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Loving Your Talents

It’s hard to call myself a musician, but that’s only the lack of confidence within myself.

By MarisaKayePublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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I don’t think there’s one genre of music that I don’t enjoy. When I look back on my life, I truly have been in every genre. I grew up on rock. I’ve always been really appreciative towards my mom who introduced me to legendary rockers, and when I hear their music now, I instantly go back to me as a little girl. Then in middle school and high school, I started loving musical theatre songs, but still listening to alternative and pop music. In college I listened to country and hip-hop. After college and now, I tend to gravitate towards female rappers and jazz music. It’s just so interesting to see my evolution within genres. There’s genres I prefer over others. But I appreciate all musicians putting their form of art out there. I love music. I grew up around it all my life and love discovering new music and re-discovering my old music.

I love singing. If I could do one thing for the rest of my life, I would sing. I’ve always been told how talented I am. Teachers, family members, anyone who heard my voice would tell me how talented they believed I am. I was so sure that I would continue learning more music and developing my skills.

"Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours."

-Elton John

In high school, I found others who were just as musically talented and even more so. These are people who got more attention for their skill, more solos, better roles in theatre and it really started to question my talent. I remember asking myself: “Can I really call myself a musician when there are much more talented people out there?”

I stopped singing...

I mean I never "stopped," I still sing around my house every day. But I stopped singing formally in front of people at open mics, in shows, and stopped auditioning for any role and kind of let that dream of being a singer die. I stopped listening to the music that I love and just kind of listened to the latest pop hits and country music. Nothing wrong with either, but it definitely did not expand my musical taste.

Suddenly, I started connecting with other people who had similar musical interests as myself. This started to help me get back to my love for music. I started spending more time alone, where I can listen to my own music and sing however loud I want. I started appreciating talented musicians that weren’t the “norm.” Any person who puts their heart and soul in a song and performs that song is a musician. You are not a musician based on how many people enjoy your art or by how much money you get from this talent.

Musical talent comes in so many forms. Growing up, I thought people were better singers than me because they could sing really high in a soprano voice and I always stuck with the alto voice. Then I started listening to artists that were different than the “norm”: Amy Winehouse, Lizzo, Jhene Aiko, Norah Jones and thought they do not have a huge vocal range. But they have this different type of beauty and skill within them that makes them unique and draws me to their work.

I appreciate when people put their music and talent out there without needing the validation from other people. I learned that beauty is the eye of the beholder. Music is my favorite form of art and I love listening to different musicians and understanding what makes them unique.

My Future Goals...

I still sing and I am working on getting back that confidence I had with music. My goal is to eventually do an open mic night in Chicago and film myself singing. My longtime goal is to write my own song and perform it in front of other people and while I’m performing, I don’t give two fucks if others like it or not.

humanity
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About the Creator

MarisaKaye

just a girl trying to figure it all out...

I love writing about topics that are meant for self-exploration and reflection. My goal is to raise my own confidence and the confidence of other people in order to live in a beautiful, loving world

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