One beautiful voice

What a gift it is to be so present in our listening that we don’t hear all the voices of the judging mind, the wounded heart, the tired body. What a gift to hear only the precision of the phonation, the ring of overtones, the fluid stretch of the breath over the soft beating of time in the phrase of expression. What a gift to be so wholly concentrated in creating that we feel we are being played as an instrument by some inspired and compassionate part of our selves that has no desire but to uplift.

This is the true purpose of technical study: to be so immersed in this gift that it is all we share every time we speak or sing. No matter what archetype we are animating, no matter what story we are telling, no matter what jagged or liquid melody we are offering, its potential is to be medicine. An accomplished performer can share treasures of the heart and throw open the doors to unlimited imagination.

This, and nothing less, is what happens when vowels are complete and resonant on every pitch, when the breath is quiet and perfectly paced, when the body is aligned and engaged. The hours of practice are not to gain recognition for excellence, but to disappear behind excellence so that a deeper creative spirit can emerge to enrich first you, and then others.

Give no mind to the voices of misgiving and concerns that tempt you to diminish your message. Listen today for the alignment and congruence of your one beautiful voice so that it may be free to give, with joy and humility, what you have been privileged to experience in your hours and life of practice.