Emerging Courageous Online Magazine - Stories
The Soaring Heart © 2003, 2004 by Julie Jordan Scott
The voice from within intoned "Your voice is significant. Your
dreams are significant. You are significant." It was almost like hearing
James Earl Jones booming directly into my body. It was a
feeling-hearing rather than a biological hearing. Freshly painted white
walls and the smell of newly laid carpeting filled my senses as water threatened
to overflow from my eyes.
My voice teacher immediately got nervous because she thought my tears were a
result of her actions. She thought I was afraid
of the task in front of me.
"No, no, no. Its not that at all, it's not that." I paused to
catch my breath.
"Oh, then. The song?"
My dear teacher held a hint of a question at the end of her words.
"No, no..its just that..its just..I am crying tears of joy, of honor,
of gratitude that I am finally doing something that I have always wanted to
do and this.this exact moment is the outcome."
In that moment, I stepped into a dream.
At Girl Scout Camp many years ago I became the radio alternative, singing
for the other girls in the "media starved" setting.
I frequently sang for any group of Pre-Teens choosing from my carte du
jour of Carly Simon, Carol King and an occasional
song from Girls Chorus at Glen Ridge Middle School.
In High School, I was a leader in the Choir because I have a wide vocal
range and I stayed out of everyone's business. I didn't get involved with
the choir clique: I was there for one reason.
I wanted to sing.
Once I "grew up" I stopped singing regularly.
In the early to mid 90's, I publicly sang for an audience twice. Once I
sang karaoke on a cruise ship and another time I helped out the choir director
of my church singing a duet on short notice.
Each time I sang my heart soared.
Each time after I sang I collected my soaring heart and carefully put it
back inside my chest where I thought it belonged.
It felt more comfortable to me to have it there. It was more
familiar than this heart soaring stuff. It felt comfortable.
As I reached into my late 30's, I wanted an activity all my
children could share even with their wildly divergent ages.
My karaoke singing adventure began.Yes, people poke fun at karaoke. At the
same time, it is one of the most fun ways to spend an evening with your friends
and family. In a short period of time I can move from Country to 70's Singers to
Rock and Roll and to Inspirational. Karaoke is "just for fun". I can
sing with reckless abandon, accept compliments all night long. Its a
blast. And it is just not the same as taking a voice class and taking the
craft of singing seriously enough to pay money for the privilege.
In honoring my desire to be heard in all aspects of my life, taking voice
classes honored my desire to allow my heart to soar freely, to get lost in the
music, to join with the divine to create a sound far better than I can create on
my own.
I also know that each time I honor a dream by taking some sort of
tangible, measurable action I receive rewards for that action. Sometimes
those returns aren't discovered immediately. Going back to the feeling-hearing I
mentioned initially, there is a feeling-trust which speaks to me saying,
"Keep following, keep listening actively and remain open - the
feeling-compensation
comes as you are open to it being received."
It is nearly a year since I took my first voice class. What I didn't
know back then was this particular chapter of heart soaring was a door opening
experience rather than an arrival.
That's how destiny takes form. It is a path - a journey - a flow
which we are able to join in one of many places. It is our choice to join
our destiny so that our heart, our spirit, our livelihood, our relationships,
our life and breath itself - will soar.
In two and a half weeks I will be joining an incredible group of actors
presenting "Into the Woods", a musical play written by Stephen
Sondheim and James Lapine. I have the marvelous joy of playing Jack's
Mother: as in the mother of the little boy who climbs the beanstalk and meets a
Giant.
You see, I followed my destiny into my Voice Class which lead me to an
Acting Class. I didn't really want to take the Acting class. I
thought it was like being thrown a bone because there was no voice class to
take. I fetched it, anyway, figuring "I want to continue to stretch my
creativity. This is one way to do it."
This choice: to continue to follow my destiny and stretch creatively lead
me to the class which lead me to the audition which lead me to casting which
lead me to so many amazing, syncronistic "this-has-to-be-divine"
experiences and coincidences I can not begin to express them all here.
Even in the moments when I sat here writing this piece it happened. How
else can I explain the sound clip for the CD on Amazon.com includes a clip with
my vocal part - Jack's Mom - which is not a starring character but more of a
supporting character -- as a feature you can listen to online. The folks
on Amazon.com only used a 60 second sound clip of the more
than 12 minute song and it's "my" clip which I can now share by
linking to it so you can hear a part of my experience?
Coincidence?
Or is destiny nodding its head, giving me another reward?
I am hearing something else. This something else involves you.
Destiny wants to speak to you. Your destiny might not sound like
James Earl Jones. Your destiny in its dearest most vivid and beautiful
form is calling to you.
It is saying "Your voice is significant. Your dreams are
significant.You are significant."
Now it is your turn to answer.
By Julie Jordan Scott [email protected]
====
To listen to the Audio Clips of "Into the Woods" at Amazon.com,
click on this link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002WAB/5passionscom-20
***
*Reprinted with permission
***
Home
| New
Stories | Story
Archive | New
Poetry | Poetry
Archive | Quotes
| Affirmations
| Nourish Your
Soul | Tribute
To America | My
Journey | Newsletters
| You Like Me
| Submit Your
Work
******