It’s the most
Wonderful time
Of
The
Year!
Now I know what you’re thinking, “Christmas is still three months away; it’s way too early to be celebrating and singing Christmas carols.”
I agree! I say this is the most wonderful time of the year because Beyoncé is on her world tour!
All Hail Queen B!
For those of you who are unfamiliar, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter and businesswoman. She is a fashion icon, mother, top-class dancer, girl-boss, phenomenal singer, inspiration to all, – the list goes on! She has been releasing music since the early 2000s and has gained a fanbase worldwide. Her most recent album “Renaissance” was announced in February 2023 and is currently being performed throughout the US. The Renaissance World Tour, covering her 7th solo album, takes you to a place where innovation, imagination and inspiration intersect. The show is much more than the best three hours of your life; Queen Bey uses this platform to teach us all about the beauty of thinking outside our own perspectives.
There is a famous Japanese story reminding people of the importance of perspective. It is a story that everyone needs to hear; the story goes like this:
Four blind men are brought to examine an unfamiliar object, an elephant, that has come to their village. The first man who touches the elephant says it is like a thick snake. The second man touches a different part of it and says it is like a tree. The third man touches the side and says it is like a wall. The fourth man touches it and says the elephant is like a rope. Each of the blind men is convinced that he is right and that everyone else is wrong.
American poet John Godfrey Saxe’s version of the story concludes with a simple, yet beautiful lines that perfectly captures the overarching theme of this story:
“Each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong. So, oft, in theologic wars, The disruptors, I ween, rail on in utter ignorance, for what each other mean, and prate about an elephant, not one of them has seen.”
The moral of this story is that the information we have about the world, or someone else’s point of view, represents a tiny fraction of the information available, yet we use it to form a view of how the world works as a whole.
The world is always infinitely more complex than our narrow observation window would allow us to understand. I’m reminded of David Foster Wallace’s famous “This is Water” speech:
“The point here is that I think this is one part of what teaching me how to think is really supposed to mean. To be just a little less arrogant. To have just a little critical awareness about myself and my certainties. Because a huge percentage of the stuff I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded.”
The theme of this anecdote parallels exactly what Beyoncé is trying to remind us of through her album and tour: that knowledge doesn’t always outweigh imagination. Just as each of the blind men thought they knew they were right in their own perspective, the story shows that without imagination we aren’t really able to see the big picture. This is exactly what Beyoncé does on her tour: reinstills the magic of imagination in her fans.
In my opinion, this tour and this album are not receiving the hype that they deserve as Beyoncé teaches us how to think outside of our narrow-minded, singular perspectives. For anyone out there looking to boost their confidence, this album – these sixteen songs – will spark a flame of confidence not only within you, but also all around you. Not only this, but this tour has a tagline that is imperative to Queen Bey’s image. During this amazing sci-fi, star-dazzling, awe-inspiring performance, there is a point in the concert where the words, “Imagination is more important than knowledge” are introduced. If you’re familiar with this quote, you know the man, the myth, the legend: Albert Einstein himself was the original person who came up with this. Despite all that Beyoncé has been through, she inspires people all over the world to take back their imagination. She reminds us through her endless confidence and spectacular dance routines that (news flash!) we are the only ones limiting ourselves. She is reminding us to think nonlinearly and dream big. The problem is that she is destigmatizing that phrase “Dream Big”; dreaming big does not have to equate to scale. At the age of 42 years old, she shows us how to use our imagination by calling her daughter on stage to dance with her. How cool is that? The correct answer is the coolest!
Maybe we don’t all have the opportunity to inspire others through world tours; but through her passion for fashion, she teaches us that we must dream big even here in our own little world. Whether that means wearing the sparkly boots out to dinner, embracing our relationships and carving out unique quality time for those in our lives, or taking time to have a dance party (because hey, in case you forgot, who run the world? GIRLS!). Queen B instills confidence in us and gently reminds us through the strobe lights, confetti and endless costume changes that we must be open to the idea that there is more to life than just what we know.
In a world where knowledge can be seen as the only passage to a better life and future, it also can instill close-mindedness. It can tempt us to become the blind men touching the elephant, only seeing something as we perceive it instead of using our creativity to think outside the box. Songs like “Break My Soul”, “America Has a Problem” and “I’m That Girl” serve as a torch leading the way for imagination to be seen as something of equal and or greater value than knowledge. Imagination gifts hope, and with hope, anything is possible.
Like I said,
It’s the most
Wonderful time
Of
The
Year.
Just not in the way you might have thought.