I did the "full-time" professional singer thing for about five years before I got scared. It was mostly fun, but I was poor and unsure of where things were headed. So, I quit. I moved to a big city (Chicago) to get a "real" job and sing on the side. It worked out fine. I discovered other talents and had fun utilizing them as I finished my bachelor's degree, increased my credit score, bought a house, bought a brand new car - all the things that were supposed to make me happy by society's standards. I was still singing, of course, but far less than I ever imagined.
Because of who I am, I found it very hard to balance my "work" life with my "singing" life. I would literally work 60 hours a week and then try to sing. Everything from church services to full-blown operas were on my docket, and I was rarely fully prepared to present anything to an audience. As a result, I was only sporadically excited perform and the joy of singing slowly faded. When I discovered that singing - this gift that had always brought me and others great joy - was becoming a burden, I fell into what I call a "walking depression."
After several months, I realized it wasn't singing that was making me sad. Rather, it was the lack of preparation to sing well that made me sad. There was no time to steward the gift that Yah has so generously given me, and that was unacceptable for myriad reasons. So, I had to make a choice - continue working as I was and remain miserable, or forgo society's expectations and live in my purpose. I chose the latter. And, after ten years of spending my life raising critical funds to enrich the lives of others, I decided my own life was also worth enriching.
In short, I took a quantum leap, quit my job and moved to Europe. Today is my 50th day across the ocean and I can say without doubt that I made the right decision. I've decided to start this blog to document my journey. It won't always be warm and fuzzy, and I won't claim to post with any kind of regularity (so please sign up so you get a notice when there is a new post), but I promise it will always be real and I won't write a novel :). That said, I will totally post again soon, because some pretty amazing things have happened and big things are in the works!
Frieden und Liebe,
Bren