My birthday muse.

My birthday is this Saturday, July 2nd!   As I look back on the past ten years or so, I remember, mostly, spending the summers at a music festivals singing opera and musical theater---probably five or six different companies in my young career.  I always felt growing up that I got the shaft because my birthday is in the summer....Oh, how that opinion quickly changes when surrounded by artists and colleagues.  If you've never had an apartment or any other space filled with the sound of many opera singers crushing Happy Birthday, you have lacked an amazing experience. High notes, low notes, harmony--all at the decibel level of a 747 jet!!

These relationships that I have built with colleagues in the singing world run deep.  Some have to compartmentalize so that when the summer comes to a close the emptiness that follows doesn't depress them.  I connect immediately and openly, and I really miss the friendships that I have made over the years, especially those who live far away.  If there is any drawback to this summer filled with art it is missing Elizabeth, my family, and my home.  One trades one for the other in pursuit of a career in this ever-changing amoeba we call opera singing.

These past two summers have been spent here at home.  Some in my field would say that not singing during the summer is a failure...Not so!  Although I miss the performing and the connections with colleagues, I'm so happy to be around my family and my extended running/triathlon/fitness family that I have developed over the past two years.  What's so wonderful about connecting with other athletes is that it doesn't matter what walk of life/religion/political affiliation/et al you are---you share a very important bond.   Running/triathlon training and racing really is a lot like performing.  It is very personal because in singing your instrument is you.  In athletic events and training, you are the motor, you are the power, you are the sweat, you are the tears of joy, sorrow, anguish, and empathy.

Just as quickly as my friends in the "business" come to my rescue, my friends in the athletic community do exactly the same but in much closer proximity.  I have noticed so many amazing things happening in my running club, the Suncoast Striders.   In my head, I see so many different faces from so many different areas of the world and the United States.  When someone gets injured, they are quick to encourage.  When the loved one of a member becomes ill, they are quick to console.  When someone experiences tragedy, they support and love.  I have experienced this firsthand on many levels:  injury, sickness, losing friends to cancer, frustration with the business of singing.

In the classical singing community, the same holds true.  If one of us experiences loss/sickness/injury we rally around them and lift them up.  My voice teacher, Susan Eichhorn Young and her lovely husband Thomas were almost killed in a car accident last week.  How quickly life can be taken away in the blink of an eye, in the flash of steel and metal.  We are fragile human beings---it is okay to be this way.  The body is an amazing truth in this world---it can heal itself, but with the love and energy from those with whom the injured person has connected, the healing is expedited.  Coincidence?  No way.  The day to day frustrations that I experienced these past ten days or so pale in comparison to what others have had to go through recently (injury, tragedy, uphill battles against cancer).  Perspective is what keeps me grounded, and connections with people are what fuel me.

Three days before my birthday I am in a state of reflection.  I am in the best shape of my life.  I am singing better than I have ever sung (coincidence?  maybe..).  My performance and life anxiety are under control (well, we all have our days, don't we?  Let's be real here...).   My voice students are making more progress than I could have ever imagined. Is it the positive light and energy that I try so hard every day to surround myself with?  Is it my best friend, wife, and constant Elizabeth?   Is it the support of my classical singing and instrumental friends?  Is it the love of my blood family?  Is it the love from my athletic family?


YES.  And I am so grateful for it all.

Now, get outside, get moving, and GETCHUSOMMADAT!