Singing Lessons Part II

In our last post, we pulled a lesson from Chantalyne’s opening number at the end-of-singing-lessons concert last week.

Part-way through, our younger daughter Lauralee sang “Si Dieux Existe” by Claude Dubois. Unlike our elder limelight-lover, Lauralee is shy of the spotlight. She has been dancing on stage for years, but always as part of a group. Singing on her own in front of a crowd? No thanks.

Really, no thanks. She did not even want to participate.

She loves to sing, usually half under her breath while playing with Barbie dolls. And she loves her singing lessons, but she had to be convinced to sing on a stage in front of strangers.

When she got up on stage, she was as nervous as most of the others, but once she started singing, she forgot the crowd and her angelic voice – yes, angelic as ever – came through with no nervousness or straining in it.

Yes, the lesson from this one is pretty predictable. If you overcome your fear, just do it anyway, you’ll be an angel. No, wait, that’s not quite the lesson. Face your fears and you will succeed. You can do it! Whatever your apprehensions, just do it anyway.

That’s the lesson.

(Sorry about the video – the camera was playing games, so we only have the second half of her performance recorded.)

Lyrics to Si Dieux Existe

Personne, il n’y a plus personne
Mon âme qui s’affole
En prenant son envol
Me laisse inanimé

Personne, j’ai besoin, j’ai personne
Mon être dégringole
Tous mes sens m’abandonnent
Je ne sais pas si j’ai peur
Je regarde d’en haut
Le corps de ton esprit
Nos visages à l’envers
Tout petit, tout petit

Refrain:
Si Dieu existe et qu’il t’aime
Comme tu aimes les oiseaux
Comme un fou, comme un ange
Tu peux marcher enfin sur les étoiles, aspiré
Comme un fou, comme un ange

Personne, il n’y a plus personne
Mon âme qui s’affole
En prenant son envol
Me laisse inanimé

Personne, j’ai besoin, j’ai personne
Mon être dégringole
Tous mes sens m’abandonnent
Je n’sais pas si j’ai peur
Tu regardes d’en haut
Le corps de ton Esprit
Nos visages à l’envers
Tout petit, tout petit

Refrain:
Si Dieu existe et qu’il t’aime
Comme tu aimes les oiseaux
Comme un fou, comme un ange
Tu peux marcher enfin sur les étoiles, aspiré
Comme un fou, comme un ange.

Pain Is Our Friend. Really.

Pain is good. We suffer pain because we don’t understand it. And because it hurts (that explains the “suffer” part).

Pain serves a single, dedicated purpose in our lives; it is a warning. We place our hands on a hot stove and the pain makes us remove our hand before too much damage is done (hopefully). Imagine if we could feel no pain. There are some people who can’t. They often cause damage to themselves, and they have to tip-toe through life to avoid damaging themselves even more.  They simply have no warning system.

When a door squeaks, it is calling out for oil. When your elbow hurts, it is calling out for…a doctor?

Perhaps.  Or perhaps to stop making that movement that hurts so much.

Don’t “suffer” your pain. Embrace it. Love it. Listen to it and follow its advice. It is giving you a valuable warning.