When checking in with our members as to how they are doing, we get the gamut! People are dealing with more than we know right now. For most, this separation has gone on longer than expected, and maybe the change of season plays into this, but it seems that all that frantic paddling underwater is giving way to authentic raw emotion being revealed. This is clear… not one of us is alone in how we feel and how we deal.

For some, weekly chorus rehearsals on Zoom are a lifeline. An hour or two seeing faces, having a laugh, singing songs (even if to a track while muted), and reinforcing vocal skill knowledge.

For others, weekly chorus rehearsals have become routine, an item on a list to check off, a script that you go through without emotional investment.

Some have allowed themselves to take a break from zoom rehearsal because it isn’t the same, you are on zoom all day for work, you are exhausted… enter your reason here. Now that you are on break, it is so hard to come back and honestly you just might not since you don’t see light at the end of the tunnel.

Still others fall somewhere else on this rehearsal engagement spectrum.

So many choruses are doing amazing things at zoom rehearsals. Lions Gate is working on new music, embarking on more virtual choir projects, and diving into learning about becoming a more inclusive group. We are bettering our skills from a knowledge and understanding point of view. We are planning for the future and carrying on with the now. We are gaining new members, laughing, and singing at rehearsals. We are sharing good news and enjoying special guests. We are doing a lot and we are doing it well. Even so, we desperately miss the visceral experience of a wave of sound vibrating through our bones, causing endorphins to explode within us.

So, while the reality of not being together is breaking our hearts, we are so very grateful for what we do have. We can be thankful for our directors, like Sandy, with their honest hearts and unwavering efforts to create a virtual environment that engages and grows us. And while it is not the same, we have an opportunity every week to see our chorus community – those faces that we call friends and have come to love.

Jan Carley, Inner Coach of Barbershop talks about our Resilience Bank Accounts* and the kind of deposits we can make to build up our reserves. Some of us need to make deposits right now. As you listen to “True Colours” recorded by the amazing Ringmasters, consider it a letter of love to all of you, all of us who are struggling right now. Let the message of this song make a deposit of self-compassion in your Resilience Bank Account. Honestly, even when you just can’t... do. Go to rehearsal. Let people see the authentic you. Let people love on you. Look at the faces of your chorus family and be encouraged that this will pass.

In the comments, feel free to share what you are feeling. Feel free to ask for more information about your resilience bank account. Feel free to be authentic and allow yourself to be seen. All we ask is that this be a judgment-free zone. Empathy, yes. Compassion, of course. Love, always.

If you are looking for a community of faces that you can make a regular part of your week. If you are looking for a place to connect over the making of music – a family of singers centred on the needs of women, consider becoming a part of our family. We would love to meet you. Contact our membership coordinators at membership@lionsgatechorus.ca and take the first step.

Originally posted on Facebook. Check comments here.

#lgcstrong #lovewins #notalone #region26 #region26chorus #sweetadelines #covidblues #truecolors #YVRSings #acappella

*Resilience Bank Account - Skills for Optimal Living by Michael Maddaus

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