“We have four years,” he said, “to get it right.” Today we know it’s been over four years since those words were uttered.

Did we get it right? Maybe the answer depends on who “we” are. Where is the focus? Is it “here” online, where we pay attention to people we follow? Is it “out there” where so much more happens?

But let’s look at “here” for a moment. In the four years since Michael’s passing, this little community formed, made up of people who hoped that his reported passing wasn’t true. Some still hope; some have lost hope; some feel they know for a certainty one way or the other. Most of us decided the “truth” based on what we’ve learned from other people. Some of us meditated and decided we knew the truth based on what our inner voice told us. Which is more valid?

Sometimes we can do well by trusting our instincts. And sometimes we can go terribly wrong, too! How do we know when to trust that little voice inside ourselves? And where does that little voice come from?

Is that little voice made up from the sum or our experiences? Or is it tapping into some universal truth?

If it’s tapping into some universal truth, then I wonder… if there is one truth, then how come so many of us have our individual little voices telling us each something different?

Is Michael alive? Maybe that’s still a big question today. Four years ago the entire world was buzzing about his passing, especially because that very fact seemed somehow so unbelievable. It was unfathomable. He had been such a vital presence to so many. In his videos, he often showed a type of mystical mastery over whatever obstacle he wanted to overcome. He could turn into gold dust. He could turn into a panther. He could turn into a powerful apparition. He could get a roomful of celebrities together and be seen hiding behind a camera, smiling as he films them all. He could conquer a tough bunch of characters by getting them all to dance together. He could even raise the dead and have them all dance at his lead. He could look like he was walking forward while he was really walking backward. He could save an entire planet by emitting a beam from within himself. So many powerful images.

How could such a man just “die”?

Maybe that is not the right question to ask, then. Of course, we all die. Where we go after that is another question. Do we move on? Are we reborn? Do we rejoin the universal consciousness? Do we still “exist” in some way? Most of us think, whatever happens, we do somehow continue to exist, to be, in some form. If we can agree with that, then we can agree that he’s still “out there somewhere.” Whether that gives us comfort… we decide that for ourselves.

We can probably agree, he did seem to be “bigger than life.” We’ve allowed him to occupy a certain percentage of our brain space, because of the mark he made on this planet. He created so much for us to view with our own eyes, hear with our own ears, and we were amazed by it all. And some of us studied closer and saw that he accomplished so much more; he gave back to people who needed it so much, and we know this not because he stood out front and boasted of it himself, but because other people cared to tell of it.

Whatever we may argue about here, most of us seem to realize that the man’s main message to the world, if he ever purposefully intended one, was one of caring for others. It is why WE care about him so much as to still be talking about him four years after he’s gone; his persona, his art, his impact. We know he left the world a much better place than he found it. Just from the amount of good things he left behind, most of us know that the man wouldn’t have left his millions of fans mourning him without there being a very good reason for it, and thus know he wouldn’t then be mischievously haunting online passageways, telling relative strangers of his disappointments in life. We know he would either head straight for center stage, loud and clear, or he wouldn’t be in the arena at all.

So what are we doing here, four years hence? Are we really just sitting here, waiting for him to return? How long do you wait after an act has left the stage before you finally head to the parking lot and roll on home? And then, how long does the performance echo inside your head, such that it inspires you in some way? Toward doing something better with your life, or to help others, or to even just pause for a moment to reflect on what happiness actually felt like, in the wake of its memory?

I’ve seen a lot of good people hurt here in this little community – by other people – in the name of Michael Jackson. And that’s a sad, sad thing. It happens intentionally and unintentionally. To me, what the man represents is an ideal. He doesn’t represent perfection; none of us do. What speaks to me about him, does not require him to actually even be here. I wish he was, and I would be more than happy to continue consuming whatever he decided to favor us with… but… hasn’t he given ENOUGH? Whatever the reason he left us… he left us. Who would believe that Michael Jackson would expect anyone to WAIT four years… or more… for him to give us “more message”?

NO. If his life meant anything to any of us AT ALL – what we should be holding in our hands right now, his gift to us… would be a great, shiny ball of “INSPIRATION.” He wasn’t just up there singing and dancing and making things happen so that we would sit there and spend our lives wondering “what will he do next?” If you’ve figured out how to achieve greatness, even in small ways, do you keep it to yourself and hoard it? Or do you spread the wealth? He didn’t just give us some 14 songs for the price of an album. He gave us a peek into his process, too.

He didn’t invent the Moonwalk – but he made it “his.” He didn’t invent soul, rock or pop, but he made a piece of it “his,” too. He made other people’s songs famous. He always gave kudos to his heroes, musical and otherwise. If he’d sat around waiting for THEM to continue entertaining him – well, he’d be “one of us” still sitting out there in the audience watching other people do great things. He sang and danced like so many before him, and so many after. What made him so special then?

Somehow, he did feel like “one of us,” anyway.

We could identify with him.

And that is perhaps one of the most important things about him. Because if we could identify with him… then, we realize that we too, could accomplish great things as he did.

As we go out and do this ourselves, we have him, and so many other influencers in our own lives, to thank as we take the stage and present ourselves. It doesn’t have to be a stage, either – it can be whatever way we want to reach the world. A recipe that’s handed down; a poem or piece of writing meant to encourage others; a sculpture, a quilt, or even… an interest in another person who seems like he could use a hand. Such things are our own legacies made of.

So you have some idea what this man meant to me. I do see this reflected in the people I’ve met and communicated with here, too. I’ve been amazed that as I’ve tried to speak out against people being hurt by fakes, how many have offered help – people who, as it would seem, will no longer speak to each other after some bad experience here. Whatever their disagreements… the idea that someone was hurting people in Michael’s name was important to them. They thought it was important too, and they helped. Even knowing that I wasn’t a “believer” in the hoax idea… they helped. My blog has now roughly 7,000 reads because people have spread the word. The fake AMSI has lost some 1,300 followers because people have spread the word. Now he’s only left with maybe a few dozen people listening to him, who refuse to listen to the rest of this community – who really do understand who MJ really was.

Don’t wait for him… he wouldn’t have wanted that. He wanted you to be there for his bigger message, and that still exists, and it still will, as long as we cause it to be so! Remember the excitement and happiness you felt because of something he did? You can help someone else feel that, too. You can recall it for yourself when you need it, when times are rough. Was “four years” a good deadline? I don’t know. Where are you now compared to four years ago? If you can say, “Better off!” then huzzah! If you feel, “not as good,” then you maybe need a longer “deadline.” Sometimes progress just needs a measuring stick, because if you’re measuring, that means you’re focusing on it. And progress, and success, need constant focused attention. In the end, the measurement doesn’t matter so much.

God bless Michael Jackson, and his family, and his friends/fans.

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