All those steps!

A few musings today...

Recovering as I am from this accident is teaching me much and sending me many amazing souls who remind me what I need to hear when I need to hear it!

The life of the singer needs to hear those voices too.

Often as singers we get impatient. We want to be somewhere we are not. We get frustrated at whatever place we happen to be and lose sight of the process.

Each step is crucial to our development. We cannot skip one or we have a hole. Sometimes we have to stand still for awhile and learn how important that is, and, heaven forbid, sometimes we need to take a step back and retrace to see where we got off the path.

These steps we learn how to take happen in our technical development, in our artistic sight, in our career aspirations, and in our ability to see ourselves honestly.

I know very few, if any artist who hasn't had to atep and restep, back up, stand there and re-assess in all these areas at some point!

As a teacher, I often have to encourage a singer to slow down! You get a taste for what might be and instead of really solidifying the NOW you want to jump ahead. I know you because I have been there too. We want to keep moving!

However, movement and development happens between the steps, just as singing happens between the notes! Learning to trust where you are is such an important and integral part of being an artist.

"I should be able to sing this by now"
"I should be having this kind of career by now"
"my voice should be doing this by now"

I would be a rich woman if I was paid every time I heard those and many like them!

You SHOULD be exactly where you are, simply because you are.

Learning to be where you are and breathe there is about living in the moment of YOU and discovering what you are discovering. You should simply be wherever you are. You will discover your technique, your repertoire, your career path when you commit to the steps YOU need to find it!

This is not a race or a contest or a reality show! There are no winners or losers. There are singers who choose the path and dare to discover and take the steps and those who simply don't.

It isn't easy. I know that. The steps of honesty and self analysis are tough. The steps of working and reworking technical issues can be tedious. The frustration of having to stand still when you really want to run can be trying and annoying. However, they are YOUR steps. You take them, you retake them, you stand still and breathe. Nobody gets to do it for you.

And so, the steps can become exhilarating and non-judgmental. They do not need to be explained nor excused.

Take each step. Retrace and redo if you aren't satisfied. Sit down and rest when you are tired. Just do NOT miss a single one! They are all important and a part of what makes you the singer you were, the singer you are, and the singer you will become!