The Talent Show

I love the talent show at my nephew's Brooklyn public elementary school. Each kid shows up to share their best whatever they love to do.

The rawness of talent ranges dramatically. There's always a few girls singing “This Girl is on Fire.” There’s the pop star in the making with a killer voice at the keyboard in tulle. And the girl who whispers the lines, standing just behind her best friend, making abstract lines with her arms.  The poet with stringy hair, revealing how much she hates homework. The kid who just immigrated, trying out new jokes in a foreign language. Cartwheels, clarinet, a Nirvana cover band.

They’re all doing something they're relatively new at on stage. They’re saying, “This is me.” We’re compelled to cheer and clap and shout. Respectable adults, lose our minds. We’re saying, “We love you.”

What if the world is a talent show after all? What if we’re here to share something we love to do? Because when we see each other, we love each other.