Storytelling

I learned something interesting today. The "burden" of telling a story extends to my singing.

One of the truths I've been practicing has been to stop the drama!  Decisions are decisions. Choices are choices. And life moves on. Events are either more or less personal as I want them to be.  I give them importance, or not, as I desire and thus, they affect me with as much impact (or as little) as I desire.

It turns out my singing is the same.

It has been years since I've had formal voice training.  I took lessons for a while after Up With People, but for a variety of reasons, some of which I am willing to admit to, I quit singing.  I lost the training and conditioning  Eventually I lost all the mental information. Belt vs classical vs legit. Alto mezzo, soprano.  Tremolo, glissade, treble, staff, coda, repeat. Rest.

And yes, my breathing is all out of whack.

I currently work on three different types of breathing. 

There's deep breathing for meditation & calming purposes. A proper deep breath fills the lungs all the way to the stomach.

There's inhaling, supporting so one can blast the sound out into the back of beyond. And sustaining, of course, for that final awe - inspiring note.

And then there's the holding in your stomach and still keep yourself conscious, breathing.

I have no idea how to maintain all 3 types of breathing.

Heck. I have a difficult time remembering to breathe at all!  I find myself holding my breath, for reasons unknown, as if it were a limited commodity.  Then I expel it forcefully in a whisper.  This does not work at all well for singing.

I try to take it great gulps of air, but then I have no support or control with the actual notes. I move the muscles in a remembered fashion, but there's no result, like I'm still in neutral when I think I'm in fourth gear. (Or drive for you automatic auto peoples.)

So my practice this week will consist of allowing my breath to come thru. The higher the note, the breathier. 

And subsequently…  concurrently?...  also…  Relax while singing. I'm just talking on a specific note.

Let go of that illusionary concept, control.  And quit making it so complicated!

Like the rest of life these days, perhaps, striving for the drama of the singing instead of letting it just. be. singing.

Which is similar to the writing process for me.  When I strain for the story, the idea or the thread of thought, I seem to expend more effort than my production is worth. But when I relax & just write --  dare I Say -- the truth of the moment,  I have much more success.  Though I'll admit to having no idea how this is going to work. There's going to be a lot of practice required.

 At least I have the awareness, though, that my preaching has far outstripped my practice. Time to review a few of my truths. In speaking, in singing, in writing, in life, there's no need to make it complicated.  Accept it for what it is. Let it BE.  Enjoy it. And the breath will come.

I hope you have a great day!

-Lila

The Little Things - a ramble

The sight of my keyboard sitting casually next to my drum makes me deliriously happy.   And I realize Richard Carlson has it wrong.  We should sweat the small stuff.

The "big" things are nothing but a whole bunch of little things, built one on top of the other.  Whether it's training for sports, or learning a new mental skill, we do it step by step.  Learning to walk leads to hand eye coordination leads to sharp shooters and artists.  Every journey starts with the first step.  A beach is a pile of individual grains of sand.  It's not all the straws, but the final straw.

Physics or metaphysics, life all comes down to one, single, little thing.

Experts, the ones we really admire, can pick out all the little things: the type of cocoa bean and where it's from; the combination of spices; the single note in the chord.  It is the little hidden jokes that make the whole show (or book) funny.  It is the single line or thought which, replayed, brings the story together.  The taste, the instrument, the voice, the color, the stitch or the smell.  The little, individual, thing.

If it weren't for the little things, we would have no variety.  Without variety, we would have no favorites.  Granted, we might then have no communication issues, because we would all be seeing the same thing with the same appreciation.  But then, we would have no individuality either, and therefore, we would not be human.

Being human is all about the little things.

It's the little things that make something not exactly right, whether it's the lyrics in the second verse, or the too perfect angle of the roof.  We chide ourselves because we're judging.  We don't wish to settle, but we know there is no "perfect" match, whether it's in parts, or partners.

But there is an individual perfection - in the combination of the little things.  And that's what we're really looking for.  A look within blue eyes, to match the smile on ruby lips, to go with the brown hair that parts in exactly the right direction, accompanied by the smell, the voice, the habits, the phrasing, the way of walking, the laugh, the height.  It's all the little things together, answering to all of our senses.

My keyboard makes me happy, as it sits near my drum for me to see while I type on another keyboard which also makes me giddily happy - because of the way it feels, the way it sound, the way it looks, and of course the fact it's part of a happy little laptop.  It is very near to perfection.  Which means to me my future happiness must include keeping these things (the keyboard, the drum, the laptop) near.  And to keep these things near, I must use them.  Make them part of my life, not just trophies on the shelf, or against the wall.  Otherwise the little things become big things, mementoes.  Things of the past.  Signposts, sure, but distractingly full of little "was"es and might-have-beens.   Sad, poignant, over-with little things.

I want my little things to be moving forward.  In use.  Constantly improving.  And happy.  Like me.

The magic, the life, the happy is in the little things.

I hope you have a great day, every little moment!

-Lila