Apr 01, 2008 20:09
This weekend was a combination of crazy busy and awesome. I was down at Seelie attending Izolda's workshop on finding your sacred voice. Which, was absolutely incredible. We went over some technical points about singing and did some sounding exercises to get a feel for our vocal range and how to become comfortable with singing. I was having a good time when all of a sudden I was to sing in front of the entire group.... With all they're attention on me! Ahhhhh!!!!!
Ok so we had gone over how unlikely it is to be truly tone deaf, and that a belief that any particular person cannot sing is a matter of a lack of technical knowhow and confidence in their vocal abilities. Regardless, I still didn't believe that I could do more then a raspy off-key and now I am facing one of my largest personal fears : being the center of attention, aka being put on the spot.
Egad, I went to open my voice so she could tune our section for this round we were doing and managed a well intentioned squeak. Then, promptly turning to a timid statue, I couldn't will my vocal cords to make sound. She spoke a few words of encouragement to me and then I decided to give it my best go. I closed my eyes and managed to actually pull it off, Hell I sounded reasonably good considering I had to give it my all just to get something to come out.
The rest of the workshop went well, enough so that I can say I have gained a serious amount of confidence in my vocal abilities and in myself. we shall see how long lived it is, but I was able to express it a bit in the drum circle later that night.
The Drum Circle was likewise awesome. There was a real good energy vibe that had built up over the night. During the first smoke break I was talking to the ASW smoker's club members who had attended the circle and we noticed that the guys in the circle had started singing "Freya, Shakti". As it was a favorite of mine and as it turns out, Nance as well I started to sing it myself with the guys nearby joining in. I started to falter a bit and Nance pushed her fist into my gut and said, " don;t be shy sing" and I let loose. Apparently they were pleased with the result.
Later on I managed to become the shrinking violet as I was moved to do some free vocals after a great impromptu beat had formed and Joe tried to get me to sing out instead of softly letting my voice wander where it will. So I blushed and hid in my jacket and Joe got me to laugh by having everyone exaggeratedly stare at me. As the night wore on I was able to let go again and sing out with the beat. I hope the result didn't make anyone's ears bleed. :-)
It was really cool to have Jen and Ryan with me at the circle, they seem really excited about working the the assembly and I hope they find a place here. Alright, I have rambled enough for one night, until next time kiddies.