In the meantime, I figured a great place to start posting again would be to pick my keyword for the year. For those keeping score at home, this is keyword #4.

Why Keywords?

I call them keywords because a keyword is connected to other words and other ideas. When you search using a keyword, you get a range of results that are all connected to the keyword. When I pick my word for the year, I begin to notice occurrences and outcomes connected to my word.

I don’t think the keyword creates these outcomes; for me, keywords work kind of like my vision board. I work to be thoughtful and conscientious when I am picking my word, but after that ... I don’t really do anything with it. It is just there, running in the background, helping draw my attention and point me in the right directions.

Picking a Keyword

I usually “try on” a number of words before I find the right one for the year. It is like finding something on the rack in the store and then going to the dressing room to see if it fits.

Oh. That word’s too much. That one’s too small. That word would look better on someone else.

And, of course, sometimes I have to separate the word I want from the word I need.

The year after I graduated from music school, I really (REALLY) wanted to pick WEALTH as my word. But the more I thought about it, the more I could sense that the WEALTH was too much. (Not always -- to be clear, I am not asking wealth to stay way.)

But, picking wealth that year would have been a set up. I was in too much transition to create wealth. Plus, focusing on wealth would have caused me to forgo some of the exploring I needed to do in order to find my voice as an artist. I chose the DISCIPLINE as my keyword that year to help me build the routines and systems I would need to develop my music career.

My keyword for 2011 was EMBODY. I started the year on the other side of the world at a loss as to how to integrate what I was learning about vocal improvisation (and myself! *smile*) with “the rest” of my music career. I knew I needed to figure out how to bring improv into my performances (and my teaching!) in order to take my next steps.

I also had to get comfortable with the whole idea of being an artist. Believe you me, imagining and then bringing into being things no one else sees as your vocation takes some getting used to. (I also suspect it is a step on the path to wealth. *grin*)

...

My keyword for 2012 is CREATE.

A tiny part of me was a little disappointed that it wasn’t a flashier or more unique word, but (as my friend M says) when I know, I know. This coming year is a time to create things. I am not sure exactly what I will end up inventing -- performances, CDs, singing groups, teaching aids, etc. -- but it feels like the year for figuring it out.

Finding Your Own Keyword

Maybe you knew as soon as you started reading this post, what your keyword for 2012 would be. Maybe you still have no idea. (Maybe you think keywords, 2012 and me are all big dumby-heads. *smile*)

I tend to choose verbs for my keywords. (That’s just my personality: If I’m going to spend a year with a word, I guess I think it should do something. *grin*)

You can pick a noun, adjective, adverb, gerund ... whatever. YOU are the person who knows where you next need to walk and what word should keep you company.

If you are struggling to pick just one word, try thinking about which word you want to try next. Picking a single word lets you experience the focus a single concept can bring. If it ends up being wrong, (wrong, wrong!), I promise you can change it. (And, hey, if you need two words -- the keyword police aren’t going to show up at your door.)

One last idea.

If you just can’t find the right word, create one. (Hey, I invent words -- songtaneous, singingly -- all the time! *grin*)

My sister invented the word “attackle” last year. As in: “When I get home, I will attackle that.”

Maybe you want ATTACKLE 2012. Or IMPROVERATE it. Or GLIM-SHIMMER-SHINE in it.

It’s not the word really. It is the time spent cogitating on your word that creates traction for the new year.

...

To help get your wheels turning, I have included some ideas below.

clarity, unpack, glean, do, share, give, healing, explore, vibrant, nurture, flow, decide, commit, simplify, shine, balance, embody, expand, change, generosity, prosperity, abundance, make, mastery, release, flourish, choose, allow, savor, enjoy, enliven, seeds, grow ...

(My improvisor’s intuition was trying to tell me something; and I hadn’t been listening.)

...

I had been trying to get ready for my trip and “failing.” I just couldn’t seem to get or stay on track. In preparing to travel this time, I felt the familiar pre-trip stress, but also jangly and unsettled and vocally “off;” this was more than just pre-travel jitters.

My ever think-y brain was trying to convince me that I was tired and stressed about how many tasks I had to complete before I could depart, but watching the interview (and the singing it soon inspired *smile*) helped me get in touch with how I was feeling.

...

First, I haven’t been singing. I’ve been working and making travel arrangements and teaching (and working), but I haven’t been singing. Well, not much and not spontaneously. And spontaneous singing has become an important part of how I check in and get and stay centered. (Of course, I feel discombobulated! *sheesh*)

Second, I always experience nerves before heading out for these weeks of singing. I forget to trust the process of improv. I forget that it can be hard to see my own growth (particularly when I haven’t been singing *rueful grin*) Did I practice enough? Learn enough? Improve enough? (Enough for whom?)

