Why do I sing?

I'm doing a little project at the moment and though this would be a good question to answer....

Why do I Sing?

This could be a really long and complicated answer! The short answer is for the joy of it but it’s more intrinsic than that, you may as well ask why I breathe or blink. So for the long answer...

First, a little history. I've been singing for as long as I can remember, at home, as a kid, in primary school, with my family, not so much in my adolescent years, but once I started to learn guitar I began again and haven't stopped since. I sing in private and in public, for money and for fun, for myself and anybody who cares to listen. But I have to admit, it’s mostly a selfish exercise.

When I sing I am, or at least was, a different person. I was, in my mind anyway, an awkward teenager, not shy exactly, fairly social but with some serious self esteem issues. When I started to learn the guitar it was only natural to want to sing along. Funnily enough, it’s one of the things in my life that I've never doubted I could do well - don't know why, but that confidence has always been there. Moving along, when I played the guitar and sang, I became somebody other than this un-cool 20 year old, I became somebody who had a talent and was not a boring nerd. Singing helped me to connect to who I am and because of this I grew to love myself and began to grow in confidence and self worth. 

Singing also helped me to express emotions that I was feeling that I was just too scared to talk about. It’s an easy out, saying what you need to say without having to say it, and I took it! But, again, it’s the connection that’s most important. To be able to connect to a story, feel what is being felt and then to express it in a song through singing is quite an uplifting experience, no matter how sad or depressing the song.

So singing had brought a real connection for me, and not just to songs, but to my whole life. When I sing, I feel my voice my body, I feel it resonate in my body cavities, I hear it change as I move, change as I alter my body shape or manipulate different muscles, I hear it bouncing of the surrounding environment in a strange echo, like its answering my voice. The vibrations can be quite soothing when singing softly, or energizing when really going for it. It induces playful, light-hearted states of being, a real childlike state at times. It makes me aware of how I am feeling in that moment, fully bringing me into my present state.

Singing in groups is another wonderful experience. When voices are joined, the melding of the vibrations and tones is such a unique experience, so beautiful, it’s something I want to do again and again. It creates a connection with yourself and others which is really what I believe is in human nature to search for. It’s the connection that drives us to do anything.

So when I sang before I used to become a different person. Now, not so much. Now I am that person. Finding my voice through singing, making that connection, has really helped me learn about myself, has given me the confidence to branch out, be bolder and discover what it is that makes me tick. It has given me the confidence to say “This is who I am, take it or leave it!”

Your singing voice is a product of your 3 selves – your mind, body and spirit. When you start to sing these three entities may not be in balance. But through finding your voice and making the connection to life, these three facets of your being will begin to fall into equilibrium. The more in balance they are, the stronger your voice becomes and so the positive cycle of growth continues.

Singing is more than just a sound that comes out of your mouth; it’s a tool to discovering who you are and connecting to life.

Find your voice

Make the connection

Find yourself

And so I sing…

Now you know my answer, lets hear yours. Post below in comments :-)

The sky is falling, THE SKY IS FALLING!!

I recently picked up a book, 'The Elemental You' by Linsey Dawson, which talks about the four elements of earth, wind, water and air and how everybody is predisposed to one of these elements. While talking about the earth she made a comment about how we feel the earth through our feet as we walk on the ground, which we are rooted to due to gravity, and all the while the earth is spinning and we have no physical sensation of this. These comments triggered a cascade of thoughts which just pose more and more questions! Gravity causes objects to fall to the earth, just ask anyone who has done a skydive! I did a skydive last February, and as I was plummeting to the ground, getting faster and faster, I realised that the sensation of falling wasn't there - instead, it's like standing on the top of a mountain in a gale force wind (see cheeks in pic)! 

Yes, I am Superman!

So now we have two instances of the body being completely fooled - one when falling to the ground and another as the earth spins. Still with me? - OK, now lets look at the earth and the universe on a macro level. On earth we have gravity which pulls everything to the center of the earth and sometimes we don't feel it, as with the skydive experience. Add to this that we don't feel the earth spinning. So now for my questions: If we don't feel the sensation of falling on earth, and we can't sense the movement of the earth, could the earth be falling? Its in Space, aka, nothing! And if so, falling where? Falling down, up or sideways? Into what? What happens when we hit the "ground"? Gravity keeps the earth in orbit around the sun, which is in orbit around the supermassive blackhole at the center of the milkyway - is the milkyway orbiting something and, i dunno, is it falling too? Maybe Henny Penny had it right....