Thursday, September 4, 2008

Clay Aiken & Everything I Needed to Know

Clay Aiken has taught me quite a bit in the past five years. Some of these lessons I knew, but Clay reinforced the ideals.

Clay Aiken
is a different kind of celebrity - he cares. He defined his path early on in life and has not deviated from his goal. That goal? To lead a life of service.

Clay has proven in his actions that he is here to make a difference, to affect the lives of others in a positive way. Whether it's through his affiliation with UNICEF (UNICEF site) or his own foundation, The Bubel/Aiken Foundation (TBAF Site), he is making a difference.

One of the ways that Clay makes a difference is through education. Prior to American Idol, Clay's path was to become a special education teacher. In his book Learning to Sing, Clay points out that
"I was planning to teach in the classroom. I am still teaching. My classroom has just gotten a lot bigger."
This was true in 2005 and remains true to this day.

I have learned a lot from Clay Aiken, more than this blog can handle. I have learned about love and I have learned about hatred. I have learned that "family" comes in many shapes and forms. Clay puts this best when he writes of the couple who took he and his mother in after they left his biological father ~

"What I learned from Nanny and Pop, and their children, and all the folks who came to our aid in those difficult times, is that family is what you make of it. Family is about love."
Through Clay, I have found an amazing family on the Internet. These people come from all walks of life, every age, race, religion and political affiliation. What we have in common is Clay and through Clay, and what he has taught each of us, we are also making a difference. We have embraced his causes. We have given, volunteered, learned more and become active participants in this world. It feels good. It feels right.

With that, here's a little video about Everything that I Needed to Know I Learned from Clay Aiken. Hope you enjoy



25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the blog, Sue! Clay Aiken is an amazing teacher--he is so smart and I'm so impressed by him.

Anonymous said...

Love your montage of Clay Aiken teaching you "stuff".

Anonymous said...

Very well said! There are many great singers, performers and actors. The ones I admire most are those who want to do accomplish something in life that can't be measured by a dollar or euro or yen!

jbc4clay said...

Sue - Love your blog. Clay is a great teacher!

Anonymous said...

Way cool, Sue! Clay Aiken is apparently a teacher even when he's not trying!

Anonymous said...

Adorable Clay Aiken video!!!

Anonymous said...

What I admire most about Clay is that he served others even before his became famous...no publicist had to make him do charity.

~Shycon

Oh Crap said...

When he is in front of a camera or on a stage he shows such a zest for what he's doing. He grabs those moments and draws us into them. He is simply the best.

Anonymous said...

Can I say Clay Aiken is my hero?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful blog, SueRue. And a delightful video. You do such great work, but then you have Clay Aiken for inspiration, so I have to give a bit of the credit to our darling guy.

Anonymous said...

Clay Aiken teaches by entertaining, by taking action - and just by goofing around sometimes! Basically, he has the charisma to command an audience, and therefore can teach by example. Great montage!

Anonymous said...

Clay Aiken practices what he preaches. He always said that he wanted to make a positive difference in this world. He has already done so, and he continues to do so. He's truly inspiring!

Ashes said...

SueRue, Terrific blog, This IS Clay Aiken a truly wonderful man. We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

Love the video and the Picture Flick of Sir Robin is way kewl!!

Anonymous said...

Great blog , Sue . I have learned from Clay Aiken on his amazing journey . He is a special human being .

Anonymous said...

Still learning from one Clay Aiken!!!

Anonymous said...

Clay Aiken is always teaching and all his lessons are worth learning!

Be youself.
Ignore the assholes.
Use your voice.

Those are three of the most important lessons.

kilo said...

Thank you for the lovely Clay Aiken blog.

Anonymous said...

Ooh, I can't wait to see Clay Aiken again!!!

Anonymous said...

Loved that Clay Aiken dance video!!! Cute!

Anonymous said...

Wow! The rotating cube thingie with the Spamalot photos is very very nice!! Clay Aiken sure does have some talented fans!

Dianne Barbee said...

Sue,

Many thnx for this excellent blog. You have added quite a bit since first uploading the entry.

Love your picture trail, as well as the points you make in the text!

Have a grat week!

Caro

PaulaBear said...

Great blog SueReu! I love your latest Clay Aiken montage!

katy said...

Cool montage you've made of Clay Aiken. I've never seen one like that. Great blog!

Anonymous said...

Clay Aiken is certainly always the teacher. Think it's in his genes. Love this blog and montages.

Medusa said...

What a fabulous Clay ride the last 5 years have been!!!