July 2006
What I Did on My Summer Vacation
What a wonderful vacation I had! I've gone away for two weeks in the past but I have always brought my PC along to check email and called my voice mail periodically to respond to urgent messages. This time I left everything behind and went to Italy. Amazingly nothing traumatic happened. My practice and I survived.
In deciding what I wanted to do with my vacation time I searched for something totally different from anything I normally do in my day to day practice. I was looking for a complete change of routine. Relaxing on a Villa in Italy and singing sounded like the perfect change! What could be better than being part of a voice and movement workshop!
There was a challenge to the workshop. I would have to perform a solo at the end to an audience of workshop participants, workshop leaders, villa owners and a few guests. It was a bit daunting but the 12 days of preparation before the performance sounded like fun. At least I knew I would be well prepared for the performance even if it still sounded scary.
Well I did get the change in routine that I was looking for. There were no TVs, radios, telephones or computers. The pace was leisurely, the scenery spectacular and the food always delicious. What really amazed me however is that as much as I thought the workshop (singing) was unrelated to my practice I could see parallels all along the way. (The parallels are in parenthesis)
First I chose a song called "I have Confidence" from the Sound of Music. Julie Andrews sings it just before she meets the Baron and his children. She is feeling a bit nervous about being a governess. It was a perfect song for me since I was feeling a bit nervous (more than a bit!) about the singing. The song gave me courage! (Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway is the title of a book by Susan Jeffers and one I recommend to clients. I was following my own advice!)
The workshop leaders encouraged the participants to sing their song in their own way. They asked us, "What do you want the audience to feel when you sing your song?" For my song I wanted the audience to feel my self doubt initially building to my confident self at the end. To sound even more like myself they used a lower key than I normally sing. I usually sing soprano but this time they wanted me to sing in a range in line with my normal speaking voice. The instructor suggested I visualize giving my "I can do it and so can you" message to my grandchildren. (Evoking an emotion is a marketing skill too. It helps sell a product. Learning to do that well is great skill to have.)
We were each encouraged to sing our song in our own way. One participant chose a Frank Sinatra song and wanted to sing it as Sinatra sang it. He really sounded like him! It took him a while to get away from imitating Frank and to make the song his own. (Modeling a business after another successful one will get the owner started but it is being different that makes the business stand out from the others.)
The workshop also had movement classes and each day we focused on moving a different part of the body. The movement was gentle but it was meant to remind us that we had many parts to us such as a rib cage, a spine, legs etc. Singing is something you do with your whole body even though most of us think we sing only with our voice box or throat. (Knowledge workers too often think they just use their heads in making decisions in their work. Getting in tune with the rest of the body gives us many ways to "read" a person, a case, or an idea. Intuition is an important part of business acumen and doesn't come from logical (head) thinking.)
Finally I am now fully aware of how important the audience is to a live performance. Normally given the opportunity I tell a performer after the performance how much I enjoyed it. While this is nice to do one professional performer who was a participant in the workshop told me how much greater the impact was to receive positive feedback from the audience while she was performing. Smiling, clapping, and looking like you are really enjoying the music are a few ways to express it. (One aspect of being a good client is to be appreciative. The best practitioners limit themselves to accepting only good clients.)
My original goal for this workshop was to fully enjoy the experience of performing. While I didn't quite accomplish that (I was still scared when I got up to do my solo), I did give a solid performance. When I finished I really felt good about my singing! No negative voices saying I could have done it better. Just the wonderful feeling of satisfaction of knowing I did the very best I could and a very appreciative audience telling me I had done it well!
Take Action
- What is challenging in your life right now? What do you want to do about it?
- Do you feel fear related to overcoming your challenge? Read the book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers
- How will you feel when your challenge has been overcome? How will you feel if you don't overcome the challenge? Can you use either emotion to overcome your challenge?
- What is your intuition telling you about your challenge?
- If you think you need help with your challenge, hire a coach!