wembleyheads is moving to Texas
"exposure therapy" — 1 year ago
Worth doing!
The teacher for my singing class is really exceptional. She explains things well and makes us feel comfortable. I’m very impressed with the class so far. But…I didn’t realize how terrified I am to sing in front of people! I used to sing karaoke every week, for nearly two years, with my best friend in grad school. We were such regulars that the karaoke dj had a photo of us three in his toolbox at his day job. The trick was that I never, ever sang alone. But suddenly when it came time for us to sing scales solo, I completely freaked out!
As with most fears it was completely irrational. I mean, what was the worst thing that could happen? Certainly nothing lethal, but my body, somewhere down in there, did not agree. I got hot, and red, and panicky, and could barely breathe. I was third to go, so gratefully I didn’t have too much time to get worked up. I tried to get her start lower and she sang with me for the first couple of scales to get me going because I couldn’t get a peep out otherwise. Pretty embarrassing! I had my hand at my neck to keep my pounding pulse from bursting. I nearly passed out! When I finished I was so dizzy I sat right down and held onto my chair, and realized I hadn’t heard a single word of her feedback. I asked her after class and she said she was trying to tell me to relax :)
While I was waiting my turn I kept thinking about one of my coworkers on our kickball team last fall. I caught a ride with him to the first game and told him I was a little nervous. I’m pretty uncoordinated, and no one at work had seen me try to play any sports. He’s got a degree in psychology and gave me a little pep talk. When we got there, he went up and made the batting order… and put me first! When I shot him a look that was somewhere between panic, shock and indignation, he grinned like a little kid after you discover his new pet frog in your purse and said “It’s called Exposure Therapy.”
Well, it worked for kickball, so here’s hoping I get over the horrors of singing solo!
