves so that we can contribute better to the company, with everyone doing their own part responsibly. In fact, I was so pleased that the people in my group were so positive about life, not only about work. And because of that 1 person who was so initiative, he led the group well and we made the most paper air-planes beautifully with the exact measurement and no error or creases. His patience were amazing. The way he spends time teaching all of us and making us understand. And accept our ideas.
And I noticed in another group, there was 1 girl who was very negative throughout the course, until the other group members were avoiding her. I heard her complaining in the lift that she rather work than spend 2 days doing this. And guess what, they didn't win nor did they gel with each other.
It's not about winning or losing or getting praises or not. It's also a quality. Could it also be passion?
Coming back to Ramin and Sierra, I began to research more about them. Found that Andrew Lloyd Webber hand-picked both of them to be The Phantom and Christine again in his sequel, Love Never Dies, which didn't do too well and ended after 2 years. Then watched clips after clips of them singing. Then found out that Ramin is currently Jean Valjean in Les Miserables Broadway while Sierra is currently Christine in The Phantom of the Opera Broadway. Then watched clips after clips of their behind-the-scene and found they emit such positive energy not only at work, but with life and how much they enjoyed what they are doing.
Then it got me interested in Les Miserables. It has never appeal to me though June was in it the same time as POTO. So on YouTube, I watched Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert. And again, amazing casts with beautiful voices, though Ramin and Sierra were not there. And one thing led to another, I found Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert and Ramin was Enjolras. Not only that, I got to know about other singers:-
Hadley Fraser - Raoul in POTO 25th Anniversary London and a good friend of Ramin
Norm Lewis - Javert in Les Miserables 25th Anniversary London and current Phantom in POTO Broadway; a very good and humble guy
Colm Wilkinson - amazing voice, another humble guy
Alfie Boe - Jean Valjean in Les Miserable 25th Anniversary London, beautiful tenor.
Michael Ball - Got to know him much earlier
Simon Bowman - Got to know him from Miss Saigon though I didn't watch the whole thing. Current Phantom in West End
Then I started reading about them and found that not only they have the most amazing voices on earth, they are also absolutely down-to-earth and humble and really stay healthy to look after their voices, for eg, no smoking. These are the real singers with real voices. How do I know all these? Read more about them, watch their interview, see behind-the-scenes, watch their rehearsal, their collaborations, their chemistry. One thing you can see from them, they are passionate in what they are doing and truly enjoyed it and despite the fame, still extremely humble.
And you know what, their positive energy stay on me and I found that I became better in meditation and some days, better attention too. Not only that, some things that I desired came true although I wasn't wishing or praying hard for it, just a thought and voila, came out.
Let me share this beautiful example with you. Lately my brother-in-law got my sister a black Starbucks bag. It was just a tote bag with Starbucks logo.
Then he told my mom that he got enough points to get for her one too. And he told me that he will get me one later after mom's. I said ok, I can wait, no rush.
And guess what, the next day, my aunty called me and said she got me a Starbucks bag and I got it faster than my mom! I didn't even desire hard for it. I admit that it was on my mind but wasn't really craving for it. I contributed that to all the positive energy and vibrations that I have been surrounded for the past few weeks.
Although the musicals that I mentioned above, POTO and Les Miserables or even Miss Saigon, has very sad endings with people dying, etc, but the amount of hard work that goes into each performance, the humility, the love for music, all emits positive vibes.
So what I gather from all of these is; though these singers were not yogis, but they have positive attitude towards everything in life and that energy spreads. Sometimes, non-yogis behave better than yogis. No offence to anyone. In order to feel the vibes, it's not only clearing and clearing, but it's also surrendering and letting the Divine lead you on. Just let it go and move on and you will be amaze by this amazing positive energy. And mix around with positive people and you will find that positive people sticks to you and of course vice versa. And sometimes we don't have to be so tough with ourselves, having strict regimental meditation session, for example, but to just do what you can, be spontaneous and have love for yourselves.
Yup, love yourself. It starts from there. And that is what I saw in all of these singers. Like taking care of their voices, that's love. Love yourself, love the people around you and if you haven't found God yet, you will eventually.
There's one quote from Sierra Boggess that stuck to me is this "You are enough. You are so enough, it's unbelievable how enough you are."
POTO has a deep impact on me. It was introduced to me by my late cousin June back in the 90s and when she died, the only thing that I can remember were both of us singing the songs from POTO. She had handwritten all the lyrics for me and she would play on the piano while we sang together.
The weird part was years before she left, we seldom talk about POTO. In fact, months before she left, we were going different paths, with her going more into music and performing live while me more into meditation.
In 2004, 4 years after she left, when POTO movie finally came out, it took a lot of courage for me to watch it. And when I finally did, I sobbed throughout the movie though it wasn't that sad. And I thought I had let it go completely.
So, when my colleague came back from UK and shared the full show on YouTube with me, it took me some courage to watch it all over again, afraid I would be sobbing again. It was the 25th Anniversary live in the Royal Albert Hall, performed by Ramin Karimloo as The Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine. And when I finally did, again I was sobbing throughout it, but something else happened. Whatever that made me sad, whatever grief and unhappiness that I couldn't let go, whatever regret, everything to do with late cousin June, all gone.
