The Way You Do Anything is the Way You Do Everything…
Is this true? It sure is is many cases.
Listen today as I share how that’s been true in my life and my singing. (-:
What does rollerblading have to do with singing?
I tell you…and it’ has a lot to do with it.
Do you have enough space in your life for your singing and the things you love?
Or do you rationalize (tell yourself rational lies) as to why you don’t have time?
I sure have.
Listen for some ideas (and understanding).
Enjoy!
The Inner Singer Podcast
Episode 27 – Transcripts
Singing is Life
Well, hey there, everybody. This is Mike Goodrich. Thank you so much for tuning in to the Inner Singer Podcast, episode no. 27. I’m having so much fun doing these. I hope you’re enjoying listening to them. We’ve had thousands and thousands of downloads which is really, really great.
I want to thank you all for that, number one. Thank you for downloading. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for the beautiful comments and reviews and the feedback.
That kind of leads me to just doing a little bit of a thing that I’d like to chat about for a second here. I’d like to really take the Inner Singer to the next level, the Inner Singer Podcast. We’re getting some traction now with the podcast which is great. I know a lot of you are sharing it. I’m getting, like I said, some great feedback and lots and lots of downloads.
But in order to take this to the next level, I’m going to have to get a little bit of assistance. I’m going to ask for your help a little bit.
I’ve wanted to do some interviews for a long time. And I know a lot of people that would be wonderful to interview. So that’s easy, the ones that I know. But the ones that I don’t know, if I don’t know them, they may not know me of course. And so when I approach them to interview them, letting them know that I have a podcast that I’m doing that I would love to interview them on, if they’re anything like I am, the first thing they’re going to do is they’re going to go to iTunes and look at the podcast.
And what would really, really help land some of these folks that I’m really interested in interviewing for you is if we had a substantial amount more 5-star ratings—or ratings, hopefully 5-stars. We’ve got all 5-stars so far. So that’s really awesome. I appreciate that. But a ton of ratings and reviews.
If I went to a website, if I went to a podcast that didn’t have a whole lot of reviews and a lot of ratings, I would think, “Well, they don’t have a very big listenership.” And then, I want these people to wonder, “Well, is this really going to be worth my time doing this?”
But if they go and there’s upwards of around 50 ratings, really high ratings, and a lot of reviews, then that’s something that would make somebody think, “Well, this has got a great listenership. This is really going to be fun and really worth my time.”
And that’s what I want to put out there to people that I don’t know. People I know, it’s no big deal. They know me, they’ll be very happy to do it.
So, if I could ask you, if you haven’t already, if you could go to iTunes and give a quick rating and a quick review—now, I’ve done this on a number of podcasts. I know from experience, it takes very little time. So I’m not hyping you when I say, “It’ll just take about a minute or two.” It really does. It doesn’t take any time at all.
It would really help to subscribe, to rate and to give a quick review. That would be awesome. And if you want to go the extra mile and share this with some of your singing friends, that would be amazing!
And one last thing, if you have anybody that you would like to have me interview, let me know who they are. Perhaps you even know somebody that might be a good interview. Don’t be shy. Let me know. Let me know if there’s anybody that you would like me to interview—any subjects, any topics, any questions that you have.
And I’ll send this in an email to a lot of you. But a lot of people that are listening to this podcast want to get my emails. So if you’re listening to this podcast and you have any ideas for interviews or any questions that you’d like answered or any topics that you’d like covered, anything like that, feel free.
So anyway, that’s the housecleaning for today. I really, really would appreciate it. It would really help kick this thing into high gear and get it out there in a big way if we could get some more interviews and some more ratings. I would really appreciate it.
So, thank you. That’s the end of that. Thanks so much. And now, let’s get on to our show. Here we go! Episode 27.
Having done all these episodes, I really can’t, for the life of me, remember everything that I’ve said as you can imagine. I don’t think I’ve told this story though. And if I have, bear with me because it actually will lead into something that makes sense.
I used to have a mentor, my wife and I had a mentor that did some really interesting things, kind of a life coach/mentor. He did some really, really interesting things. One of the things he did with us one day that he did on a regular basis with people is he took us rollerblading.
Can you imagine? He took us rollerblading. And so what in the world could that possibly have to do with anything? Of course, we were wondering that as well.
But anyway, off we went to Venice, California. We weren’t too far away from there (and we were much closer at that time). We hit the streets, we rented some rollerblades and we met him there. And so I got on the rollerblades. I haven’t been on skates or anything like that for years and years. I was wobbling all around. He does it all the time, of course. So he lookeda at me and he said, “Geez! You look like an old woman.” I said, “What?! I haven’t done this for a long time.” He just started laughing—not at me, but just kind of with me.
