Hi Everyone,
Knowing that I was in the middle of final edits for my debute book, In the Shadow of Greed (yay yay!!), my sweet daughter, Megan, offered to write today’s blog post. I
hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did. And I have to say, I’m one proud The
Mommy!
((Hugs))
Nancy C. Weeks
From Megan…
So there I was standing in front
of a congregation I didn’t know at a church I’d never been to before. The
people were looking at me expectantly- for I was as unfamiliar to them as they
were of me. There was a mic in front of my face, and a piano a bit below me on
the other side of an old wooden banister. The lector across the altar had finished all the necessary introductions and pre-mass announcements. Now it
was my turn-- to sing.
And boy, was I trembling in my
one inch heels.
My accompanist, Sarah, looked up
at me with impatience and confusion in her eyes at my hesitation. I looked down at
my stand but was unable to find what I was looking for in the music notes on
the page before me. So I glanced out at the congregation. I found my answer sitting
in the second pew. Mrs. Donna, my second mom, had driven me to my first cantoring
job and her smile sent me the confidence I needed.
I took a deep breath and stood
up straight, thinking of the mantra I learned in pep band.
“How are
your feet?
TOGETHER!
Stomach?
IN!
Chest?
OUT!
Shoulders?
BACK!
Elbows?
FROZEN!
Chin?
UP!
Eyes?
WITH
PRIDE!
“Eyes with pride. Alright. I can
do that,” I thought to myself.
I looked back to Mrs. Donna and
her smile reminded me to turn my lips up in a happy grin.
“LOOK confident and you’ll
BE confident.”
Sarah now thoroughly frustrated,
I finally spoke into the mic and announced the opening hymn. Sarah played. I
sang. And the rest is history.
After that first time, I
returned to that church almost every week (and sometimes twice a week) until I
graduated from high school. The experience thought me far to many lessons to delve into now, so I will just focus on only one. It’s one of the most
valuable lessons I have learned in my short 21 years of life
- Fake It Til You
Make It-
I am often told, “Megan, you
look so confident singing up there!” or “You walk on stage holding your
clarinet as if you own the stage!”
My participants and supervisors in my job
as an outdoor educator give me 10s out of 5 on my evaluations for confidence.
What they don’t know is that on the inside, I’m still just a 15 year old girl
trembling in her one inch heels who learned how to...
Fake It Til You Make It!
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