Honor the Artist Within
Working with my dear clients these past few weeks, I have been noticing recurring themes. "I just wish I could get back to where I was before lockdown. I had just landed the biggest gig of my life and it was cancelled because of COVID. My career was just starting to gain momentum and now I have to start all over again. What if the theaters never open again? What's the point of working so hard, I'll probably have to find something else to do anyway because singing professionally will be the last thing, if ever, to return to normal. Do you think we will ever be able to sing to a live audience again?"
The fabric of our lives is being bunched up into a ball of fear, uncertainty and despair. The things that really feed the soul...a warm hug, getting a massage, playing with kids, singing in church, going to school, visiting friends, going to the theatre, working out at the gym, enjoying a meal in a restaurant... are all of a sudden fraught with danger. Even as things begin to open up again, we sense that we are in the eye of the storm.
So how do we keep positive until the fabric unfolds again? Where are the hand grips that will help us climb out of the long term effects of COVID-19? What have we learned from the social unrest and the social isolation? Where do we find the strength to continue honing our craft even while wondering if anyone will ever hear it live again? I am so grateful for the technology that allows me to reach out to the world and shudder to think what life would be now without it. Yet, personally, I find it next to impossible to sing into this "box" called a computer. I long for the energy exchange and vibration of being "in the room."
I wonder if one of the lessons we are learning during these uncertain times is that when life as we know it gets pulled out from under us, instead of reaching out, we have to reach in. Every hero's journey comes to a point when he or she looses everything and hits rock bottom. Life as we know it comes to a jolting halt and all the things we know how to do aren't working anymore. That is usually when magic shows up to show us the way. We are called to reach within for resilience and guidance instead of looking out for salvation and approval because we are all in the same boat.
What if this is a time to sing for the world within? Yes, I know it's not the same. What if it is not supposed to be and there is a deeper level of mastery waiting for us in these unsettling times? I remember one of my coaches talking about how he played so well for others but when he was practicing alone he was self-critical and never good enough. It finally dawned on him that he was the most important person to please with his art and that is when he became very successful. I don't think I really understood what he meant. I thought to myself, well, he IS a genius so of course he, himself, would be the most discerning audience to please (and secretly...what an ego maniac!! Art is for others not oneself). I wonder now if he meant something that I didn't have the life experience to grasp.
How do we honor the Artist within? Are we holding that Artist in as great esteem as we do those we want to please or impress? There is the desire within us to create art which then propels us to study and master our art so that we can express or manifest our art in the world. The next step in the process is usually to see how we are judged by the world through our art. It is how we measure our worth as artists and often as human beings. Does that creative effort count if the world can't see or experience it? But what about the Force that sparked the desire to create in the first place? What if the Divine within were my only audience? Could the world hear and experience it? If a tree falls…? I remember what my mother used to say as she sent me off to whatever performance was next. "And remember, sweetheart...when you sing, God smiles." Could this be enough?
So, I leave you with this, my dearest darlings. Remember that for everything there is a season. When there is a storm, the fishermen stay in, work on the boats and repair the nets. They do this so they are ready when the storm lifts and it is time to go back out to sea and reap the rewards that the storm has churned up with it's passion and fury. I know the end of the storm seems very far away but until then, I hear your voice and will always answer with mine.
Quote of the Day:
“‘This world is bursting with life these few days because the song with which I called it into life still hangs in the air and rumbles in the ground,’ said Aslan.”
Affirmation of the Day:
“My voice is always heard.”
