Last June, I stumbled upon a Facebook video featuring a 30 year old woman performing on the reality show America’s Got Talent. The woman, whose performing name was Nightbirde, came to the show alone, and sang a song titled, It’s Okay, which she wrote expressing her thoughts as she dealt with cancer.

Between the song lyrics, and the comments she made to the panel, she managed to move the Voice from the Bullpen to ponder how amazing and strong she was in dealing with a her affliction, and comparing that to how he deals with things anywhere from a major repair, to the frustration of finding a paper he misplaced.

Many words and thoughts included in her song are universal, as they’re words that can apply to everyone in their daily walk of life. Included in those lyrics were:

“I thought all my problems would stay behind, I was a stick of dynamite and it was just a matter of time.”

How many times do we think that things can’t/won’t happen to us, and even if they begin to show themselves to us, we don’t/won’t deal with them, then they build up, until we’re ready to blow? If we only heeded the words in the next part of the song which said,

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay if you’re lost, we’re all a little lost and it’s alright.”

Things happen to everybody. The degree of impact depends on the person to whom they happen. Thoughts of “How come this never happens to anyone else,” and “Why does this stuff always happen to me,” are just symptoms of our own “tunnel vision,” looking only at how something affects just us.

As she sang, with everything happening inside her, she had this amazing aura of positivity, as she let her words serenely tell her story with a beautiful smile on her face, and a glow in her eyes. She continued with her words,

“All day, all night, now I can’t hide, I said I knew myself but I guess I lied,” and later in the song, “All day, all night, now I can’t hide, I thought I knew what I wanted, but I guess I lied.”

Many times we think we know ourselves and we think we have to be strong and not let things upset us, or not show anyone things bother us, but some things do get to us. We’re human beings. Sometimes things hurt us. Sometimes things scare us. Sometimes we want to act like we can face anything standing straight up, with no one else’s help. In reality, we’re lying to ourselves. Sometimes we want to believe we don’t need anyone’s help, but that’s a lie too,

So she repeats what might be the refrain from the song, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay if you feel lost, we’re all a little lost, and that’s alright,” and ends it with, “It’s alright to feel lost sometimes.”

Before and after her song, her comments were just as impactful and motivation for ponder, and again made the Voice from the Bullpen realize how petty some things in his world are, in the giant scheme of his life. One quote was, “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore, before you decide to be happy.” It’s possible and healthy for all of us to not let one thing totally consume us, while forgetting all the good things in life that make us feel good.

Another comment made was, “It’s important that everyone knows I’m so much better than the bad things that happen to me.”

We can all take a lesson from that.

She helped us all keep perspective when she said, “I have a two percent chance of survival, but two percent is not zero percent. Two percent is something and I wish people knew how amazing it is.” In the words of the late Jim Valvano, “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” Why does it seem like he and Nightbirde, and others in terminal situations can maintain such positive, hopeful attitudes while others can make a car or home repair seem catastrophic.

The “cast” of AGT shared their comments too. They Included:

“You blew us all away. You are the voice we need to hear this year.” – Host Terry Crews

“That was way more than okay. That was beautiful.” – Howie Mandel

“God, that really got to me.” – Simon Cowell

“It pushes all the heartstring buttons, right? – Heidi Klum

The video was compelling and is watchable repeatedly. Sadly, though I don’t think Nightbirde would want us to be sad, on February 19th, 2022, Jane Marczewski of Zanesville, Ohio, lost her battle with cancer. Her body may be gone, but her infectious spirit can live on in everyone who will let it.

One more comment from the Voice from the Bullpen: Thank you, Nightbirde, for sharing your song and flying into my life, if only for seven minutes and twenty seconds. Your words, your eyes, and your smile, will live in my mind forever.