Ever feel like something is not quite right? Like something is missing? Even if you have the perfect job with good pay, good friends, but still feel like…hmmm, something is missing from your life. I’ve been trying to settle into a nice comfortable routine but this missing thing won’t leave me alone. If you ever get that same nagging feeling…pay attention. It may be your dream, your calling, your destiny. And although everything in your life is going smoothly, it is hard not to listen to the voice that tells you that something could have been different.
That was me a few years ago. I was under the spell of everything is fine…BUT. Yes, the big but was looming and present and annoying at times. And while I may not appear to need for anything, there is always that sinking feeling that I am not where I need to be. My parents always told me to go after my dreams, or simply, to do what I want. I went to business school to further my career in the corporate world. However, I admit that I have not always been honest with myself because I wanted to sing. Then there was the whole thing with being diagnosed with VCD (Vocal Chord Dysfunction). Damn.
Singing has always been a part of me. Almost every memory I have of having fun with my family and friends have to do with us singing together or going to those karaoke places. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the first thing that I ever memorized, even before I began going to school, was a simple song. I was too young to understand the lyrics and the meaning of the song, but the music and the rhythm moved me to sing. These childhood dreams were shot down because I had to put the needs of my family first. So, a career in singing wasn’t a part of it. Starving artists can make it on their own. Not with a family in tote. So even if I wanted to sing, I knew that it would not be a practical choice. Besides, I severely doubted my own talent back then…
Now however, being stable and being able to do the things that I want, I know that it is the right time to pursue that dream. I have approached a professional voice coach that was recommended by a friend of mine, and I could say that I am enjoying myself. Even if I am not the perfect student and my teacher says that I still have a lot of training to do, the simple fact that I am able to sing has given me a new kind of freedom and a new high that I have never experienced in my professional career.
I have met new friends in my new pursuit of happiness; I have felt new highs, even experienced new levels of excitement and a sense of fulfillment. I am not there yet, but I know that I am on the path to where I was always meant to be. Life can be unexpected. We have to live with whatever it throws us, but it does not mean that we can’t hit back. Just like the successful show host Jon Stewart who went on a break from his top-rated show so that he could work on his dream of being a producer, I believe that dreams never die; unless we let them.
sources for information about VCD: http://www.nationaljewish.org/healthinfo/conditions/vcd/
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/head_neck/patients/voice_center/vocal_cord_dysfunction.aspx
http://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/related-conditions/vocal-cord-dysfunction.aspx