Authentic August – Day 7
I just picked up my guitar and sang for the first time in about a month. That’s about when my descent into “not-so-good” days began. It feels so good to make music! And it’s funny that I forget that sometimes. In an effort to better remember this, I’ll share this quote and revisit it often:
“In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions: ‘When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop being comforted by the sweet territory of silence?'”
“When did you stop singing?”
Such a powerful question! The other three, of course, are equally powerful, but the singing question has a special resonance for me. I’m a singer. I grew up in a singing family. And I’ve been in singing groups for a very long time. This is actually the first year in eleven years that I’m not in some sort of singing group. Wild!
It makes sense that music is a special type of medicine for me. Just like it’s good for you to eat your veggies, I gotta remember that it’s good for me to sing my heart out! So I’m gonna add another rule to “Authentic August”, a rule that’s outside of the scope of the blog, but still relevant to creativity and being more authentic.
Rule #4: Sing one song every day.
Maybe in addition to reading the blog out loud over on YouTube live, I’ll sing a song! Nothing fancy. Maybe even a cappella. But just a little something to feed my soul.
Growing up I had dreams of becoming a famous singer, like my idol Gary V. But over time I began comparing myself to others (and still do) and that discouraged me from “going for it” (and sometimes it still does). So I dropped that dream for a bit, I left it on the shelf to collect dust. Then I started piling other things on top of it: college, friends, a quarter-life crisis, adulting… Eventually it was buried under a heap of living life.
But I suppose the dreams that are planted in our hearts never go away. And now with the beauty of the internet, the dreams of an artist have never been more possible. I don’t need to be famous. But I do need to sing my songs. I recognize that God has given me the gift of song, and I say that as humbly as I can. And when you’re given a gift, it’s meant to be shared. It’s meant to be taken care of. It’s meant to bring light and love into the world.
So I’m going for it! My dream life is a life of connection. Of sharing my heart and my song and surrendering to what the universe has in store for me. Like I said, I don’t need fame or money, but I would love if my music could be my ticket around the world.
I’ll end with one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books, The Alchemist:
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
With LOVE,
Q.