Who Stole Your Song

Yesterday I was at the grocery store, when the guy bagging my groceries started singing a popular Sarah McLachlan song.  He looked at me and asked me to join in with him (I do live in Nashville ... a.k.a. Music City, USA! ). With everything in me, I wanted to belt it out, but couldn’t.

You see, I am a singer with vocal problems. The last few years have been rough vocally and, a few months ago, I was even struggling to talk. I have worked with vocal coaches and breathing experts. I do a myriad of strange exercises for the voice, I’ve started swimming, and I vocalize regularly. My speaking voice is stronger,  but my singing problem is still a mystery. In August I will visit the Vanderbilt Voice Clinic and, hopefully, finally get an official diagnosis.

I have good and bad days, but it’s all very frustrating, because everything I do depends on my voice.  I believe I’m dealing with something much like Shania Twain. If you haven’t heard her story, she also lost her voice. Hopefully,  it looks as though she is getting it back.

Everything I thought I would be doing during this season of my life is on hold. My plans did not pan out. I cannot sing the song that is in my heart. So I’ve been singing a different tune lately: I’m painting! I'm also building a business to encourage creatives in their marketing pursuits. My song is now being sung in new and different ways. Most of the time, I’m fine with it. Today, I’m not. I miss singing.

What song do you long to sing? Have circumstances, difficulties or a lack of funds stolen your song? Is there an ache inside you to do something that you simply cannot do?

What do you do with that disappointment? Do you ignore it or deal with it? I’m doing all I can to get my voice back. What are you doing to get your song back?

"Most people die with the music still in them."  Oliver Wendell Holmes

Don’t let life go by with your deep desires buried inside. You were created with a song to sing and to be fully alive you MUST sing it. Life has a way of silencing our song, but we must be intentional and fight to get it back. Some of us don’t even know the song anymore? We can’t even hear it.

Here is the rest of the quote: "Most people die with the music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out."  Oliver Wendell Holmes

Determine to set aside some time to listen to your heart. What is the song? It may be faint, but odds are, if you listen long enough . . . you will hear it again.