Today marks the 5th anniversary of the untimely transition of Michael Jackson. I remember that day, when the news broke. My initial reaction was to mutter, “What a waste of talent…!
Then,
I started to meditate over the impacts of MJ’s talents on people
across the world, transcending generations in the process.
Since
we belong in the same generation, the feeling among some of us back then was “if
MJ can dance like that, why can’t I?”
As
young men, one major reason for frequenting parties in those days was to impress
the women in attendance. And what better way to impress them than with great
dancing steps similar to that of Michael Jackson? I relied heavily on that factor
on the day I met my wife (at a birthday party). But to my shock, after accepting my request for a dance, she proceeded to dazzle me with a much better dancing skill. Afterward,
she looked at me with a sneer on her face.
I
also remember the day my son (while in high school) came home with the prizes he
won at the finals of a dance competition. It was sponsored by the manufacturers
of a brand of powder milk. The first question I asked was “Did they play any of
Michael Jackson’s music?” When he laughed and said yes, I shook my head saying,
“I pity the other contestants. Obviously, they didn’t know you’ve been dancing
to MJ music since you were in your mother's womb.”
Unfortunately,
greatly talented artistes rarely live long. As it was with Michael Jackson, so
it was with Marvin Gaye, Teddy Pendergrass, Whitney Houston and numerous
others. It is such a sad irony that the abundant talents that catapulted these
guys to great heights were often the same things that became their eventual nemesis.
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