Yesterday I asked myself this simple but confronting question.

The answer surprised me.

I realized there was music inside of me that wanted to be expressed through my voice. A desire to sing arose within me, and I decided to let it come out.

Singing in front of others used to absolutely terrify me, even more than speaking. When I was a student, if a violin teacher asked me to sing a phrase during a lesson, I simply couldn’t and wouldn’t do it.

So sharing this spontaneous, unedited video publicly feels like a real growth edge for me.

(You can watch the video below.)

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been challenging my students to post videos of themselves making music in our private Facebook group as a way to help them move through performance anxiety and practice sharing their hearts with courage instead of fear.

It felt important to practice what I’m asking them to do myself.

Going live and singing publicly right away felt a bit confronting, so I decided to take a smaller step and share a pre-recorded video instead.

When I told someone close to me that I had done this, he was a bit dubious and asked whether my singing was actually any good.

I told him, “It is what it is.”

And then something came out of my mouth that felt worth sharing with anyone who worries about putting their authentic self-expression out into the world:

“It’s not so much about the quality of the product as the quality of the person.”

The video gradually morphed into a simple, soothing lullaby.

At first I was thinking of one of my students in Iran… and then my heart expanded to include the innocents everywhere who are suffering right now: in Iran, Israel, Gaza, the USA, Venezuela, across Africa, and in so many other places.

Afterwards I realized I hadn’t mentioned Ukraine or many others who are also suffering, and I want to include them here too.

My heart goes out to all those who are suffering, including victims of violence, human trafficking, and abuse everywhere in the world.

This is truly for everyone.

For a few moments, I simply let the music carry that feeling.

You can watch the video here

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Now I’m curious about you.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

Even a few words is enough. Just hit comment and tell me what came to mind when you read that question. I'd love to hear!

And if you’re a musician who senses that fear may be limiting your ability to fully express yourself when you play, that’s exactly the kind of challenge I help people work through.

If you’d like to explore what becomes possible when you bring more ease, presence, and courage into your music-making, just comment and ask about my coaching programs. I’ll be happy to tell you what options might be a good fit for you.

With Love & Light,
Jennifer 🙂