My Terrible Singing Makes For One Lonely Couch
Talk about a potential movie moment gone bust!
The “Woe is me” moment brought on, by all things, by the recent “Sound of Music” Sing-A-Long on TV.
Did you happen to catch it, Dear Reader?
Did you sing along?
As Julie Andrews sings, “Let’s start at the very beginning….”
Of coming across the movie on TV, of looking to my family and saying, “Yes, Family let’s sing!”
Here’s the thing—I didn’t get as far as a “deer, a female deer,” before my family turned this moment into “So long, farewell, Auf Weidersehen, goodbye!”.
Husband declared old, cheesy musicals were not one of his “Favorite Things.”
The kids actually suddenly felt inspired to go clean their rooms.
I really shouldn’t have been surprised.
My singing is not Something Good.
No, really.
I’m not being humble.
It’s bad.
I’m bad.
It’s certainly not for lack of enthusiasm.
Perhaps, it’s possible you can relate, Dear Reader? Do you have something you love to do, even though you know you have zero talent?
I love to belt out my Do Re Mi’s with the best of them.
It’s just my brain thinks C sharp. And B flat comes squeaking out.
This is not a new challenge for me.
The first clue came when I tried out for choir in sixth grade.
After what I thought was a fine rendition of James Taylor’s, “You’ve Got A Friend,” Mrs. Wyatt, the music teacher, looked at me with a stern suggestion, “Have you thought about joining the school newspaper for an elective instead?”
True story–that’s how my journalism career was born.
Just as Mother Superior tells Maria, “One door closes and a window opens.”
Back to the movie and climbing every mountain. I held my ground on the couch in our den belting out each tune as Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer fell in love, as the adorable children entertained Austrian aristocracy, as the evil Nazi empire loomed.
My family has no idea what they were missing!
At least my dog stayed with me.
She’s loyal.
Well, and at almost 15 years old, totally deaf.
There’s that.
Still, I suspect, I’m not alone. Perhaps you have something you love to do, that it turns out you’re not particularly good at?
Slowest runner in last weekend’s 5k race?
Hack golfer?
Worst baker at that holiday cookie exchange?
Okay, let’s be honest—we stink and we love it!
Can we agree to into this new year embracing the joy of it, forget the critics!
You won’t have to go it alone.
I can loan you my dog.
At her age, she’s slower than you are, still enjoys retrieving a golf ball, (as long as you don’t throw it too far) and she has yet to meet a cookie she doesn’t like.
With DarlaDog’s encouragement, let’s have the gumption to embrace from brings us joy!
Now, everyone, sing along!
Find more uplifting stories on my website, DarynKagan.com
Please catch my newspaper column each week in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Dayton Daily News and other newspapers across Ohio.
