Today, in this place of taking care of myself, I see a much truer and more sustainable vision of strength. We are stronger when we are nourished, healthy, and have a good community to collaborate with.

Often, when one is in the novice phase of any new endeavor, the overall idea seems straightforward and simple: all we need is a guide or teacher to help us get going and we’ll be on our way, right? It is challenging when a student first jumps into voice lessons assuming that a couple of tricks is all it takes to get them going on their dream. As someone who has spent decades of dedicated study, rigorous practice, iteration, and overhauls, it is almost offensive when someone expects to master those coordinations with some magical voice lesson. I was teaching a lesson of this nature when the image of a canyon came to mind and I love it as a metaphor for building patience in our learning process.

Maps are representations of territories made by people who have done their own research and exploration. When we are following driving directions and google maps tells us to continue onto a closed road, we follow the territory and the map adjusts. This concept can be useful for much more. We are given “maps” for career/academic directions, societal expectations, news/politics/world views, etc. but rarely do we step back and see it as information that was already curated and simplified, let alone ask ourselves who is the cartographer.