As a friend pointed out, traditionally the 12 Days of Christmas begin on Dec 25th and end Jan 5th. However, I did a bit of Bing-ing (it's much more fun than Googling) and found that it's contemporary media's fault that I erroneously believed the 12 days of Christmas started when they did. So, yeah, blame the media! (Haha!) Meh, no big deal. Because as my mother can attest, if I don't particularly care for a rule, I will just "bend" it a bit 'til it fits my liking. And I'll do it with a smile. [*devilish grin*]
So I'm sticking with my original plan. Because by the time New Year's rolls around, aren't we already a little sick of the Christmas music anyway? Right? Right. I hope you will join me in paying it forward this Christmas season by contributing to your charity of choice: give time, give money, give support in any way you can. Everyone has something to offer, so share it with someone less fortunate than you! Without further ado:
*mi-mi-mi-mi-miiiiii*
"On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…"
ELEVEN PIPERS PIPING
It's no secret. I am a big old music geek at heart. I am actually sad that I no longer fit into my old blue and white band uniform, with the sparkly silver cummerbund and plastic side-tilty cowboy hat, because I would seriously love to put that sucker on and march up & down my street with my flute, busting out my marching-band rendition of "Eye of the Tiger". But I'm afraid my husband and children would die of embarrassment, so I'll save that little routine for when the kids are in high school.
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| Surprised that I am wearing such an awkward hat. |
As my brothers can verify, I used to (alright, let's be honest, still do this) twirl across the living room floor as the musical number in my head played out. To anyone who says, "musicals aren't realistic because no one actually breaks out into song and dance randomly", I say, "au contraire." I frequently sing my monologue/dialogue. To keep things interesting at work I even try to type rhythmically, to whatever song is playing on my Pandora station at the moment. Sometimes when people speak a sentence that contains part of a song lyric, I will bust out into my own rendition of said song (this can be awkward in some situations. I can't help it. I think I have musical Tourette's…)
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| My first musical - "Bye Bye Birdie" (I played Rose Alvarez, I think I was cast in the role because of my Hispanic appearance.... hahaha) my senior year at Lemmon High School, May 1997 |
I think my love for music is partially genetic. At a young age, I could be heard singing into the cassette recorder's microphone at the top of my lungs (my fave tune: Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts", which coincidentally is one of the songs I just sang with our band that played at the company holiday party). Both sides of my family include many musically talented individuals so the love for music was instilled in me at a young age. My mother herself has a beautiful singing voice, but she would sooner poke herself in the eye with a fork than get up in front of anyone and speak, let alone sing. So I'm pretty sure I get my love of performing from my father (yeah, the 57-year-old guy who did cartwheels at Parents' Night when my baby brother was a senior!), who also happens to have a beautiful singing voice.
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| My mom made me go up in front of everyone and pretend to play my song so she could get a good picture of me at my first piano recital. So to spite her, I decided to close my eyes just as she snapped the shot. |
But that true desire for all things musical was fueled by some really amazing music teachers I've been fortunate enough to have encountered in my schooling. Their encouragement and dedication to their art is something rare and inspiring. They taught me discipline and persistence and that even when something isn't perfect it can still be pretty darn wonderful. I was certainly no virtuoso, but man, did we ever have fun!
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| The Lampheads (don't ask) at one of our "big time" gigs - a high school dance |
In high school, music kept me out of trouble. In college, it kept me motivated. In my current life, it keeps me from going insane with the day-to-day pace of a working mom. Music caused me to forge friendships that would never have happened otherwise. Because of music, my world was opened up to infinite possibilities and exposed me to cultures I never would have had the chance to explore from my little small town out in the sticks. To this day, and hopefully for the rest of my life, music calms me when I'm stressed, energizes me when I'm tired, makes me think harder and makes me feel more. Music is the language of the world. It knows no boundaries of race, religion, age, gender, geography, and economic status.
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| I'm a Drummer Drumming here, instead of a Piper Piping... but for the record I did play the flute. |
And isn't that a wonderful thing?
For Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Schimke, Dr. Geston, Ms. Pearson, Mr. and Mrs. Raber, who have touched my life and kicked my butt and inspired me to keep a song in my heart throughout life, this is in your honor:
Today's "11th Day of Christmas" contribution goes to the Global Music Project, an organization that believes in "the power of music to attract, educate, and inspire humanity to participate in making a better world." So that people across the world can have the chance to enjoy music as much as I do.
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