In an interview on the day that Michael Jackson died, music mogul Barry Gordy said that a guy like Michael Jackson doesn’t come along once in a generation or a lifetime or even a century. He said

“A guy like Michael Jackson comes along -

ONCE.”

What a breathtaking observation…

When a man chooses to endure adversity in an effort to discover the limits of his own potential, he elevates his conversation and nothing stays the same. When any one of us determines to run our own race out loud, willing, shamelessly to chase a possibility through the fire and in spite of the pain, we risk finding out that we really do have something important to say.

Possibility dictates that it must be pursued. Greatness demands that you pay a handsome price. I have failed, over and over to challenge myself to go the distance. I have declined to pay the price. Discouraged and yet pretending not to be, I have toyed with the prospect of surrendering and admitting to defeat.

Still —

I want to know for myself what there is to know about the reality that exists on the other side of resignation and self doubt. I want to really try one day. I want one day to fly.

Do I really believe that it’s never too late to begin again? Am I courageous enough to risk finding out that I do have something more to say?

I am confronted by the deadly strain of resignation; the kind that quietly haunts you everyday. I am challenged by the reality that —

you’ve got to really chase a dream…

I wonder if people still think it was a good idea that Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon so that the country could “just move on”, and I wonder if people believe today that, as a country, we have paid a dear price for that Executive decision…

Choosing to look the other way because to do the right thing is messy, was and still is —

unacceptable.

A friend of ours turned 50 this week. To mark the special occasion he and his partner threw a big party on Saturday night; a black tie affair complete with big band, Australian pop star and heartfelt intimate toasts.

Mid way through the braised beef and drunken pear souffle, the lights unexpectedly dimmed and the big band started to play a musical introduction that signaled something extraordinary was about to happen. When the burgundy curtains parted, and as if by magic, there she was -

Liza with a “Z”!

Can I tell you what a thrill it was?! There she was in all of her Liza fabulousness - the sparkly jacket, the plush royal blue velvet pants, the trademark red lips, the signature eyelashes and that unforgettable voice.

She sang. The guests swooned. We sang along.

When she finished her performance with songs from her recent Broadway show Liza at the Palace and boldly belted out “Tell Broadway that LIZA with a “Z” is back,” she brought the house down as everyone rose to their feet.

I was really touched by that moment because, watching her, I was reminded of the kind of courage and strength that it takes to make a come back and the special blend of humility and confidence that it takes to pick yourself up, to dust yourself off and to press on when what you really want to do is just give up.

When you have fallen with “the world” watching, all you really want to do is give up…

I suspect that Liza Minnelli’s ability to touch people the way that she touched the people in that room last Saturday night, in fact comes from her willingness to be both broken and fabulous at the same time. That is what I will remember. That is what thrilled me the most.