Did you see that heartwarming return of Lewis Capaldi at Glastonbury – absolute courage to step back on the stage and it really got me thinking.
His realness is what makes him so engaging And this is a prime example of our humanness and has shown us something really important.
The question I keep thinking about is when there is struggle, health concerns, losing their voice or feeling debilitated by the enormity of life in other workplaces do we show the same connection?
The footage of Lewis unable to work and find his voice a couple years ago is absolutely agonising and not the first signs of what was happening. You can see the distress and battle with his body mind and spirit – and the crowd stepped in and sang back to him – powerful stuff.
Let’s think about this from every workplace perspective. The last few weeks I have heard horrific stories of people being punished for their struggle, being dismissed when they have raised concerns about the workload, told that they are ‘too sensitive’, being shut down when they have tried to communicate and the focus on dollars and productivity not the human having them go numb.
Imagine seeing Lewis struggle like he was and telling him that he had to still perform, oh don’t worry that you can’t function, you are successful and have nothing to worry about, just go and do what you’ve always done, you have to perform cos you will be letting so many people down. It sounds ridiculous doesn’t it when you could see he was so unwell – but this happens everyday and potentially the pressure is how it got to the point where you have no choice but to stop – and it takes its toll. if you have watched the documentary his inner circle have been concerned for a long time about what was happening for his body mind and spirit. And this was the breaking point where there was no choice but to stop – and they called it. Not an easy thing to experience so publicly but very necessary.
And while it would taken a lot of support and space to return to the stage and it is absolutely full of strength, vulnerability and human connection it is significant for us humans and represents so much.
Not everyone has such a public profession but I am wondering when you witness someone stepping back onto their stage how are you standing with them, helping them perform again and being able to support them to sing their song.
Ive seen behind the scenes on so many peoples experiences and Lewis has highlighted our humaness, the need for support around us and that life is not always sunshine.
And as his new song lyrics sum it up
‘I’m gonna get up and try
If its the last thing i do
Ive still got something to give
Though it hurts sometimes’
What are your thoughts?
What do you take away from Lewis Capaldis return to the glastonbury stage?