“Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.”
– H. Jackson Browne

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Yep. Here’s my subtle way of reminding you that the fundraiser for “my kids” is tonight; 7:00 pm at Rushford Hall in Northeast (for those of you in the Cities.)

We’re raising money to put on the musical Alice In Wonderland in March. If you can make it — great! — tickets are $25 at the door.

If you can’t make it, you could always send a donation to the school. *smile*

(A big thanks to those of you who already asked me about mailing donations.)

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“For it is in giving that we receive.”
– St. Francis of Assisi

I’ve started my second semester teaching voice and I am enjoying meeting my new students. (I also enjoyed the day off to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day. Is it still jet lag if you’ve been off a plane for over a week? *smile*). Out of my work with them, demonstrating exercises and beginning to sing, a theme is emerging. Many are afraid to sing.

Or, more accurately, they’re afraid someone will hear them. *smile*

Oh yeah, I remember that.

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In my own singing journey, I learned that a BIG part of being a singer is a willingness to look silly and sound funny a lot of the time. You make funny faces, you make funny noises, you wear scarves when it’s 70 degrees outside and bathe in hand santizer in the winter.

YOU are the instrument.  You use — and therefore have to exercise — your entire voice. Even the parts that aren’t so pretty or that you’ll likely never use in performance. (Although, the opportunity to use my whole voice is one of the things I love about improvising.)

To be a singer, you have to be willing to take up space.

If you can’t practice in an “as if no one is listening” kind of way, you’ll stifle your progress.

(And if I can’t perform in a “let ‘er rip” kind of way, I kind of feel like “what’s the point?” That might just be me. *grin*)

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I remember deciding to become singer.

Deciding to sing and be heard.

It was finding the courage to do the goofy parts of singing and stop worrying about if anyone might hear them. The warming up (yes, even at gigs!), the stretches, the loud siren noises and squeaky high notes. (My mom often jokes that it’s a good thing my neighbors know I sing or they might call somebody!)

It’s also about being prepared to sing “in the moment,” which usually means you’ve spent some time learning some songs, learning your keys and working on your voice. Even if you improvise, it helps to have done this prep work.

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I like this video of Bobby McFerrin (well, because it’s Bobby and) because he tunes his instrument as the quartet players tune theirs. Even done playfully, it drives home the point — for a vocalist, the voice IS the instrument.

(I also like that he bridges the gap between being a novice violinist (5:20) and expert vocalist with such grace and good humor.)

I spent the many (many, many) hours traveling back to the states staggered by all that I learned during my latest singing adventure.

I have spent the week since my return working through my jet lag (*tired grin*) and trying to figure out how to integrate and apply that “knowledge.” Hard when most of it feels so intangible and when I can already feel the presence of the week slipping away. (And then there was chicken. *smile*)

With all this reflection, I came up with my keyword for 2011:

“Embody – to express, personify, or exemplify in concrete form;
to organize; to incorporate; to embrace; to manifest.”

I want to spend the next year becoming what I glimpsed about music and improvisation in Africa.* To more fully connect with the self I am when improvising and to inhabit the world I create when I sing.

How about you? Have you found your keyword for 2011?

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Note: According to the map, I was in the Spanish Canary Islands, but in my heart and body I was in Africa. (More on that later.)