How a tall dark reggaeton singer from Puerto Rico inspired me this week?

Guys, its been a week. Between one thing and another, I broke down hard crying this morning. I won't bore you with details, but its hard to work within the self employed structure in Spain, and its not for the weak of heart.

And its not stopped raining after 3 weeks of water water water everything, raging river behind my house and flooding to the west of us. Even the sweetest listing agent in the world I've worked with for the last 10 days told me yesterday that his own house was flooded. I had forgotten how this sort of thing triggers me from past experiences that today we aren't going to discuss.

But in the midst of it all, I watched Bad Bunny, or Benito, a tall man who used to bag groceries by day and make music by night, win the first ever Grammy for best album of the year for an album done ENTIRELY in Spanish. And even more so, Benito's Spanish, that is from Puerto Rico, its own brand of vodka.

When I was a teenager, we went to hang out at my friends house, whose parents where from Argentina and Puerto Rico. She would make black beans and rice and fried plantains for her husband, and us teenagers would eat them up. They would argue in Spanish and all was right in the world. This, these are my memories of immigrants. It was like walking into a whole different big enormous caring world when you walked into their house, and we were always hanging out, its tiny little spaces filled up with loud crazy teenagers eating Ed and Hermi out of their homes. Their daughters friends and all the boyfriends and wanna be boyfriends never left.

And now, years and years later, this crazy big tall man bursts onto the scene. At first, I wasn't impressed, I was jaded, but as of late, Bad Bunny has grown in my admiration. And, this week, I've totally fangirled him.

Because, as I read somewhere online this morning, he's stayed true. He is a kid from Puerto Rico, whose parents worked hard, and he, when he was discovered, merely was a bagger at a supermarket. He wrote music by night, and when they called him after a song went viral, he took the phone call in the supermarket's bathroom.

And he's struggled mentally. This being known by the world suddenly, it came with a mental health pricetag. And he sat and fought his demons. And realized that by giving back, he could ride this wave.

He has a foundation in Puerto Rico to help kids learn. He decided instead of doing the world tour, he'd sleep in his own bed every night and have the world come to him. He boosted P.R. image and economy in a way that no one else has ever done. This tall dark guy with a great sense of humor and self awareness that he would be true to himself and everything else would follow.

And so, this is why the world who is deeply rooted in insecurity about everyone that doesn't think, look, act, pray or live like them, has screamed bloody murder against that fact that in 2 days, Benito will take one of the largest stages in the world. A man that has promoted his homeworld, loved his neighbors so much that he did what he could for them this year to bring them prosperity (a little vendor sold 5000 dollars in souvenirs just because of his concerts) and sang his music, in his accent as a love song to his country to bring them the best of the best, is what shakes those insecure men and women to the core.

He doesn't apologize for himself. He just is.

And by no means am I defending him, or saying he is perfect, but the reason that he has become a dividing character in this current moment is that he is simply living the light out that he was given and sharing it with every one (check out his NPR Tiny Desk concert with his band, Los sobrinos).

It is easier to shrink.

To disappear.

To run away from the criticisms of others.

To feel their jealousy so keenly that you hide away.

To be afraid what everyone thinks when you speak your language, write you words down, sing your music, shine your light.

For a long time I had that and over the last four or five years, I've been released from those critics, they have left my sphere and in some ways, I've been removed from the tables in which they kept trying to serve me their poison to keep me asleep or drugged or pliable.

No more. As my uncle spoke to me last week, the power is given to those who are powerless. The story of Jesus has so many nuances, and so many times we've reduced it to only salvation for our future.

But His story is so much bigger. It's about life and living it to the most abundant way. Not everyone is called to carry the mantle of fame like Benito, maybe we are just supposed to be famous in our neighborhood, our circle of friends and family, as being kind and caring and loving. Our crosses look differently, our burdens won't always look the same. But the concept remains true. Let our light shine so that men will see God at work.

Kingdom coming isn't just in the next life. Kingdom coming at earth as it is in heaven, may look like singing your heart out in your hometown so everyone comes and spends money there so that more people can eat and drink and live their lives in peace with their own neighbor.

Esperamos el baile inolvidable este domingo Benito. Que Dios te bendiga.