I don't know what it was, but it has to be some energy that Ramin and Sierra emitted. The Phantom and Christine I used to know where Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. While each of them have their own unique voices in portraying their characters, Ramin and Sierra has this amazing chemistry, this beautiful combination and their young and vibrant voices stuck on me. Found that both of them were more to my age group and so young and incredible. In fact, read that because of the 2 of them, they attracted more young people now.
Also, the 25th Anniversary was so beautiful and in my opinion, different from the movie, which was dark throughout. And the casts were so amazing. In fact, it was the first time that I watched it live on theater, though on YouTube. And to watch all of them coordinate and cooperate and sing so beautifully live, error-free, there has to be something, that makes everything went so well. It's a quality. Could it be passion?
Then I attended a motivation course - Personal Quality for 2 days. It was about how to improve ourselves so that we can contribute better to the company, with everyone doing their own part responsibly. In fact, I was so pleased that the people in my group were so positive about life, not only about work. And because of that 1 person who was so initiative, he led the group well and we made the most paper air-planes beautifully with the exact measurement and no error or creases. His patience were amazing. The way he spends time teaching all of us and making us understand. And accept our ideas.
And I noticed in another group, there was 1 girl who was very negative throughout the course, until the other group members were avoiding her. I heard her complaining in the lift that she rather work than spend 2 days doing this. And guess what, they didn't win nor did they gel with each other.
It's not about winning or losing or getting praises or not. It's also a quality. Could it also be passion?
Coming back to Ramin and Sierra, I began to research more about them. Found that Andrew Lloyd Webber hand-picked both of them to be The Phantom and Christine again in his sequel, Love Never Dies, which didn't do too well and ended after 2 years. Then watched clips after clips of them singing. Then found out that Ramin is currently Jean Valjean in Les Miserables Broadway while Sierra is currently Christine in The Phantom of the Opera Broadway. Then watched clips after clips of their behind-the-scene and found they emit such positive energy not only at work, but with life and how much they enjoyed what they are doing.
Then it got me interested in Les Miserables. It has never appeal to me though June was in it the same time as POTO. So on YouTube, I watched Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert. And again, amazing casts with beautiful voices, though Ramin and Sierra were not there. And one thing led to another, I found Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert and Ramin was Enjolras. Not only that, I got to know about other singers:-
Hadley Fraser - Raoul in POTO 25th Anniversary London and a good friend of Ramin
Norm Lewis - Javert in Les Miserables 25th Anniversary London and current Phantom in POTO Broadway; a very good and humble guy
Colm Wilkinson - amazing voice, another humble guy
Alfie Boe - Jean Valjean in Les Miserable 25th Anniversary London, beautiful tenor.
Michael Ball - Got to know him much earlier
Simon Bowman - Got to know him from Miss Saigon though I didn't watch the whole thing. Current Phantom in West End
Then I started reading about them and found that not only they have the most amazing voices on earth, they are also absolutely down-to-earth and humble and really stay healthy to look after their voices, for eg, no smoking. These are the real singers with real voices. How do I know all these? Read more about them, watch their interview, see behind-the-scenes, watch their rehearsal, their collaborations, their chemistry. One thing you can see from them, they are passionate in what they are doing and truly enjoyed it and despite the fame, still extremely humble.
And you know what, their positive energy stay on me and I found that I became better in meditation and some days, better attention too. Not only that, some things that I desired came true although I wasn't wishing or praying hard for it, just a thought and voila, came out.
Let me share this beautiful example with you. Lately my brother-in-law got my sister a black Starbucks bag. It was just a tote bag with Starbucks logo.
Then he told my mom that he got enough points to get for her one too. And he told me that he will get me one later after mom's. I said ok, I can wait, no rush.
And guess what, the next day, my aunty called me and said she got me a Starbucks bag and I got it faster than my mom! I didn't even desire hard for it. I admit that it was on my mind but wasn't really craving for it. I contributed that to all the positive energy and vibrations that I have been surrounded for the past few weeks.
Although the musicals that I mentioned above, POTO and Les Miserables or even Miss Saigon, has very sad endings with people dying, etc, but the amount of hard work that goes into each performance, the humility, the love for music, all emits positive vibes.
So what I gather from all of these is; though these singers were not yogis, but they have positive attitude towards everything in life and that energy spreads. Sometimes, non-yogis behave better than yogis. No offence to anyone. In order to feel the vibes, it's not only clearing and clearing, but it's also surrendering and letting the Divine lead you on. Just let it go and move on and you will be amaze by this amazing positive energy. And mix around with positive people and you will find that positive people sticks to you and of course vice versa. And sometimes we don't have to be so tough with ourselves, having strict regimental meditation session, for example, but to just do what you can, be spontaneous and have love for yourselves.
Yup, love yourself. It starts from there. And that is what I saw in all of these singers. Like taking care of their voices, that's love. Love yourself, love the people around you and if you haven't found God yet, you will eventually.
There's one quote from Sierra Boggess that stuck to me is this "You are enough. You are so enough, it's unbelievable how enough you are."
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