SINGING & SELF
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We sing who we are
Photo by Bo Huang (2019) We can only dance with the one who brung us. Namely, ourselves. Try as we might to be someone different, wedge ourselves into a box that seems more palatable, our voices will always resist this crime against nature. I know, because I have...
Showing up
Captured from Jana's wall, October 2021 We are nearing the end of term and my students are getting into performance mode. This is the phase where I am reminding them to Show Up: where I ask them to truly come as themselves, open their artist hearts and let us hear the...
My Call to Courage
I have this to report from this mini-journey of courage: I can do hard things. I have strengths that I often don’t realize I have until I’m called upon to use them.
Hard things
Hard things (Kimberly Barber, February 2022) This week has been full of Hard Things. There's a war in Ukraine. The country is divided over the Emergencies Act, the so-called Freedom Convoy, COVID mandates and so much else. My kids have been struggling with various...
Playing on the heart string
Heart strings (Kimberly Barber, February 2022) This week on Valentine's Day, one of my former students, Sarah Stapleton, released her first album. It's called Heartstrings, and features songs Sarah wrote and recorded herself--it's largely a self-produced album...
Stolen focus
Blurry life (Kimberly Barber, February 2022) Where is my focus and who stole it??!? I know I'm not alone in feeling pulled in a zillion directions, unable to stay connected to the One. Singular. Task. At. Hand. Unitasking! Could that please be a thing? I listened last...
Slow build
Slow build (with heart), Kimberly Barber February 2022 I've been taking a leadership course these past few weeks based on the work of Brené Brown, called Dare to Lead. One of the topics that came up this week in our sessions was shame resilience (as opposed to "shame...
A wedding, no funeral, some Dreaming Divas and an SOS
Jana and Juan, Vancouver Island, October 2021 Too personal? I don't know. I don't care! My eldest daughter is getting married tomorrow, January 29, to the Love of her Life, the most lovely JUAN (pictured above). This is extremely exciting and wonderful news, and I am...
Let there be light
I took this photo on a walk through town the other day. It was a beautiful, crisp evening, the sky was clear and I came upon this glowing front yard light show which spoke to me of hope. These are scary times, and so many are struggling for so many reasons. How do we...
The POWer of Now
It's hard to stay present right now. I either feel vaulted into the future at warp speed, accompanied by a mounting sense of doom, or find myself lamenting over opportunities lost, longing for how it was in those golden (?) "Before Times". And yet I know from...
Déjà vu
Throwback 2020 (Kimberly Barber, March 2020) I considered not posting this week, because I've just about had it with this COVID business. Remember 2020? I do. I remember how isolated I felt, how hopeless it all seemed, how we were all trying to buoy one another up...
That’s a wrap!
Is anybody else ready to call “Cut!” on 2021? I know I am. Although quite a bit better than 2020 on several levels (the summer was epic!), the year is truly going out with a whimper and not a bang.
Christmas presence
oved ones is my presence, not just physically, but emotionally. And not giving in to despair and ranting, but to listening, to generosity of spirit.
All in all…
One of my favourite lines in the show is one of the last ones my character Maddie sings: “all in all, isn’t life simply grand? I’m so awfully glad I showed up for it”. And I’m reminded again and again this week (in spite of everything) of the truth of this statement for me specifically. Life is messy. Feelings are hard. We make mistakes and screw up. We hurt people we love. But at the heart of a good life is forgiveness and gratitude. Compassion. Humanity. Art, language and music.