Third, I am mourning the end of my time in this study and this farewell week I will spend with my European singers. (And it has even happened yet!) I will miss the incredible music, safety, adventure and connection I experience singing with my circle of classmates. It’s hard to explain how a circle of 21 feels intimate (but it does *smile*).

I trust that I will sing with all of them again – the music has a way of maintaining the connections it brings into being *grin* – but I feel sad that the next time and place is not clearly drawn in the future.

So (surprise, surprise) in sitting still long enough to listen to this interview (and write this post), I have begun to figure out what is really going on.

...

Back to the interview. *smile*

(Admittedly biased,) I found each topic more fascinating than the last. From how it feels to be on stage to "reading" stories to his children; from American Idol to our ancestral memories; and from trusting our voices to letting go of mistakes, Bobby McFerrin talks about singing and music in a way I profoundly recognize.

It was really important for me to get reconnected to the music – and what it means for and to me – before leaving to conclude my year-long study with my All The Way In classmates. So since I’ll be away (and not posting), I’m sharing this long (over an hour) interview for you to savor and digest in my absence. (Enjoy!)

Guess what?

We’re not supposed to.

...

You are supposed to sound like you. In fact, you are the only one who does.

So embrace it.

Revel in it.

...

Declare a truce with your voice.

Whether you feel like your voice is filet mignon or meatloaf, learn to love it. (Or at least to like it.)

If you spend all your time concentrating on what your voice can’t do, you’ll never discover what it can.

And I promise you that you can do things with your voice that no one else can.

...

(Please!) Don’t let what others can do with their voices stop you from finding out what you can do with yours.

Be selfish.

Worry less about how other people experience your voice and instead focus on how you experience singing.

How does it make you feel? What do you have to say?

...

I really like my voice. It may not be modest, but it’s true.

More important, I feel awake and alive when I sing.

(And I’m at peace with that. *smile*)

As many of you know, tonight is the Winter Solstice (yay! more sunlight soon!).

What you may not know is that tonight is also a lunar eclipse. It is unlikely that we will ever see this combination of events again in our lifetimes.

If you’re awake, bundle up, go outside and look.

(Maybe even sing something. *wink*)

So.

Here I was in two very different spaces for two very different events -- except they weren’t.

Yes, one was a theater production and the other a worship service, so the content was different (OK, a lot different *smile*), but how each of these communities operated struck me as similar.

At some point, a group of people came together and agreed to support a common purpose and each other. Equally important, a smaller group agreed to fashion and hold a space in which a larger community could gather.

The roots of community are fundamentally the same, no matter the community.

...

Take the theater show.

Some of the cast members were professional performers -- actors and singers -- but others were people invited to join the community who had never acted or sung in public before. Adults and children, first-timers and veterans.

Add the audience who chose to attend and -- poof -- magic happens. Proud parents, curious friends and interested neighbors all become a part of the community for a time.

The community grows and expands like ripples on the surface of a lake.

...

Then there was the worship service.

Spices was invited to perform at Valley Presbyterian because we had met Minister Richard when we sang at a backyard birthday party last summer.

(More ripples widening and intesecting.)

He greeted us warmly and shared his excitement and appreciation for what we would contribute. We took a brief tour of the church, found our name and picture in the church bulletin and then made our way to the kitchen for coffee. (I believe food and drink are very important to community building. *grin*)

I met their music director who, I discovered after the service, is a music theory instructor at McNally Smith (my alma mater).

(ripple, ripple)

During the service, the congregants celebrated Minister Richard’s 25th ordination anniversary with a surprise slide show presentation. Many folks wiped away tears at its conclusion. I was touched to witness the intimate and improvised moment.

We sang at several points throughout the sermon and our songs interwove with and enlivened the message of his sermon.

Through community, many vibrant and diverse experiences come to life.

...

(If you hadn’t noticed *wink*) I’m geeked about communities.

The gifts members share with each other and what we learn about ourselves when we step into a circle. People from enormously different backgrounds share experiences and come to care for each other.

I love watching people connect and go outside themselves, stretch in new directions and reach out to others.

To me, being invited to participate or allowed to bear witness as the members of community celebrate, grieve, sing, dance, laugh, cry, attempt and grow is heady stuff.

...

Community creates connections and generates excitement. It spurs opportunities for expanding our experiences and widening our worldviews.

Most important, the support of a community allows us to shine.

...

I invite you to come join the Songtaneous singing community at the Wild Rice Festival this Saturday (in Roseville). See the events page for the details.