Day 54
My passion for singing probably began when I was around two years old. During our long drives to the southern United States for our summer vacation, I would pester my father to sing in the car to pass the time. My father used to be a boy scout so, when we were young, he taught us zillions of songs that we would sing in the car, during those ever-lasting summer road trips or, occasionally, around campfires.
I learned piano and guitar as a child. Both those instruments only served as background music for me to express my true passion, which was singing. I never became a very good pianist or guitar player. At the age of 23, I finally decided to take some singing lessons in a music school. I started writing music with my teacher and recorded some songs on a demo tape that is now collecting dust.
Later on, I joined the People’s Gospel Choir of Montreal. I had the opportunity to perform with great artists in wonderful venues. When I left the Choir, I formed an a capella quintet with other former members of the Choir. We were together for five years. We played around Montreal, especially for fundraisers. In 2001, I gave birth to my first daughter. I kept singing a little but, with my new life, I found it hard to juggle my role as a mom with my passion. When one of our members passed away unexpectedly in 2002, no one in the group was up to singing anymore. We tried to keep it going, but Beverly, our vocal base but also spiritual base, had disappeared and it was no longer possible for “Diviners”, my quintet, to survive.
I haven’t sung in almost 10 years. Yet, it is a passion that is still very much alive. Last Friday, on the last day of class for my fall group, my students asked me to sing for them. I chose to sing Amazing Grace. As I was singing, I felt an immense joy, as though I was bringing back to life an old friend. It was a wonderful sensation.
Life sometimes brings us far from our passions. I used to love singing, just for the sake of it. Since I have children, I have somehow buried this passion. The truth is keeping our passions alive can help us transcend all our negative emotions and experiences. I don’t know how I will reintegrate singing back into my life, all I know is that, in my pursuit of happiness, I need to revitalize it.
2 comments:
um yeah baby! remember ... you can also sing WITH your children!!! and alone and .... i think singing is to you what dancing is to me. you gotta do it! and you can. tg is always bugging me to start a family choir in mile end. just saying! but hey, i know it's not the same thing as singing as adults! you have a beautiful voice
I do sing with my kids...more and more in fact. But I just feel like I need to do it with a more creative approach and maybe start performing again. I don't know what form it is going to take yet, I just feel like it should be part of my happiness journey!
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