Dear Reader,
Due to Hurricane Ian, I've extended the deadline for this year's Write a DearReader Contest until October 11th. You'll find all the contest info, including last year's winning entries at: http://www.dearreader.com/contest2022/index.html
A few times in my life, when I did something without thinking at all--when I lost all sense of self--the task somehow became effortless. When that's happened, it's always proved to be some of my best work.
I used to sing in public. Nothing fancy--in churches, at funerals and weddings. I had some moments when I was quite good, but most of the time I felt like I was going to throw up for days in advance and consequently my singing suffered. I finally accepted the fact that singing just wasn't a good match for me. But my final performance, on a Good Friday afternoon in a church service, turned out to be one of those effortless, magical moments.
I was a nervous wreck all the way to the church and things got worse when I was sitting in the pew waiting for my turn in the program. But somehow when my accompanist started playing, I lost all sense of the fact that I was standing up in front of a church filled with people--and I sang like I'd never sung before. I didn't have to work to remember the words, I could feel them. They effortlessly came to me. I almost brought myself to tears.
After the service, a friend of my mother's--who knew me when I was a kid--walked up to me and said, "Suzanne, I never knew you had that in you." "To be honest," I told her, "I didn't either. I'm just as amazed as you."
The ongoing challenge for me is to figure out how I can get to 'that place' more often. But it's an ironic quest, because if I 'make the effort' then I won't be able to get there.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
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