This past weekend I attended the Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas concert, sponsored by Honda Civic in Phoenix, Arizona. Aside from immense amounts of talents and hearing screaming chants of love for each individual performer, the concert was an experience that truly left an impact. It’s funny; when Demi entered the stage she talked about how she was grateful for all of us allowing her to live her dream each night. She talked about how this was to be a night to remember. Fairly typical concert talk, right? Well, as the night progressed I could understand why this concert was about to rise above others and truly be one to remember in the grand scheme of life. There was a lesson to be had and a thought to be reflected on; one word, unity.
During the concert, there were several times when a slower paced song would come on and just about everyone in a split second threw open their phones, pushed on the flashlight button, and raised them high into the air, reflecting out what looks like a million little stars of light through the crowd. If you’ve never seen this sight before, it is one for the books when it comes to experiences. In gazing out amongst the lights last night a thought crossed my mind. “We are unified.” In that moment it did not make any difference whether you knew the person next to you or not, whether their background was the same as yours, whether they held to the same beliefs and values system as you, either way, you joined in holding up that light and being one of many that created a shine out into the arena.
As the night progressed Demi, before singing her hit song "Skyscraper," introduced the song by discussing her views on mental illness. She is a strong believer in such and through the talk her vulnerability came out in admitting she had bipolar disorder. Demi did not stop there though, she then talked about how she does not mind being open and admitting it because at some point we all are going to struggle ourselves or know someone who does and such is not something to be ashamed of. As the words filled the arena I thought to myself how unity once again was brought up. A room full of thousands of diverse people also represented a mass group of people who were incredibly similar. Each person had their own thing to overcome, their own connection to the words coming from her mouth but each one was unified in agreement to their response, that we are in these struggles together.
When I left last night, this stayed on my heart. What if the times we are unified as people are not just limited to a few hours at a concert where we love the person on the stage telling us these things? What if as we walked around our surroundings we kept in mind that while each person differs in a way humanity as a whole as connecting points and a purpose in being unified. If we embraced those differences and did what we could to aid those around acting as a unified body imagine the difference it would make. We can stand unified in the arena of a show inspired by the same things but can we stand the same way on the streets of our community day in and day out. Just a little food for thought.
P.S. I believe we can.
P.S.S. The concert was incredible.
