I was cleaning out my email today and found the following unpublished post. Enjoy.
If I could listen to music every second of every day I would. This fact does not mean I am musical. I’m not, it’s sad and it’s disappointing, but hey I got over it and discovered I was good at…other things?
Anyhoo, because of my less than average amount of talent regarding music, I have lived a life avoiding musical situations.
I remember when I was 13, a girl in my ward tried to force me into the ward choir. Since the mere thought made me want to die, I politely said no. She insisted that not only should I join, but I had to and she had a way to ensure it. That’s when she pulled out the big guns. She threatened me with my mom.
Yes, that’s right. It I still refused to join, she would simply tell me my mom and said mother would force me to.
That’s when I laughed and laughed and laughed. It’s not that my mom didn’t utterly terrify me as a child, I just knew she would not be able to accomplish the task
I got a real kick out of that one.
Needless to say, I did not join the choir. My mom did for a good month in an attempt to set the example, but she too realized we were not ward choir people.
Fast-forward a couple of years. In the second year of my college experience, a group of students would go and sing to the elderly in the nursing home. I decided to join them even though my voice frankly sucked and I loathed nursing homes, loathed. My teenage years were speckled with visits to several nursing homes and I could barely stand them.
Anyways, I went regardless.
For a couple of months it was fine. I would find the girl with a good voice and mimic as best I could. Then one Sunday, that girl was nowhere to be found and I was up for a solo. So I entered a sweet old woman’s room ready to sing my little heart out. Three notes into the song, the little old lady burst out laughing. Which of course sent me into a giggling frenzy. It was one of my favorite moments.
At BYU someone else tried to force me into choir. After church, my friend Aaron asked if I was going to choir. The following is roughly based on what was said.
Aaron: Are you going to choir?
Lora: HA good one.
Aaron: No really, you should come.
Lora: Hard pass. I can’t sing
Aaron: It doesn’t matter if you can sing or not, they just want people to come.
Lora: False. No one wants to listen to a choir of terrible singers
At this point, Aaron spots the choir leader Richard and pulls him over.
Lora: Richard, would you rather have people who can actually sing join choir, or people who can’t.
Richard turns to Aaron.
Richard: Oh, we want everyone to come! If you feel you can’t sing I can always give you voice lessons and help you improve.
Lora:(smiling) See Aaron, even if you can’t sing he wants you to go. He’ll even teach you.
Richard walks away after insisting he can help Aaron gain the confidence and ability to sing in the choir.
Aaron: I hate you. I’m never going to choir again.
