#11 is in progress.
See that sidebar over to your right? I have a list of 43 things that I’m wanting/trying to accomplish.
11. Sing without being self conscious.
When I was very small, I sang all the time. Made up my own little melodies; just like I thought “why walk when you can dance?”, it followed “why speak when you can sing?” My best friend felt the same way. Her dad was a musician, made some money from it, so we both assumed that she was the daughter of a rock star. Apparently, this gave her the monopoly on vocal stylings, because whenever I’d start to sing, she’d tell me to shut up. After a while, I did. When I got older, I would sing when I had to…for an audition or a class or something…or if it was just me and my mom. We sing when we cook, drive, shop, whatever (I still sing in the car, and I love when I see other people doing it too). As it turned out, I could blend very easily, making me good for a big ensemble. I could contribute without standing out. It’s only in the last couple years that I’ve grown to enjoy being noticed….for everything except my voice. I don’t know what it is or why it still bothers me, but it always makes me feel small and vulnerable.
Seeing as I have so many musical friends, I’ve grown very weary of this phobia.
I have a very long road ahead of me. It’s always harder to believe the bad things about yourself, right? But I’ve taken the first step:
I apologize to any hardcore Norah Jones fans.
Next step…real live karaoke. I’ll need a drink first.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I think that’s awesome! You have a great voice…very soothing.
March 31st, 2009 at 3:03 am
Andi, I work with your mom (well, not physically, I’m the one from Massachusetts. You and I have met before).
Anyway, she emailed me your “Beauty Tips” entry from yesterday. So, I asked her for the URL. She responded that she didn’t know what a URL was, but gave me the address. I love your mom!
Anyway, I’ve been enjoying your blog today, a rare quiet morning for me. I enjoyed this entry because Karaoke is one of my ‘secret’ passions. It always took me 3 drinks (designated driver was required), and my style is more classic rock (locally, I’m famous for the Blues Brothers version of Soul Man), but it was addicting to me. I fed off the attention and the response. And the next day, I would go back to being my goofy old self. So my advice…DO IT. It’s fun. It makes your belly have those good butterflies. And you will smile and blush a little and think about your ‘performance’ the next day. And you will do it again. Enjoy!