Singer, Heal Thyself!

Singers are often told how their voice helps others, but do we know how to use it to help ourselves?

Singers what do you do when you face a major personal crisis- or as I prefer to call it death plague and pestilence? What do you do when you are in such shock that no sound will come out when you try to sing?

You stay quiet and listen to the songs that make themselves known to your mind.

A few days after Hurricane Katrina and failed New Orleans levees had left my home soaking in 10 feet of water, someone asked me to sing. But nothing would come out.
This had never happened to me before. I then realized I was in shock.

So as I sat quietly with my daughter, I began to hear a faint sound in my head. Then I became aware that something had been playing in the back of my mind all day, Was it the hymn I wanted to sing that day? Was it the Art Songs I had been working on before Katrina? No! Another hymn was there. It gave me permission to cry out to God. "I Need thee Every Hour" was there in my head. And there I let it play until I could bring it to the outside. Until I could cry, and until the sounds made it my lips. I later added it to my CD because it was salvation for me.

Time after time, I have experienced emotional healing from song lyrics that enter my mind. The songs are gifts that come after deep sorrow- when I need them most. They are not always Hymns, but are always to the point. They often move me to positive action and life affirming decisions. I have learned to stop and listen.

When I was in college at Loyola, my Father told me that no matter what happened in my life, I would always have my music. In addition to studying voice, I was a music therapy major. So I thought he was speaking about career. His words turned out to be gospel in my life.

Be still and listen fellow singers, you may be surprised at what you hear!