Sunday musings...
This weekend's postings have received many an email and I thank you for taking the time to do so and respond so willingly!
So many of you are wondering what your questions are. I wish I could answer that for you. Well, actually I am glad I cannot. The responsibility is with YOU.
I suggest that it is YOUR responsibility to discover WHERE you are, and challenge yourself with questions that created your narrative.
I will suggest this, but questions I have been asked in career counselling or when singers come to me and wonder aloud. Often I let those questions hang in a room - the answers have to come from the one who asks them, simply because an answer from elsewhere may not be heard.
"How do I sing in "A" houses?" is not a question that is viable if you have sung nowhere. If you still haven't built your instrument. If you have nothing on your resume. It is simply not the question you must ask yourself. This is a dream question, not a real one.
I tend to answer with another question: why do you want to sing in an "A" house? What does an "A" house represent to you? What makes you ready for that?
It gets very quiet, or the excuses will fly immediately. This is an immediate reaction of stress management and personal narrative that is more about protection than reality.
Another question: "How do I get a job on Broadway?"
Well, again, questions in answer: where do you live? what are you willing to do to play the game? are you ready? do you know what ready is?
and on and on....
"I want" isn't always "I need". Often this shows an inability, or a resistance to what IS.
This isn't a slam. This actually can release some of the stress if we know where we ARE! If you give yourself permission to be WHERE YOU ARE, you give yourself permission to discover what you have, where you are, and how you DO precisely where you are figuratively and literally.
Let me be even more specific. If the question is "How do I get a job on Broadway?" and you don't live in NYC, then my answer is, "first you need to be in NYC".
Are there other possibilities? Of course! Look at shows that are brought to Broadway - like the upcoming Jesus Christ Superstar that was a hit at Stratford Festival. It is now playing in La Jolla and will come to Broadway in 2012. Not everybody from the Stratford cast will come to Broadway but many will. This is not the norm however.
If your answer to MY answer is "I don't want to live in NYC" or "I can't live in NYC" then perhaps it is the wrong question to ask "how". And even if you DID live in NYC, that does not guarantee you will get a job on Broadway.
SO, the next question I ask you is: what does Broadway represent to you? Why?
And then: What are you DOING now? Where are you in that process?
You see where I am going?
"I want a career". Okay. What does that mean? If you haven't had one yet, how do you know what that is? That statement is too vague and at the same time, very well protected.
What are you willing to DO to discover IF you can have a career, WHAT a career would demand, IF you have what it takes to claim it, and to what extent that "career" wants you?
Where are you? Literally; Figuratively; in your development as artist; in your vocal development; in your life development; in your financial development;
What are you prepared to DO? Don't cop out with the answer "whatever it takes". That means nothing. That is an excuse answer because it does not answer the question. BE SPECIFIC.
What are you DOING NOW? Are you ACTIVE in your pursuits of your answers or are you waiting for the skies to open to deliver them to you?
It is up to YOU to discover WHERE you are, and WHAT you are about. TRULY. This truth reveals the questions, changes the narrative, and releases the excuses.
You do not need excuses if you are truly in the moment of your pursuits. Period. If you continue to discover your questions, know where you are and find the REAL answers, the NOW reveals itself and gives you permission to be there.
Dream? Of course, but know the difference so when the work needs to be done, you actually DO it instead of excuse it or blame it elsewhere.
If you choose NOT to do the work, then accept that reality and the questions change!
This weekend's postings have received many an email and I thank you for taking the time to do so and respond so willingly!
So many of you are wondering what your questions are. I wish I could answer that for you. Well, actually I am glad I cannot. The responsibility is with YOU.
I suggest that it is YOUR responsibility to discover WHERE you are, and challenge yourself with questions that created your narrative.
I will suggest this, but questions I have been asked in career counselling or when singers come to me and wonder aloud. Often I let those questions hang in a room - the answers have to come from the one who asks them, simply because an answer from elsewhere may not be heard.
"How do I sing in "A" houses?" is not a question that is viable if you have sung nowhere. If you still haven't built your instrument. If you have nothing on your resume. It is simply not the question you must ask yourself. This is a dream question, not a real one.
I tend to answer with another question: why do you want to sing in an "A" house? What does an "A" house represent to you? What makes you ready for that?
It gets very quiet, or the excuses will fly immediately. This is an immediate reaction of stress management and personal narrative that is more about protection than reality.
Another question: "How do I get a job on Broadway?"
Well, again, questions in answer: where do you live? what are you willing to do to play the game? are you ready? do you know what ready is?
and on and on....
"I want" isn't always "I need". Often this shows an inability, or a resistance to what IS.
This isn't a slam. This actually can release some of the stress if we know where we ARE! If you give yourself permission to be WHERE YOU ARE, you give yourself permission to discover what you have, where you are, and how you DO precisely where you are figuratively and literally.
Let me be even more specific. If the question is "How do I get a job on Broadway?" and you don't live in NYC, then my answer is, "first you need to be in NYC".
Are there other possibilities? Of course! Look at shows that are brought to Broadway - like the upcoming Jesus Christ Superstar that was a hit at Stratford Festival. It is now playing in La Jolla and will come to Broadway in 2012. Not everybody from the Stratford cast will come to Broadway but many will. This is not the norm however.
If your answer to MY answer is "I don't want to live in NYC" or "I can't live in NYC" then perhaps it is the wrong question to ask "how". And even if you DID live in NYC, that does not guarantee you will get a job on Broadway.
SO, the next question I ask you is: what does Broadway represent to you? Why?
And then: What are you DOING now? Where are you in that process?
You see where I am going?
"I want a career". Okay. What does that mean? If you haven't had one yet, how do you know what that is? That statement is too vague and at the same time, very well protected.
What are you willing to DO to discover IF you can have a career, WHAT a career would demand, IF you have what it takes to claim it, and to what extent that "career" wants you?
Where are you? Literally; Figuratively; in your development as artist; in your vocal development; in your life development; in your financial development;
What are you prepared to DO? Don't cop out with the answer "whatever it takes". That means nothing. That is an excuse answer because it does not answer the question. BE SPECIFIC.
What are you DOING NOW? Are you ACTIVE in your pursuits of your answers or are you waiting for the skies to open to deliver them to you?
It is up to YOU to discover WHERE you are, and WHAT you are about. TRULY. This truth reveals the questions, changes the narrative, and releases the excuses.
You do not need excuses if you are truly in the moment of your pursuits. Period. If you continue to discover your questions, know where you are and find the REAL answers, the NOW reveals itself and gives you permission to be there.
Dream? Of course, but know the difference so when the work needs to be done, you actually DO it instead of excuse it or blame it elsewhere.
If you choose NOT to do the work, then accept that reality and the questions change!
I have been reading and re-reading this post and t he previous one trying to wrap my mind around them. In addition to working on my craft (I am a 61 year old woman with a big dramatic mezzo voice, who started singing seriously at age 54 and is still improving) I have also been pondering where I "fit" in the world of singing. I am primarily a choir member and church soloist, and although that is not really the best fit for either my voice or personality, it is spiritually and musically rewarding. After reading your posts, I wonder if I am "entitled" to continue singing what I most dearly love (Verdi and Verismo) as no one "out there" will ever be interested, even if I can finally get my voice to "work" more than 80% of the time before my body conks out.
ReplyDeleteMy game plan is to produce whatever I want to sing myself, even if it ends up with an audience of 20 people (living as I do, in the armpit of Lincoln Center, it is amazing that I can even manage to do that!).