Why We Sing
Every year, I choose a book to support me in opening my days on a positive and inspiring note. Have you ever tried this? I highly recommend it. In the morning, make a cup of tea or coffee, then go back to bed, prop up your pillows, and read something inspirational, instead of checking your e-mails and on-line feed first thing. In 2017 (for the second time), I chose Mark Nepo’s http://marknepo.com/ The Book of Awakening.
As a certified Transformational Voice® teacher, speaker coach, and creator of HONE Your Message, Nepo’s December 29th segment particularly speaks to me, and I suspect you will love it, too. Sit back, relax, and drink in Nepo’s amazing words about why we must sing.
December 29
Sing Then
As long as we sing, the pain of the world cannot claim our lives.
Through cancer, through growing up in America, through learning about the innumerable struggles for freedom around the world, all different but the same, through being with the people of South Africa, it has become very clear that giving voice to what is inner is essential to surviving what is outer. No matter where we live or whom we love, no matter what we want or what we can’t have, this is the lesson I can’t repeat or learn enough.
When everything in life presses from outside of us, we have no choice but to sing like scared children relying on their song to stop the pain, the way that fire stalls the cold. This is the secret of all spirit, why it cannot stay inside, but must be brought from within us into the world. For it is the song from within that keeps the pain of living from snuffing our lives. It is the song from within ignited, again and again, that keeps the world going. When we do this for ourselves, we do it for every child not yet born.
As night and day take turns on this massive Earth spinning nowhere, the song we share within takes turns with the catastrophes of living. When we go silent, the age goes dark.
Sing, then, in whatever tongue your pain has taught you. Sing, though you have no training and never went to school. Sing, because the cry from all the places you have kept quiet will stall the cold, will soften the danger, will keep the world possible for one more turn…
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Moment
And…please…contact me, or another certified Transformational Voice® teacher, if you would like training with your singing voice. Here’s a sample of my work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8alNyT2Siw. If you like it, please like it on YouTube! Grab your stage and OWN it – speak like you want to be heard! Bring me on board for your next keynote or workshop.
What people are saying about HONE Your Message:
I came away with a much better understanding of how to do, and effectively use, belly breathing to speak confidently, efficiently and effectively. -Caroline M.
Laura is a skilled teacher and observer of her students. -Anita E.
Supportive, fun, safe…and immediately applicable tools and skills. -Barbara M.
Laura truly connects with her audience. She makes people feel comfortable and safe to be vulnerable and find their authentic voice. Thank you. -Angela P.
Laura was fantastic and empowering. -Laura D.
If you found this post helpful, please spread the love and pass it along to a friend!
Authentically Yours, Laura