Life is better on our feet: sing a song of resilience

Like so many people, in so many different fields, choir leaders have had a tough time over the last year and a half.

We’ve had to pivot, to come up with new, COVID-safe ways of uniting our singers, we’ve had to adapt financially as our businesses took a serious hit.

And we’ve had to do it all without the emotional life buoy that singing, in person, with our beautiful choirs usually represents.

Essentially, we’ve been brought to our knees.

Of course, it’s not just us.

I think we ALL have that feeling that we blinked at some point in March 2020 and as we did so, we were knocked to the ground, left confused, shaken, and wondering what in the world just happened.

And we’ve struggled to get back up ever since.

Which is why I want to share the key takeaway from a talk that I gave fellow choir leaders on the topic of resilience:

That with self-compassion and trust, we can get back up again.

You see, resilience starts with self-compassion. When we acknowledge that we’ve been knocked to the ground and are on our knees, when we truly see where we are right now, we can choose to look up. We can see that life is better on our feet than on the ground.

And we can grant ourselves the kindness, the grace, and the patience we need to start lifting ourselves up.

We see this reflected in music all the time, particularly during improv sessions. At times we feel lost, like we’ve had the stuffing knocked out of us, that we just aren’t performing well enough.

Yet, when we approach improv from a place of compassion — for ourselves and for those around us — we again discover the kindness, the grace, and the patience we need to find our freedom in the music. We find the resilience we need to keep showing up, to keep performing.

In fact, improv is the greatest demonstrator of the other key factor in building resilience:

Trust.

Trust in ourselves. And trust in the fact that the past is not a predictor of the future.

That time you were knocked to your feet at work, in life, as the result of the pandemic? It tells you nothing about what comes next. Because just as you never know where the music is going to take you, you never know where life will take you.

There will be elements that surprise you, notes that challenge you, performances that amaze you, songs that knock you down or make you soar. There will be messy bits and magical bits in equal measure.

And that’s why it’s so wonderful. That’s why it’s unique. That’s why you just have to love it all, knowing that with self-compassion and self-trust, you’ll always — ALWAYS — find the strength to get back onto your feet again.

In improv…and in life.

I’d love to help you embrace the messiness, the magic, and everything in between at one of my in-person choir sessions or coaching conversations. Find the right fit for you here.