I awoke the other morning to the sun shining brightly and birds chirping. I was never a fan of springtime growing up. I found it to be so rainy and dull and muddy. But in the last few years I’ve found myself eagerly anticipating the spring season. Perhaps it’s because after a long Ottawa Winter I’m ready to get outside and revel in the warmer weather. I have acquired somewhat of a green thumb like my father and once the spring weather arrives I can’t wait to get out in the garden and dig deep into the ground and feel the soil with my fingers. I like to feel the earth beneath my fingertips and I feel so at peace when I work my hands into the ground. And I love watching our garden slowly wake up and come back to life after the long winter.
As an artist, spring can be a time of renewal and awakening, as well as a time for reflection and “digging deep” within. Spring is celebrated musically with a plethora of concerts and performances here in Ottawa. My most recent performance, a concert entitled “In the Key of 3” featured a program of art songs and also raised funds for Harmony House, a local women’s shelter offering safe, longer-term housing and support for abused women and their children fleeing violent situations. When I embarked on this most recent performance project, it was important for all of the performers (myself included) to have a purpose and a reason for doing the concert. For me, it was not only an opportunity to support other women in our community, but it was also a chance to “dig deep” inside, to connect with my emotions and to share those emotions with an audience.
Reflecting back on the concert, I think it was also a bit of an “awakening ” for me as a singer, finally giving myself both a reason and the permission to move on to new and bigger repertoire. This concert gave me the motivation I really needed over the past few months to really “dig deep” and to really start to connect with my voice on a much deeper level than ever before. I am starting to finally understand what it is to really feel my voice – like the feeling of communing with the earth and really feeling the soil in my fingers.
On the heels of this recent concert, I am looking forward the coming spring season and to digging even deeper to explore, connect with and to really feel my voice, and I look forward to hearing from others who are also experiencing their own artistic awakening.