I think most people can relate to Billy Elliot in some shape or form. All of us have had our dreams only to find out that we have come up to great opposition to fulfilling them. And I think we all have the longing to express ourselves as we truly are.
Growing up, I can say over all, that I enjoyed my time as a child and I consider myself blessed to be apart of the family that I have now. But as I grew older I tended to suppress how I felt about things in favor of keeping friends and so on. So I started to wear that social mask in my teen years.
You know, I had to do the manly things and so on. Which in part I do like because I am not ashamed of being a man. But there is more to me than that. I always loved being artistic. I would sit for hours and draw. It was like an escape for me into the realm of fantasy. I liked anything to do with art and of course I still do now.
I laugh at it now but when I was really young I liked to dance around and pretend I was a prince in a ballroom twirling around with the princess. Many times did I fantasize about that! I always had a vivid imagination and I appreciated music from a very early age.
I always found ballet to be very interesting as well as dancing in general but I never dove into it in fear of being exposed so to speak. Boys were not expected to like that stuff. So, I never had the opportunity to participate in ballet or any form of dancing. So in that respect I admire the character of Billy Elliot in having the courage to be who he wanted to be.
I think all of us are influenced by the environment we live in. Which in turns shapes us into the people we are today. With that being said I also think there are elements with in the human being which are unique and are independent of the environment so to speak. However they are undeveloped and require a certain consent of the will to make it come to life. A desire has to be tended to and developed.
There is nothing I respect more than someone who is authentic. What I mean by that, is that they are wholly and truly themselves with out reserve. I may not like everything about that person, but at least I know who they are and that they are open and honest.
All I ever wanted to do is to be myself! So yes, I can very much relate to Billy. Especially the problems he had with in his family. Even though his problems were different, never the less I was frustrated and felt powerless to change the things around me just as he did. All I could do was to persevere.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video!
The Journey of A Soul 