Question & Discover
I ask the singers in my studio many questions as we work.
Why?
Because it allows us to discover together how they are sensing their bodies, their voices, their instruments, their psyches, their fears, their pre-conceived ideas, their ah-ha moments, their ability to stay pliable, and more and more and more!
Questioning for the sake of questioning can be annoying, if you aren’t ready and able to listen for the answer. However, if your question stems from an acknowledgement and a place of truth to really get to the crux of the matter, then ask away!
The answers might surprise you; they may delight you; they may reassure you; they may challenge you; they may mystify you. YOU fill in the blanks!
Questions allow progress. Questions build space to explore.
Having the space, taking the space, and providing the space to discover a possible answer, or another question is crucial for the artist to grow.
Being told to not ask questions, being told to stop, being told “that’s wrong”, being told there is only one way to do something eliminates all discovery. It creates stagnation, barriers, walls, tension. The exact opposite of what we need to create.
Work with your questions. Listen for the question. Sometimes the answer will be immediate and sometimes it won’t. Sometimes that answer will change as you sit with the question longer.
Here’s a little secret: the journey of discovery - be it technique, be it career journey, be it anything that has to do with your artistic life - is flexible, pliable, and uniquely about YOU. It is not one way. It is not someone else’s way. It is YOUR discovery.
This what makes it so incredibly fabulous and so incredibly annoying!!!!
So ask questions, get another’s perspective, and then begin to explore for yourself!
If someone says “don’t” - ask why and LISTEN for the answers. If someone says “do” - ask why and LISTEN for those answers too.
Your artistic life demands YOU to be present in it. That journey belongs to NO ONE BUT YOU.
with fondness & fierceness,
