Damn, I'm GOOD!!!!

It's nearly noon on Sunday and I'm still high as a kite!

We rocked the house last night. In a huge way. They stomped, shouted, clapped and cried. We had grown men crying. What a freakin' RUSH!!

And thanks, Laura, for an excellent lead-in on your own blog today.

I showed some folks a thing or two about me last night that surprised the hell out of them. (A big part of the fun, don't you know!) And I loved it. Really! BIG TIME!! And I wouldn't take back a single instant.

I was 'on', I was prepared, I was confident, and WE ALL KNEW IT!

(I learned a couple of things about myself, too.....get to those in a minute.)

Here's what's what, and how it came about:
I got involved with a group who is trying to address the problem of Domestic Violence in our county by creating a shelter for women. I'm steering a research committee, no very big deal.
Things are going great. The governor is behind us, we have a prof. grant writer on the (newly created) board, we've already received enough (over 1/2 million $) to buy a building and begin plans for rennovation.
With a board created and 501-C3 granted, it came time for the first big fund-raiser.
Board member, Steve 'just happens' to be a show producer with successes for other non-profits. He put this together. I'm not certain how long he has worked on it, but I think it can not possibly be more than 2-3 months. (Amazing in itself)

Every number used music about domestic violence or surviving dv.
He did not plan to leave people unmoved.

He got the Spencer Theater to cut their costs drastically for us. Several of their full-time, santioned, high-dollar tech people DONATED their time and talents to us.
He called on everyone he knew to send him interested performers who are NOT known, generally, to be singers. (He heard me at a small dinner party ad-libbing to a song I'd never heard before, and reading words off of liner notes.)

He talked the local dance studio into staging one number.
He got approvals to use videos from performers like Martina McBride, Stevie Wonder, Big & Rich, Ashanti, etc. He found outstanding Karaoke versions of these songs, and sometimes had to have them professionally transposed. In short, he worked his little butt off!!

And we put on a show!

There was one kid, Hanna, can't be more than about 13-14. She sang Independence Day and set folks back on their heels! She also got the first mid-song response -cheers & applause- and just barreled right on through. It did not throw her a bit; she ate it up and fed it back to them. What a trooper!

I sang harmony with Steve to the Big & Rich song called Holy Water.
Before that dinner party, I had never heard of Big & Rich. And I didn't know Steve could sing. And can he, ever!

I know several things I didn't know before:

• Dragon-slaying and its related activities translates to on-stage success, too.
• All those years of thrashing around in my 'shit' helped me get a handle on the importance of dreams and fantasies, i.e. don't pass up the chance to live one - EVER!
• There really is only Now. When you know it, believe it, and commit to it, there is no room for anything else - no nerves, no fear, no holding back...I will never pass this way again.
• I really CAN sing.
• I 'clean-up' GOOD. (Can't wait to post the pictures!)
• Performance success happens in your head and your heart, first, not in your voice, or your hands, or your feet.
• I still remember how to apply make-up! Not a small feat after 12 or so years without.
• It does not require Oprah to make your own wildest dreams come true.

You will never know, really, how I feel about my experience last night. What I hope for you is an experience like that of your own.

Say Yes.