Sing, sing a song...

Last time I wrote about a documentary I watched about a choir of senior citizens called "Young At Heart". It was touching to watch these folks, under the leadership of a very talented director, come together in mind, body, and singing spirit and shared their lives and happiness together. I was inspired and thought, "Why can't I do that at work?"

As you know, I am a social worker who works with people living with serious and persistent mental illness. There is amazing research out there about how music, in specific singing, can increase happiness, peace of mind AND reduce the severity of mental health symptoms such as high anxiety and even audio or visual hallucinations. So, the answer to my question of "Why can't I do that at work?" is - I can. I mentioned to my supervisor that I was thinking of trying to put together a choir and explained my reasons why. Alex is on board with playing keyboards and acting as my musical director while I will be the vocal director. Some of my staff are very excited about this and want to participate along side the clients who may be interested. One of the staff plays guitar and is interested in playing with us too.

But the best part is that today, at a meeting with a residential service provider, someone mentioned in passing that I was going to put a choir together. The CEO of that company was extremely interested in the idea and said, and I quote, "We'll sponsor you!" And he meant it! I asked him what that meant and, this was the best part, he said, "Whatever you need."

That means we can get a P.A. system with a couple of good mics, sheet music and even choir robes if we want them! Amazing!!

So now I'm going to be getting information and activities together to start a group that has little experience to sing together and love it! LOL I've sung in choirs for the majority of my life so I've got this. I can do this. And I can't wait to start!