Still a Disbeliever... Almost

It's slowly sinking in that I was in a room of opera singers yesterday and I WAS ONE OF THEM! I wasn't the super waiting for my turn to walk silently onstage. It's crazy! When I started voice lessons I never imagined that I'd one day be able to get up and sing with other singers. OTHER, because I am one of them. It's so cool.

I spoke with the woman I mentioned yesterday, the one who will be giving me a free lesson tomorrow. Again she was so so sweet! She told me that some of the other singers yesterday had the same problem I had - a lack of fullness on certain vowels at certain pitches. I kept thanking her and she told me that she LIKES doing it, that it gives her joy to help a singer improve. The way she kept telling me the good things - my breath control, the sound for most of the song, how relaxed and natural I seemed, and then how when she told me what needed improvement she said that other people have the same problems - it shows me what a good teacher she is. She didn't just get up and tell me what I had to fix - she told me what was good and made me feel like I wasn't the only one needing to fix something. The psychiatry behind teaching is so important!

I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow. Just keep thinking, Julia Child. It's funny because when I was a kid my mom and I would watch her show together and at the end when she said, "Bon Appetit!" and then the music would start, we'd just burst out laughing like it was the silliest thing we'd ever heard. And that image comes to mind every time I remember yesterday's advice. But the important thing is, it works! I put some Julia into my singing and voila! The dish had added flavor. Another reason it made me laugh was because I used to pretend to be an opera singer as a kid and that's how I'd sing. Who knew that all that pretending would come in handy 35 years later.

So slowly, slowly, I'm starting to believe.