So anyway, I’m kind of getting my bearing and I’m getting up. Jennifer is getting up. I start feeling slightly okay about it.
So, we hit the trails. And I don’t know how many of you have ever been to Southern California or the beach down in Southern California. It just goes for miles and miles. It probably goes to San Diego. From about Sta. Monica or Venice down the coast, there’s a walkway/runway/bikeway kind of thing right there cutting through the sand. You can go for miles.
So, what we did is we’re on this thing. I’m rollerblading, I’m doing my best. I’m just trying not to fal basically—more about that in a second. I’m wobbling and I’m kind of feeling the wind.
So, he speaks up behind me. His name is Carl. He comes up behind me and he says, “Okay, I’m just going to push you. You just let me do the work. You just relax and enjoy the ride.” So he’s behind me and he’s kind of pushing me. I’m trying to relax. My arms are open and I’m trying to open into this experience.
I got up to a certain speed—and I have no idea what the speed was—but I said to him, very loudly, I said, “Okay, that’s it. No faster. Don’t go any faster. That’s it. This is cool. This is good.”
And so, he skated around me. I’m still going forward, imagine. He picks up some speed, skates around me, passes me. He gets in front of me, turns around. So now, he’s skating backwards just as fast as I’m skating forwards. Get this image. I’m going forward, trying not to fall. He’s skating backwards now in front of me. And he points at me and he says, “That’s what you do in your life?”
I said, “What? What do you mean? What, what?”
He said, “That’s what you do in your life? ‘No faster. No faster. Don’t go any faster. Don’t get me in any more success. Don’t get me any more money. Don’t get me any more of this. Don’t get me more freedom.’”
I said, “Well, come on! I’ve never rollerbladed before.”
He said, “I work with lots of people that have never rollerbladed before and they don’t stop me. They just open into it and they enjoy the ride. I push them fast.”
I was getting a little bit perturbed. And he said to me, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything.”
And I said, “Well, come on! I’ve never done this before.”
And he said, “Well, again, I’ve done it with a lot of people that have never done it before. And they don’t stop me. They open into the experience.”
And so, I thought about that. I thought about it for a long, long time. And I came to the conclusion, the distinction that, you know, he’s totally right. He completely nailed it. That’s exactly what I do.
And in retelling this story, I’m recalling that I was not enjoying the skating. I was trying not to fall.
Now, can you imagine? There’s a huge difference there. There’s a huge difference between enjoying something, enjoying the freedom of skating, expanding into it, it’s a beautiful day, you’re feeling the wind in your face, the wind against your skin and your feet as you’re skating, and in your body, the movement and all that.
That’s a whole difference experience than “trying not to fall” and a whole different experience once you’re finished rather than feeling, “Wow! What an experience! That was great. That felt so free. It’s so much fun. My body was moving. I was making these turns. And I was opening into it. I felt the wind in my hair,” and all these stuff versus, “Wow, I’m really glad I didn’t fall.”
So, that pretty much summed up my experience with the rollerblading, “Wow, I didn’t fall. I managed not to fall.” But where was the fun? Where was the experience? Where was the joy? Yeah, you say, “Yeah, you didn’t fall.” Yeah, big deal!
That’s like when I was singing and performing—I’ve shared this in previous podcasts—it’s like when I was singing and performing, I didn’t forget the words. But you know what? The whole show, I was afraid I was going to forget the words. So, I’ve shared with you that my favorite part of the show when I did both Evita and Sunday in the Park with George was the curtain call when it was over and I was relieved that I haven’t forgotten the words.
So, how much joy was involved in the actual performing when all I was thinking about was “I hope I don’t forget the words.” How much joy was there in the actual skating when I was just thinking, “I hope I don’t fall. I’m going to try and keep myself from falling. I’m going to try and stay balanced.”
Now, granted, maybe those aren’t continual, conscious thoughts that are going through your mind. But my body language stated it immediately. The first time he saw me up on my skates, he could tell that all I was trying to do was not fall.
And I’m sure that even though I was good when I was performing, there was no way that I was as good as I could’ve been, no way, because so much of my attention was on remembering the words, not forgetting the words.
And so that statement, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything,” is there anything in your life that you can look at, that you can relate to singing or any of the challenges that maybe you’re having listening now? It’s really profound when I realized the truth in that statement. It’s like, “Whoa!” to really sit back and feel into that.
So, really examine that and see. Is there something that I’m doing in my life that is relatable to what I’m doing with my singing? I’ve told you this before. I’ve had students that I say, “You’re apologizing when you’re singing.” “My acting teacher says the same thing.” So, is there an area of your life that is like that?
So now, I want to move on and chat about something else because we have some more time here. We just did a humongous Halloween party which was great fun. We had about 35 kids here and parents attached to the kids. My wife and I were just chatting about how much fun that was, but also how much incredible amounts of work it was and how it kept us occupied as we were putting it together.
