Quarantine - Week Thirteen
We are now going on thirteen weeks since the choir has been able to meet. It feels like an eternity.
This past week we received information on how to keep our voices tuned and vocally flexible.
This separation has been a very interesting thing for me. I have had six years in the choir so it has become a real part of my everyday life. So, to have this quarantine change my schedule has been a shock to my system. Despite this, it is interesting to see that Music and the Spoken Word continues every week, recorded episodes are being replayed and to see me on the television screen is surreal. I imagine this is what retirement will be like.
Part of me has also adapted to this reality though. I know now what life would be like without the choir experience and there are many things I like about it. The choir schedule can be intense at times so to have so much of that time back allows me to do other things that are of interest to me. I have enjoyed doing more family history work, reading, playing instruments, and developing other talents.
Right now there is a lot of turmoil in the world. In addition to the Corona Virus, last week a man named George Floyd, a black man was killed when a police officer (Caucasian) placed his knee on his neck and applied pressure. George Floyd struggled and told the police officer he could not breathe but the officer's knee stayed on his neck until Mr. Floyd became unconscious. The entire situation was caught on video and has been trending around the world. This has stirred up strong feelings about race relations in the United States between Blacks and Whites and specifically with police officers. There have been protests, rioting, and fighting in social media channels and on the news. Protests have been held around the world as well.
The arguing has been a divisive issue between friends, communities, families, and so many more. On social media, I have observed among my choir friends divisiveness in idealogy about this issue amongst ourselves. Some strongly arguing their point of view online, others are quieter about the issue.
The reason I bring this up is that I'm a person of color in a choir that is largely caucasian. I'm not a light-skinned person of color either. I'm dark-skinned so I stand out like a cocoa puff in a bowl of milk. My experience in the choir, as a person of color, has been interesting. I have had one overt experience with outright racism during my time in the choir. Oh, don't worry, I corrected it immediately when it happened and that person (former choir member) is no longer with the organization, but I have kept it to myself. I counted this as one incident, one person, amid the sea of people that have embraced me openly and without apprehension in this organization from the time I joined until now. Everyone has been kind to me. In my opinion, the choir is one of the safest places for people with differences. It sounds strange but it's true. I find refuge there.
In addition, music has the power to unite and to heal hearts. Choral music in particular brings people together to work toward a common cause. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to be a part of this organization and without it during these past few weeks have reminded me how much I love it.
Anyway, the events of the last few weeks have reared the ugly head of racism to the forefront of our collective discussion and it reminded me of my own experience, even in choir, of this mentality. It was isolated and I can't blame one person (and that one person's thoughts) for the collective whole. One person doesn't represent the hundreds of other people I have mingled with over the years. That would be unfair.
I hope to join my brothers and sisters again someday soon. I miss them.
