The Rose Window

Podcast Transcript - Audio at the end of this post 
 

“We each harbour a talent. It hibernates within us, snug yet eager, waiting for the first darling buds of opportunity to emerge.” - Kevin Ansbro, English Writer

“Green thoughts emerge from some deep source of stillness which the very fact of winter has released." - Mirabel Osler, English Writer and Garden designer (1925-2016)

As tiny croci push their bell-like heads up from the rain-soaked, winter-trodden earth, I’ve been musing on the many magical ways our voices can emerge, bud and blossom this Spring.

Tendrils of the Proto-Indo-European word-root mezgo, meaning to wash, sink, plunge or dive, evolved into the Latin word merge. Emerging, then, means resurfacing, rising up and out, bringing forth or bringing to light. Humans emerge yelling from the waters of the womb, and in many creation stories the world emerges from the cosmic universal waters with a Big Bang, Ohm or Word.  We call sudden happenings emergencies, signalled by flashing lights, loud sirens and blaring news broadcasts.  Our survival instincts are wired to assess anything that emerges from the unknown as friend or foe, life or death.

Time and time again in my work with clients and choirs, I witness the many layers of anxiety we hold about our emerging voices.  So often, we fear that speaking or singing will have catastrophic consequences - sirens will blare and we will be denounced, rejected, judged and carted off to an asylum or a prison cell. These fears are not unfounded - they arise from lived experiences in our personal and collective histories.  Whether it’s the child told to mime in music class, the woman beaten at home for ‘talking back’ or the multitude of political prisoners stripped of their freedoms for speaking out - experiences of vocal oppression are as singular as they are common, uniquely devastating to each individual.

Peeling back the layers of vocal oppression can be a painful but liberating process.  So often the medicine and the wound are closely related - just like dock leaves are found next to nettles in nature. The path out of fear can emerge from the very thing we fear most - sharing our voices.  To do this we may have to face down the internalised fears that our voices are ugly, unworthy, invalid or out-of-tune. In doing so, we discover that they are actually beautiful, fascinating, quirky, powerful, magical and capable of making a valuable contribution to the world.

Phoenix - via Craiyon

For centuries, the Phoenix has burnt bright in the collective imagination, emerging from the ashes of emergencies, wings glowing with the gifts of renewed vitality, strength and wisdom.  French Psychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik narrowly survived the Holocaust after losing both his parents.  He dedicated his life to studying resilience, which he defines as the ability to recover after trauma. The word comes from the Latin re - meaning back and salire - to jump, so it literally means bouncing, springing or bounding back to life.  Boris found that trauma survivors who find a way to tell and make sense of their stories can recover and go on to contribute to the growth of their communities.  As censoring, reinterpreting or gaslighting can delay or totally disrupt recovery, he emphasises the importance of having safe and trusted listeners.  So developing both listening and storytelling abilities are vital for building an empathic, caring world.

Nelson Mandela also emphasised the importance of skilled listening and debate, saying that “a good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.”   Unlike poisonous polarising political narratives which seed division and distrust, ancient philosophers and sages have always understood that new ideas and contributions can emerge from exchanges between different viewpoints. This happens not just in debate but in the arts where we are able to witness and empathise with the stories and perspectives of multiple characters. So allowing our voices to emerge, exchange and merge with others is a vital part of building healthy social and creative relationships. Through this we learn to see, hear and honour each other and to catalyse the potentials of diverse views and experiences. 

To build confidence and faith in our emerging vocal process requires us to take the risk of participating in the ongoing experiment and exploration of human experience.  Having tended to our fears and wounds in the safe cocoon of wintry hibernation, the day will come when we must emerge and spring back into life, taking flight on the wings of song and story, soaring on the breath of life.  

I’d love to hear how your vocal emerging journey is going - do drop me a line or come along and join me at this month’s Online Voice Circle - Emerging on March 13th 7-8pm. There’s also lots of lovely Spring Sings coming up with choirs which you can find on my Events Page. 

I’ll close out with this string of creative questions which I’ll be sharing over the next two weeks of my socials - do come and say hello @katierosewindow

Voice Emerging

Sometimes it’s a whisper on the wings of a dream

- Am I listening?

Sometimes it’s a tiny peal of blossoming bells

- Am I ringing?

Sometimes it’s a rumbling boom box in the bones

- Am I dancing?

Sometimes it’s the warp and weft of conversation

- Am I weaving?

Sometimes it’s a hollowed out cry longing to be held

- Am I hearing?

Sometimes it’s a crashing wave riding the turning tides

- Am I flowing?

Sometimes it’s a scream of truth shattering the dark

- Am I owning up?

Sometimes it’s a rebellious roar of fiery protest

- Am I speaking up?

Sometimes it’s a opalescent pearl of ancient wisdom

- Am I honouring?

Sometimes it’s an instinctive tingle of knowing

- Am I trusting?

Sometimes it’s a crackle of synaptic inspiration

- Am I awakening?

Sometimes it’s a wild dare to jump over the edge

- Am I surrendering?

Sometimes it’s a flamboyantly technicolour explosion

- Am I celebrating?