say what?

i attended an informal workshop this evening on attitudes and was reminded of how negative self-talk and beliefs can rob us of the confidence we need to perform at our level best. later back home, while bumming around on youtube the name florence foster jenkins popped into my mind.

now dear florence is a well-known name in the operatic world. interestingly, it was her lack of rhythm, pitch, tone and overall singing ability which brought her fame. a substantial inheritance enabled her to pursue singing in the later years of her life. despite making recordings which sound atrocious even to the untrained ear, she insisted on believing she was on par with the greatest sopranos of her day and that the laughter she drew during her performances were from jealous rivals.

"people may say i can't sing,
but no one can ever say i didn't sing."
florence foster jenkins (1868 - 1944)
i began to think about florence and the kind of attitude she must have possessed to so doggedly keep at doing what she loved so dearly. surely she must have been told incessantly throughout her life that she lacked talent (both her father and husband, most likely in the best of intentions, had refused to let her take lessons) and how many voice teachers did she have to hire before one would work with her, i wonder? yet, she never discarded her dream and until the day she died remained confident of her abilities and fulfilled at her achievements.

admittedly this is a pretty extreme example and, for the record, i'm not sure i would have encouraged her towards singing either but i think ole florence had the right attitude. she sure puts me to shame.