It was the Renaissance tour that inspired me, Beyoncé’s, that is. Back in 2023, the über-talented performer took her new album across the globe. As I listened to my son rave about the NYC-area concert, it hit me: I want to see Beyoncé perform. And so, I put it out into the universe, albeit admittedly a very tiny one, informing my son and son-in-law to count me in the next time she was in town.
Some would call this manifesting, which always sounded a little “woo-woo” to me as if there’s some psychic energy at work to make it happen because I said it (or bought it). It’s a concept described by Urban Dictionary as “creating your own reality, a term used by subliminal users, meaning to hope for a desire until it comes true using the law of attraction.”
As someone very much grounded in the here and now, the idea of manifesting didn’t resonate with me, particularly as related to material things. Assigned an article about manifesting a certain luxury white handbag by ordering a vase that resembled the bag, I floundered, unable to get my head around it, even though that magical bag did appear soon thereafter (not for me, but for the subject of the piece). Was this really “manifesting” – creating a reality around a handbag?
My stance on manifestation softened when I heard neurosurgeon Dr. Jim Doty speak about his book on the topic, “Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything.” For him, it’s not about pursuing a self-serving interest (or item). Rather, he describes it as a process of embedding our ideas and intentions into action and reality. Not magic, but neuroscience.
In any event, I doubt Dr. Doty had a Beyoncé concert in mind during his many podcast interviews on manifesting. Nevertheless, I had put it out there.
Lo and behold, in early 2025, I received a text from my eldest, “Mom, Beyoncé is going on tour this spring/summer. Let’s catch her in Paris.” He caught wind of the dates before any official announcement, and we booked those hotel rooms fast, avoiding the Beyhive premium pricing.
As Americans were clamoring for Meadowlands, LA, Chicago, and Houston tickets, we jumped to the City of Lights, securing (floor) standing area admissions for a fraction of the cost. And it is Paris, which is always a good idea.
We (but largely he) planned a long weekend, culminating in Beyoncé’s second performance – as it turns out, the one without either Miley Cyrus or Jay-Z. Restaurants were booked; tickets secured to Isabelle Hubert’s opening night play (for which my son swore there would be subtitles and there weren’t) and the Gainsbourg “museum” with plans to see both the David Hockney and Wolfgang Tillman exhibits and more. Our schedule was more French tourists and Parisian locals than Americans in Paris.
Until concert time, anyway. Each in our own way, we dressed according to the assignment. My son had sourced a Paris, Texas t-shirt, likely the only one in the stadium that evening. I sparkled. Stone-encrusted jeans that took up too much space in my carry-on were topped off with a glittery cowboy hat and a pink bandana. Barbie meets Beyoncé – Parisians agreed.
. It’s a concept described by Urban Dictionary as “creating your own reality, a term used by subliminal users, meaning to hope for a desire until it comes true using the law of attraction.”){kind=link}