Things take time

The global pandemic has taught me many lessons. The one that emerges today as most prevalent is: things take time. None of this is going to go away in a week or a weekend or even a month. We have to be patient and diligent in a way that makes us uncomfortable. I liken this to singers who come to me to rehabilitate their voices. At this point in my voice teaching career I am fortunate to only have professional adult singers coming to me. Part of that is that I am a serious voice teacher with a lot of knowledge and experience resuscitating the most damaged voices. However, every singer who comes through the door wants to know the answer to the following: How long until I have my voice back? What does "back" even mean? If you were using your voice well would you have lost it in the first place? So the obvious answer is never. You will have a new and improved voice, it will be your real voice. The one you were intended to have, not the one you are manicuring and manipulating yourself to sound like. No matter the gender or voice part, the question is the same: when? The answer can only be: when it is time. Expectations and patience are factors, to be sure. However, maturity and seeing the issue from a multi-dimensional view is crucial. Nothing will be the same. Everything changes all the time. How long will Alexander technique take to show its benefits to your body/voice? In a small way, immediately. If you do it every day you will fix so many tiny problems in your posture and breathing that will appear in your life/voice. If you do it when it's convenient for you and fits into your mental/emotional landscape for the day: rarely. The same is true for the Linklater Method, the more you do it, the more open your physical instrument becomes. But, like yoga, pilates, and piano, the voice must be addressed in some way EVERYDAY. Like this pandemic, we must address our health and the health of our community everyday. Not just when it fits into our framework for the day. That is the height of privilege. We will go back to work and to life as soon as we can. This pandemic is not going to respond to any loneliness, isolation, financial need, or expectations of a normal life. We must adapt. adjust, change, and foremost see this clearly and honestly.