Today I woke up truly grateful for another beautiful sunny day from where I live - White Rock, British Columbia (BC), Canada. After receiving an unexpected recognition from the mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson, the night before in a “Who’s Who in BC” event organized by Dahong Filipino, a Filipino-Canadian Community Directory, I still carry that wonderful feeling as I look on the breathtaking view of the vast ocean from my porch. I can’t help but reminisce the past, on how my childhood dreams all began as a child vendor in a tiny rural village in the Philippines. From poverty, I’m now living a childhood dream, and way beyond my imagination.
After posting some photos taken during the awards night, the “Maria Aragon” story caught my attention. I felt goose bumps as I watched her YouTube videos – one of which was her conversation with the pop superstar Lady Gaga herself. I was moved to tears! Year’s ago when all I had was a dream of better life than poverty, somebody believed in me and saw my potentials. I met a priest who recommended me to a school managed by nuns, and helped me get a college degree. That magic moment was the start of my journey which I aptly call “The Tale of Juliet”.
Like me, Maria Aragon, is a Filipina. A ten-year old born in Canada with Filipino-Canadian parents, she is blessed with the gift of an incredible voice and has a dream to pursue her passion to sing. And the universe conspired: who would ever thought that Lady Gaga would view Maria’s video singing “Born This Way”? Gaga took it further by endorsing it on her Twitter account, saying “Can’t stop crying watching this. This is why I make music. She is the future.” Already at close to 10 million views, here is the video that made it all happen:
Lady Gaga acted on her intuition, perhaps moved by her spiritual self to inspire Maria even more. Her phone conversation with the child may have not cost her a penny, but for young Maria, it was priceless. She believed in her, and only time can tell what would happen next. What is sure for now is that Lady Gaga invited Maria to sing with her at a concert tour in Toronto, Canada!
Thank you Lady Gaga for writing great songs, planting inspiration, and sharing your gifts to the world. This is for sure another history on the making for 10 year old Maria. She may walk the similar path of David Foster and Oprah-managed Charice and many others!
As a follow up to her encounter with Lady Gaga, iconic talk show host Ellen de Generes featured Maria on her show and asked her to sing the song again:
More about Maria
In her 5 year old YouTube channel, Maria explains how it all started. “My sister made this channel to put up a very very old video of my dad and my brother making sound effects of dogs and other animals. Years later I’m using this channel to share to everyone my gift of music and the talent that God gave me. I sing, I giggle, I laugh…I love to entertain. ”
She said that she has no music sheets, but only ” figured the chords out myself and it’s all by ear.” Her influences are Jessie J, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Yiruma, Michael Giacchino, and Lady Gaga.
She further states, “I love to sing, obviously. I also like to paint and draw and go to school everyday but I hate the weekends, but not Saturdays. I’m very interested in writing stories about life. I love my friends and family. I appreciate God and all of his children! I love music that settles in the beginning but then BAM! Stuff makes you nod, and gets you dancing. I love Michael Jackson so much. What’s weird is that I never officially sang one of his songs. I was into music when I saw Beyonce. She’s cool. And if you want to know, my first CD or tape was Barney of Raffi. I forget which was first, but yeah. Music is me. So me.”
What’s Maria’s secret? I believe there is really no big secret once we set our mind to something. How law of attraction works is all clear with Maria. Then the next law kicks in which is the power of “law of creation” at work. Would you agree with me that Maria applied these universal basic principles and made her dreams come true?
- Maria has a “dream”
- Maria “believes” in her dream
- Maria has a “vision” which is to share her talent.
- Maria has “clarity” on what she wants, and that is to entertain.
- Maria “acted” on her vision, she spent time practicing her songs.
- Maria is “grateful” and she prays, believing she was blessed by God with a gift.
- Maria has “mentors” and “supporters”, among them her family and friends.
- Maria took the leap of faith
- Maria made it happen
- Maria attracted the Law of Attraction
Let Maria and Lady Gaga’s story inspire you today. I do believe that everything is in divine order and divinely orchestrated. What is meant to be will be for young Maria, for Lady Gaga, and for each and every one of us witnessing this event unfolding before our own eyes. One’s “little acts of kindness” have a ripple effect that can change other people’s lives. This is what makes life worth living – when we know we make a difference in the life of others. In essence, when we share what we have it makes a meaningful and purposeful life journey. We are connected and we are all in one journey, together.
Do you have long forgotten dreams? What are you doing today to make a difference in the life of others? Are you a dream believer and a dream supporter?
Believe in the power of your dreams they do come true when you believe.
I appreciate your own comments.
Jhet aka Juliet van Ruyven
Living in a life of gratitude, abundance and purpose