I Can Sing ... well obviously, since I'm about to sing in my fourth concert

I'm on the eve of my fourth concert, I'm one year in a choir and two and a half years into a journey of learning to sing. Now of itself that's not terribly remarkable, I'm happy to admit that. Almost everyone can sing and with some help, sing rather well. There really isn't anything particularly spectacular about learning to sing of itself. Almost all of us can do it with some application.

What's the quote?

Sing like no one is listening.

Dance like nobody’s watching,

Love like you’ve never been hurt.

and live like it’s heaven on earth

Well I couldn't even really sing when I was alone and even now it can be hard. In fact for most of my life singing has not been something I've ever done and taking up singing was absolutely terrifying. At regular points during the last two years there have been and continue to be moments of utter terror. Ones where I would be incredibly anxious and I want to run, stand rooted to the spot or just melt into the floor. I have little doubt that there will be more in the future.

And over that entire period it has been the most incredible journey of delight, joy, trust, growth and excitement that something I could never do I can actually do. These moments easily out weighed the terror and anxiousness associated with learning.

So why did I begin? Well, I have a dear friend. She has had one of the toughest lives I have ever heard and yet she survived, grew and is inspiring to those that matter to her. We were talking one evening about fear and it's impact on our lives. During the conversation we talked about what our biggest fears were. Without a moment's hesitation my response was ... "to sing, actually, to sing solo in public". Even saying it left me with a sense of dread. She told me hers and that day we challenged each other, we would each conquer our fears and we would support each other in that. I had an out though, one that I didn't tell her but more about that later.

So here I am, on a journey to conquer that fear, long way to go. I have a singing teacher, I'm part of a choir and I will sing in my fourth concert tomorrow. The song I'm going to be most looking forward to singing is "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman. Kind of obvious why :)

I thought a lot about writing this blog. The last line of the quote is why I decided to. More of us should tackle our fears (any of them but definitely the big ones) and we should live like this is heaven and with passion. If in some way this inspires others to tackle their fears, then fantastic. Plus, the journey has been so much fun. Sharing it will be part of that.