The Soaring Heart

By: Julie Jordan Scott - [work]
The Soaring Heart =A9 2003, 2004 Julie Jordan Scott

The voice from within intoned "Your voice is significant. Your dreams are significant. You are significant."

It was almost like hearing James Earl Jones booming directly into my body. It was a feeling-hearing rather than a biological hearing.

Freshly painted white walls and the smell of newly laid carpeting filled my senses as water threatened to overflow from my eyes.

My voice teacher immediately got nervous because she thought my tears were a result of her actions. She thought I was afraid of the task in front of me.

"No, no, no. Its not that at all, it's not that." I paused to catch my breath.

"Oh, then. The song?"

My dear teacher held a hint of a question at the end of her words.

"No, no..its just that..its just..I am crying tears of joy, of honor, of gratitude that I am finally doing something that I have always wanted to do and this.this exact moment is the outcome."

In that moment, I stepped into a dream.

At Girl Scout Camp many years ago I became the radio alternative, singing for the other girls in the "media starved" setting. I frequently sang for any group of Pre-Teens choosing from my carte du jour of Carly Simon, Carol King and an occasional song from Girls Chorus at Glen Ridge Middle School.

In High School, I was a leader in the Choir because I have a wide vocal range and I stayed out of everyone's business. I didn't get involved with the choir clique: I was there for one reason.

I wanted to sing.

Once I "grew up" I stopped singing regularly.

In the early to mid 90's, I publicly sang for an audience twice. Once I sang karaoke on a cruise ship and another time I helped out the choir director of my church singing a duet on short notice.

Each time I sang my heart soared.

Each time after I sang I collected my soaring heart and carefully put it back inside my chest where I thought it belonged. It felt more comfortable to me to have it there. It was more familiar than this heart soaring stuff. It felt comfortable.

As I reached into my late 30's, I wanted an activity all my children could share even with their wildly divergent ages.

My karaoke singing adventure began.

Yes, people poke fun at karaoke. At the same time, it is one of the most fun ways to spend an evening with your friends and family. In a short period of time I can move from Country to 70's Singers to Rock and Roll and to Inspirational.

Karaoke is "just for fun".

I can sing with reckless abandon, accept compliments all night long. Its a blast. And it is just not the same as taking a voice class and taking the craft of singing seriously enough to pay money for the privilege.

In honoring my desire to be heard in all aspects of my life, taking voice classes honored my desire to allow my heart to soar freely, to get lost in the music, to join with the divine to create a sound far better than I can create on my own.

I also know that each time I honor a dream by taking some sort of tangible, measurable action I receive rewards for that action. Sometimes those returns aren't discovered immediately. Going back to the feeling-hearing I mentioned initially, there is a feeling-trust which speaks to me saying, "Keep following, keep listening actively and remain open - the feeling-compensation comes as you are open to it being received."

It is nearly a year since I took my first voice class. What I didn't know back then was this particular chapter of heart soaring was a door opening experience rather than an arrival.

That's how destiny takes form. It is a path - a journey - a flow which we are able to join in one of many places. It is our choice to join our destiny so that our heart, our spirit, our livelihood, our relationships, our life and breath itself - will soar.

In two and a half weeks I will be joining an incredible group of actors presenting "Into the Woods", a musical play written by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. I have the marvelous joy of playing Jack's Mother: as i= n the mother of the little boy who climbs the beanstalk and meets a Giant.

You see, I followed my destiny into my Voice Class which lead me to an Acting Class. I didn't really want to take the Acting class. I though= t it was like being thrown a bone because there was no voice class to take. =

I fetched it, anyway, figuring "I want to continue to stretch my creativit= y. This is one way to do it."

This choice: to continue to follow my destiny and stretch creatively lead me to the class which lead me to the audition which lead me to casting which lead me to so many amazing, syncronistic "this-has-to-be-divine" experiences and coincidences I can not begin to express them all here.

Even in the moments when I sat here writing this piece it happened. How else can I explain the sound clip for the CD on Amazon.com includes a clip with my vocal part - Jack's Mom - which is not a starring character=

but more of a supporting character -- as a feature you can listen to onlin= e. The folks on Amazon.com only used a 60 second sound clip of the more than 12 minute song and it's "my" clip which I can now share by linking to it so you can hear a part of my experience?

Coincidence?

Or is destiny nodding its head, giving me another reward?

I am hearing something else. This something else involves you.

Destiny wants to speak to you. Your destiny might not sound like James Earl Jones. Your destiny in its dearest most vivid and beautiful form is calling to you.

It is saying "Your voice is significant. Your dreams are significant. You are significant."

Now it is your turn to answer.

Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the Passion Crafting Method. Bring Art into Your Business and Business into Your Art http://www.5passions.com to receive our ezine or look into Coaching and Training for All Budgets. Call 661.325.4116 or email julie@5... now

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