Last night I did karaoke for the first time. There I was, with my Adele-like voice, singing Yellow Submarine by the Beatles in front of my work colleagues. Performances two was Billy Joel's Piano Man and by the third song, I was rocking out with a colleague to Love Shack by the B-52's. I always hated that wedding classic so butchering it in karaoke was sort of satisfying. And by-the-way, loving a song doesn't mean you can sing it.
What does it take to sing in front of your colleagues? Or any group of people? For me, it was only a matter of one glass of wine and a few bad singers preceding me. "Hrrmph...I can sing at least as bad as that; probably better." I'm actually fairly willing to look silly or foolish in front of my peers. I don't want the be the class clown, but this kind of activity builds camaraderie. We sang and laughed for two hours. My biggest handicap is not my voice. It's my storage file of song titles and the artists who sing them. It's about as big as an ancient floppy disk. I never valued assigning precious brain cells to that kind of information. And yet, I can sing many songs. I just don't know their title. "Wanna do Stronger by Kelly Clarkson?" Me: "I dunno, can you hum a few bars?"
Silliness is not a time-waster. I think it changes brain chemistry for a period of time -- probably because the laughter accompanying it brings in more oxygen? It opens new channels and allows new ideas in. There is a quote, "Faith is the willingness to look foolish." This is most often included in stories about that crazy Noah, building an ark in the middle of the desert. But it has application here. To be silly in front of colleagues is to have faith that they will also enjoy the fun in the spirit intended and not be filming your performance with their iPhone to save for your retirement party. Go ahead..have faith. Be ridiculous. The more ridiculous the better. I promise I won't take a photo or blog about it.
What does it take to sing in front of your colleagues? Or any group of people? For me, it was only a matter of one glass of wine and a few bad singers preceding me. "Hrrmph...I can sing at least as bad as that; probably better." I'm actually fairly willing to look silly or foolish in front of my peers. I don't want the be the class clown, but this kind of activity builds camaraderie. We sang and laughed for two hours. My biggest handicap is not my voice. It's my storage file of song titles and the artists who sing them. It's about as big as an ancient floppy disk. I never valued assigning precious brain cells to that kind of information. And yet, I can sing many songs. I just don't know their title. "Wanna do Stronger by Kelly Clarkson?" Me: "I dunno, can you hum a few bars?"
Silliness is not a time-waster. I think it changes brain chemistry for a period of time -- probably because the laughter accompanying it brings in more oxygen? It opens new channels and allows new ideas in. There is a quote, "Faith is the willingness to look foolish." This is most often included in stories about that crazy Noah, building an ark in the middle of the desert. But it has application here. To be silly in front of colleagues is to have faith that they will also enjoy the fun in the spirit intended and not be filming your performance with their iPhone to save for your retirement party. Go ahead..have faith. Be ridiculous. The more ridiculous the better. I promise I won't take a photo or blog about it.