One month into this new year, and I've made both plans, and changes. I've sought and found new sources of motivation, and am encountering new experiences. I look forward to what this new year holds in store for me.
As I continue to tweak my plans, a chance meeting, a few years ago, with the late Shirley Verrett is ever present in my mind. I happened to attend a function over which she was presiding, and we got to talk, alone, for quite some time. She seemed as eager to talk to me as I was to talk with her, and that impressed me immensely. Our eagerness to talk with each other lay in the extremely similar backgrounds of our personal lives. We both knew that there are very few people whom we'd ever encounter with such similarities. I had so many questions for her, but I was surprised by the questions she had for me. We laughed, mused, sighed, and yes, encouraged each other like we'd known one another for a lifetime. Of course, Ms. Verrett's encouragement for me was more profound, I think, than any I could've given her, but she certainly did not make me feel that way. No, we did not talk about the business of singing, nor the techniques of the art, but rather of the human experiences that nurture, and nourish the psyche of an artist. I have no photograph of the two of us, together, nor an autograph of her's from that day, but I have a memory, and some sage advice that will last a lifetime. I am ever grateful to God for allowing our paths to cross, that day.
0 Comment(s):
Post a Comment