Meet the Give Get Sistet members - Sarah M. Greer, Mankwe Ndosi, Libby Turner-Opanga, Valandra

At last, here’s your chance to hear what I have learned in my improv classes this past year! I have joined forces with three of my singer friends to create the Give Get Sistet and host a concert event on September 25th.

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Earlier this summer, I was invited to join my improv mentor Rhiannon in Vancouver to help her film her exercises for a DVD that will accompany a book she is writing about her improv method. (Woohoo! I get to work with Rhiannon again and meet 20 singer artists from around the country.)

As if that weren’t great enough, I get to sing with Valandra, Mankwe Ndosi and Libby Turner-Opanga before I head out. *smile*  The four of us teamed up last May to sing for a fundraiser and had so much fun, we all agreed we needed to sing together again.

So together, we’ve dreamed up a special early evening, including great music, light hors d’oeuvres and even a silent auction. It’s a chance for us to sing a full concert together and for me to raise some dough to help cover my travel costs.

You can learn about the event, read our bios — and reserve your spot! — at the web site site I created.

“Everything in heaven and earth breathes.
Breath is the thread that ties creation together.”
– Morihei Ueshiba

“I take a breath when I have to.”
– Ethel Merman

“Fear is excitement without breath.”
– Robert Heller

“‘Ohana’ is the contemporary Hawaiian word for ‘family,’
but its older meaning was ‘people who breathe together.’”
– B. A. Llewellyn

Yes, I know that this question is confrontational, perhaps even a little threatening, and I wouldn’t ask, but …

You really need to know.

(You don’t have to tell anyone, but YOU need to know what keeps you standing in one place.)

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What are you afraid of?

Is it fear of failing or a fear of being judged?

A fear of starting or a fear of finishing?

A fear that people will laugh? Or that someone might find out you know less than they thought you did?

Are you afraid of having too little or too much?

Perhaps, as Seth Godin posits, you’re afraid to ship?

Or maybe, as Naomi Dunford suggests, you’re afraid to shine?

Maybe you worry that people will think you, or your ideas, are crazy (foolish, stupid, etc.)

(Maybe you’re not ready to think about what scares you. *smile*)

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Okay. How about what makes you brave?

Maybe it’s your spouse, your family or your best friend.

Maybe it’s your lucky socks or your pet chihuahua. Maybe it’s a theme song or a daily affirmation.

If you can find that thing, person or state of being that lets you “feel the fear and do it anyway,” you’ve made a huge step.

You will be able to change your life any time you want to.

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My “things” are my family and friends.

I quit my job and went back to music school with my family cheering me on. My friends and family applaud when I get a gig, write my newsletter or turn in a grant proposal.

And singing. I traveled to foreign countries by myself three times this past year because I wanted to sing.

Singing makes me brave.

(What about you?)