No one is alone. (Cue Sondheim! ☺️🎶)

Do you ever feel like you are the only one who has fears and insecurities around your voice?

Like other people have got it together and you are the only one struggling to make it “be fun”, to have the career you are desiring, or feel more ease and joy in your voice?  

Or maybe make peace with the changes you are noticing?

The voice is pretty complicated.

It brings up stuff.

Emotions. Insecurities. Grief. Blocks.

Angelina Jolie, who will be portraying Maria Callas in an upcoming movie titled ‘Maria’, recently gave an honest interview with Variety about the insecurities she experienced around her voice and the emotions it brought up. (Thank you Marni for alerting me to it!) To prepare for the role she spent 7 months taking voice lessons. At her first lesson, she said she got very emotional.

“I took a deep breath, and I let out a sound, and I started crying,” she said.

“I think we all don’t realize how much we hold inside our bodies, and how much we carry and how much that affects our sound and our voice and our ability to make sound,” she continued.

“Honestly, I think I would tell a lot of people before you try therapy and spend too much time there, go to singing class.”

“The unexpected therapeutic side of singing”, Jolie said, “had the power to heal.”

This speaks to the power singing has for ourselves! The power we hold within us to do that work, be that vulnerable, and scale the depths of our souls.

It does require solitary work.

Time to explore and dig deep.

But knowing you are not alone in the process is vital to having those break throughs. Whether that be with a a trusted teacher, someone you feel safe with or within a group, it’s so valuable to feel the support of those cheering you on, feeling the comradery and the understanding.

The students I have going through A Course in Joyful Singing are experiencing that holding. That support for one another. 

Our Monday Night Singing Group all experience the love and judgement free support from ALL the members that’s necessary to feel safe to be brave.

Because I am a voice teacher and mindset coach and NOT a therapist, I strive to hold safe spaces where singers can possibly experience the powerful side effect of connecting to the voice; a healing for themselves.

The healing that comes from within.

The act of facing those questions you may have about your creative practice, connecting to your voice, and being brave and daring to make sound can unleash something. Something unexpected. Possibly transformative.

Angelina Jolie apparently experienced that.

As have countless others; I’ve witnessed it.

I encourage you to find your singing tribe.

Connect with those you feel safe with to share and grow with.

Maybe it’s with a trusted voice teacher.

Maybe in a group setting.

Just know, you are not alone.

Have a wonderful week!

Erin

P.S.  If you are interested in knowing more about the Monday Night Singing Group, A Course in Joyful Singing, or private voice lessons, visit my Coaching Page.