all together now

I seem to need music more than ever in my life.

“When your mother gives you confidence about anything that you do, you carry that confidence with you.” — Gene Wilder

Over the Christmas season  I was reminded the value of singing, purely for the pleasure of it. An acquaintance shared how important it is for her to sing. My granddaughter and I sang together in the car. I remembered how my mother used to sing. I remembered how I used to sing.

Our voice is a key component of who we are and using our voice reflects our mood and general well-being. Singing provides an outlet for our feelings so it’s a cathartic activity whether we’re singing in the shower, while cooking dinner, walking in the forest, or boldly in a choir. Singing should not be reserved for the elite, for the pros. No, it should be — and IS — for us all.

“As long as I am singing … it’s as if I’m inhabiting another reality.”  “I become temporarily suspended in a world where everything bad is bearable, and everything good feels possible.” — Stacy Horn

I agree with Stacy Horn. When I sing, I’m transported to a different plane. There is a colour to it. A feeling. A freedom.

“The only thing better than singing is more singing.” — Ella Fitzgerald.

Singing doesn’t need to be perfect. It simply needs to be put into the world, your world, our world. Sure, I’m no Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah McLaughlin but I’m going to shed my inhibitions and, if the mood strikes, I plan to sing more in my life. All together now …

11 Surprising Reasons Singing is Good for You

Music in My Mother’s House

© Stuart Stotts

There were windchimes in the window, bells inside the clock
An organ in the corner, tunes in the music box
We sang while we were cooking, or working in the yard
We sang although our lives were really hard

{Refrain}
There was music in my mother’s house
There was music all around
There was music in my mother’s house
And my heart still feels full with the sound

She taught us all piano, but my sister had the ear
She could play the harmony to any tune she’d hear
Now I don’t claim much talent, but I’ve always loved to play
And I guess I will until my dying day

{Refrain}

Those days come back so clearly, although I’m far away
She gave me the kind of gift I love to give away
And when my mother died, and she’d sung her last song
We sat in the living room, singing all night long

Singing la la la, la la
Singing the front porch songs
Singing the old torch songs
Singing the hymns to send her home

{Refrain}