A little girl gave me an unusual gift

Last night I was chanting with a group of people in remembrance of a dear friend that passed away 10 years ago. There was a couple there with a toddler who from the moment we started singing started to fumble and express her displeasure with the fact that we were singing. She was invited to just sit and listen, but even that couldn't make her happy. 

So, here I was happily plucking my guitar strings, pretty undisturbed, probably because of the calming effect of the chanting, but still wondering if there was something I could do. Now usually, a few notes into a child that young hearing me sing, she will gaze at me or come up close and just watch and listen. Yesterday I had the opposite effect. 

I came well prepared to chant, and had my set list filled with mantras, but wished I would have brought some kid friendlier songs. And that is when the gift happened. There is this lovely little poem by a noted Dutch comedian that I put to song, and I have sung so many times that I know it by heart. Now, mind you, there are songs that I've sung and performed for 10 years, and I will still need my lyrics and chords, because I can get so lost in a song that I don't remember the words or chords. So, I the 10 years or so that I've performed I've never done so without my music in front of me. 

But this was an emergency. And I just sang the cute little song by heart. The little girl was not amused... but the rest of my audience was. It was a nice light hearted intermezzo that made me feel really good. And as I'm writing this, I'm going to commit to doing one song by heart every time I perform. It's okay to experiment, the people I get to sing for and with are my friends, and they love to see me flourish and grow. 

Thank you, little Fleur, for your gift of honestly expressing how you felt. it helped me take an important step. 

She ended up leaving the room with her dad, well taken care of, and we ended up enjoying some more precious moments of connecting with those we love, on this plane and the next, through the power of music.

46 comments