I am doing a writing challenge for fun this week. I just finished a 9 month long Bible study on the book of Genesis, so I thought that it would be a good time to challenge myself in other ways. So, I signed up for this writing challenge. Every day I will be emailed a one word writing prompt. I can then write about that word in any way that I wish. This morning, the word was: VOICE. So, I thought I would write about choir.
I sang in a gospel choir in Vancouver for three years. I really miss it. Because of COVID, the choir went virtual this year and I decided to take a break. But I miss the community. I miss the buzz of concert weekend. I miss waiting anxiously in the green room, or in the concrete stairwell on the way onto the stage. I miss my friends. I miss running across the street to Starbucks. I miss choir retreat in Whistler. I miss the look the director would give us when a song was going particularly well.
But I also miss using my voice. There has been way too little singing in the last year. I still sing at home and in the car, but it's not the same as singing together. In the choir, our voices came together to make a beautiful sound. Anyone who knows me, knows I do not like group work, I prefer to do things alone. But singing is different. You can't achieve the same sound or the same feeling singing alone as you can surrounded by a bunch of other voices. There is nothing quite like that feeling of a song coming together after months of practice, the timing being perfect, the audience clearly loving it.
I think the loss of music during COVID has made things extra hard. Corporate worship at church has been cancelled. Currently we aren't meeting at all, but even when we do, singing will not be returning in the same way, not for some time. Frankie's Jazz Club, which I used to visit fairly often is closed. At school, I can't sing with my kindergarteners. What a sad year of kindergarten when you can't even sing together. I think the therapy that music provides has been largely missing during this time and it has made things that much worse.
But next weekend, I will use my voice! My choir is putting out an online concert and I will be watching. And singing. I can't wait!
