No. 82

What is "off the mark non-singing"? There really is no such thing! In fact, even someone who says they cannot sing and will not sing is "on the mark" when it comes to singing, because their Source is 100% capable of singing and therefore they are already singing, through their latent Source. This is why I always smile when someone tells me they can't sing. It's about pure potentiality. For whether we allow it fully or not, the Source of who we are is always singing. So, in a way, whenever we attempt to sing we ARE singing perfectly! The degree to which we allow ourselves to truly sing determines the percentage of authenticity in the sound. Even if someone sings with only .01% authenticity, that .01% makes the singing authentic! That's why we never have to worry if we're on the mark or not, because we ARE on the mark...all we have to do is become as much as possible one with the mark itself. Become the Source of music and you are always 100% "on".

This knowledge is incredibly empowering, because when we listen to a singer that seems to be impeded in some way on their path to true expression, we have a broader perspective that does not allow us to label anyone's singing "bad" or "off"...the singer's voice can only be somewhere along the path of its development toward freedom, and what could be "bad" or "off" about that?

But what about the person without vocal cords? Or the one who breathes or speaks with difficulty? Well, I say the presence of life is the presence of song, and every living thing, as long as there is life in it, is singing, just by being alive! What a fantabulous thing it is to be a singer, where our one and only job is to find out how to be more and more alive, until music flows through us in song like it was merely breath, the most basic thing of our human existence.

Lately I've been listening to Beverly Hoch, a coloratura that Jean-Ronald recommended I listen to. If I've ever seen and heard a singer who is at the 100% allowing-the-music place, it is her! In fact, I think she is teaching me a new scale of measuring greatness when it comes to listening to singers. She, in her simple joy and authenticity, inspired this post. Thank you Jean-Ronald for this awesome treasure!