What will you do, for YOU?

Christmas Eve musings...

As we continue into the holiday season and look into the new year,  it's time.

Time for what,  you ask?

Time to assess,  take stock,  re-organize,  re-group, perhaps.

The big question that keeps coming back to me is:  what are you willing to do,  for YOU?

Don't start the answer with "but"...

What does investment look like to you,  FOR you?

We are complex creatures and have many facets that create the WHO.  Do you acknowledge that,  or do you dismiss some of it?

How do you speak to yourself?

What do you say?

How do you pose yourself?

What needs to change in order for YOU to do what you say you are meant to do?  What you want to do?  What you desire to do?

So many questions...that's what I do.

So, let's get down to it, as it pertains to voice specifically.

How prepared are you?  I mean,  really prepared.  Do you know the difference between learning an aria and actually being able to do the role?

Do you know more than the 16/32 bar cut?  Do you know the full song?  

Because,  my darlings,  here is the big "what if".  What if you get the job?  Can you do the full job?

So,  what will you do,  for YOU?

Do you have the technical development of voice, physicality,  endurance, sustainability,  strength to do the job that you so much want to have?

What do you do, for YOU, to build that development,  so that when the opportunity allows for you to walk through that door,  YOU. ARE. READY???

How do you get ready?

You plan.  You study.  You do.  Rinse and repeat.

You learn how you learn.  You figure out what you need to do to create consistency in your artistic and technical development world.  Knowledge is power and that kind of knowledge gives you the tools you need to build a role,  develop a character,  sustain a grueling show schedule,  work with a professional mindset,  oh,  and actually have true technical behavior that THRIVES in any environment you find yourself!

Discovering what YOU need is first and foremost.  Don't put the cart before the horse!  

What does your voice DO?  How do you learn?  What is in your way?  How do you recognize that?  Then what do you need to do,  for YOU?

The more of YOU that comes into the room,  into the studio,  into the class,  without excuse, but with a freedom to learn and access, the more authentic the integration of YOU.

Authenticity isn't about perfection.  It's about realization and embracing all of it, and working with it all!  Authenticity isn't about excuses.  It's not about attitude.  It's not about jazz hands.

Authenticity is about what YOU do.  What you TRULY do,  in order to discover what you CAN do and why.

So, what will you do?  What commitment are you willing to make to yourself, in order to discover and reveal more of that authenticity?  more consistency?  more truth?  

What will you do to find the craft and the technical behavior that takes you past the worry or the confusion,  to embody the character,  the show,  the demand,  without fear because you KNOW what to DO and how to access your craft and your voice without fear.

Being oblivious is not technique.  "It's good enough" is not technique.  "I'll figure it out later" is not technique.  Nor is it being an artist.

If you say you are an artist,  then be one.

If you say you want a career,  then prepare for one.

If you prepare and ARE - then you will have done and will continue to honor your craft and your journey each day,  each audition,  each opportunity.  

You don't need to be the best.  You simply have to be the best YOU that you can be, every single time.

So,  as you close out this year and begin to look ahead - keep looking inward and commit to YOU.  Find out what you need,  and simply DO that. 

If it truly matters,  there is no excuse,  no explanation,  no complication: You just DO YOU.

And I hear that quiet voice in the back ask:  yes, but Susan, what does that mean?

And that, my darling snowflakes,  is the first question to ask...