The Mirror Effect
A kid walks up, you look at him and make a funny face, and what does the kid do one hundred times out of a hundred? That’s right, he mirrors your gesture. With kids it’s overt and direct. With adults, it’s a bit more subtle, but only slightly so, in this respect, we basically never grow up. I was onstage in front of a crowd of ten thousand people opening for an act called Lonestar back in the day. They were a great bunch of guys and they had a number one hit at the time so it was a standing room only crowd. I was performing an original song which I had only recently written and it had not been released as a single yet, so I was astonished to make eye contact with a young lady on the front row who was singing the song along with me. I did a double take and then I realized she was only behind my delivery by a millisecond. When I smiled, she smiled, when I sang a sad song, she looked hurt, when I was excited she was excited too. I never met that girl, but that day I realized what a powerful thing it is to perform with emotion. By performing with true and authentic emotions behind my songs, I project those same emotions to everyone who is even remotely paying attention. I can make them laugh or cry, long for a lover, miss a departed loved one or show real anger for a past wrong or injustice. That is what I call the mirror effect.