We have some neighbors that are across the street from us. We noticed that there’s never any—I don’t mean to make this judgment, but it’s a good lesson. I’m obviously not naming them. I don’t mean to be passing any kind of judgment. It’s more of an observation. It may be incorrect, but it’s good for this point anyway.
The observation and the perception is that they have really not a lot of space in their life. They’re two people, a married couple, and I think there are some kids that come over every once in a while from a previous marriage. But literally, it’s either somebody staying with them, somebody working on their house or they’re not there. They’re like on a trip or something.
I was looking at that and just kind of feeling into that and feeling into how busy we were with the Halloween party. And the idea came, “Are you, with your creativity, allowing enough space?”
Are you allowing enough space for your creativity? Is there a fear ever of intimacy with your creativity, with your voice? Is there something that with your voice, with your performing that you manage to stay busy that you can avoid it?
A lot of times, busy-ness—and I’ve noticed this with myself. And my wife, we talked about this, like I said, this morning. There had been many times when we avoid whatever makes us uncomfortable with a lot of busy work. And to the outside world, it might look like, “Wow! This person is really successful. They’re really going here or in there, all these vacations. They do all these great things.” But I would ask, “What are you avoiding? Is there something that you’re avoiding consciously or unconsciously?”
I think that people that are drawn to listen to this program are those that are probably a little more like me. I was taking a walk last night. I looked up at the moon and I thought, “Wow! It’s absolutely gorgeous and it’s quiet out.” And that’s the same moon that they would’ve seen 250 million years ago. Then I thought, “We spend so much time and energy and money going to the moon, going to Mars, going and exploring space, going under the sea, to the bottom of the sea and exploring that world,” which is phenomenal. I mean, I think it’s great. I’m interested in all those things. But the majority of humankind spends the majority of their time looking outside, going outside.
And from a singing standpoint, of course, that would be working on our voice, working on our performance, doing all these things for the outer part, and very little going inside to see what’s going on inside into this rich exploration of who we really are and our authentic selves.
And if you’re anything like I am—and I’m sure you’ve got to be something like I am or you would never put up with listening to me this long. There has to be some sort of resonance. We have to be a little bit on the same page with regards to some of these things or you would never, never listen to 27 of these things.
You have to be, I assume, going through life with a little bit more of a listening attitude, a little bit more of a listening ear, not taking life at just face value, but listening kind of with a receptive expectation that you’re going to be discovering something that isn’t necessarily common knowledge, talked about all the time, a different part of yourself, a resonance with yourself, an intuitive sense, a feeling that there’s something more.
And of course, that’s what this whole inner singer thing is all about because as we discover that, as we listen to that, as we go into that, as we explore that and become receptive to that, expand more into that, all of that richness just flows out through the voice, through the performance, through our life.
So, my question would be just an awareness. Are you allowing enough space for your inner singer, for your inner life? Or are you really, really busy and distracted from something that you really, really love, the creativity and the expression?
And because we’re all busy, we can all rationalize being really busy. We can all tell ourselves rational lives about being busy. I got that from John Assaraff. It’s easy to rationalize, “Well, we have a kid… I have kids… I have a job… I have this, I have that… I got to do this… I have all these responsibilities… oh, there’s just not enough time for me.”
I do that too. We all do. My wife does, and I do that. We all can rationalize that and really buid a humongous case for not getting to something that we love.
But if we can bring some awareness to that and notice ourselves doing it, now we’re creating space, the space that I was talking about before in our life that I don’t see in the people across the street—now, maybe they have it, but I just don’t see it and I don’t feel it either energetically.
But if we just become aware of it, “Wow! I’m doing this, this, this, this, this… and I’m telling myself this, this and this to not do this that I really love,” I’m telling myself rational lies to avoid, for some reason, the intimacy with this, with my voice, with this person, with whatever.
Again, the way we do anything is the way we do everything most of the time, right?
So, I just offer those ideas today as food for thought to look at. The way I look at these podcasts isjust as if I’m having a conversation with a friend and we’re sitting and talking. I know it’s kind of a one-way conversation because you’re not necessarily talking back—although if you’re anything like me, you may be talking back in the car or to the radio or whatever. I always talk to myself. So anyway, just ideas to delve into.
So, I’m going to sign off and leave you with that for now. And again, I’m going to thank you so much for listening. I’m going to toss this at you just one more time. If you haven’t yet, and you’re enjoying these, if you would please run on over to iTunes and leave a rating and a review and subscribe.
I’ve got some really cool things coming, really, really great ideas on where we could go with this podcast. And again, if you do, let me know as well.
So anyway, this has been my joy. I’ll talk to you next week. Bye bye.