Today was a long and busy day, as most of my Sabbaths are, and this particular Sabbath reminded me (if any reminder is necessary) that there is a price to be paid because I like showing off a little. Fortunately, that price was paid and worked out pretty well and did not end up charging me too much tonight or make life too embarrassing. Although it was not a perfect day, it was a good enough day to feel a certain sense of accomplishment. It was nice as well to see that accomplishment shared, as I tend to feel a bit concerned that I draw too much attention to myself for it to be a good thing. Yet, be that as it may, it was intriguing to be part of a large group of people who were all helping each other with their acts, and with more mundane tasks like encouragement and cat herding the various little ones involved. Such people deserve a great deal of appreciation anyway.

When I arrived at services, I only had a brief bit of time before choir practice, where my voice was already giving out. Given my ambitions for today, that was a bad sign. Then came a practice for the duet I was singing, and then after that an initial attempt at a song that none of us had ever sung, by which point my voice was shot and it was not even services. Fortunately, as I was playing Vivian (the name of my rented viola that I am seriously considering purchasing towards the end of the month as the three month term expires [1]), I was able to spare my voice at least during church and keep my verbal comments to a minimum. The pot luck and keeping at least somewhat hydrated seemed to help as well, as I kept my food intake to a responsible level.

The placement of the various acts was, to put it very mildly, very curiously done. The fact that I was involved in four of the nine acts was itself sufficiently worrisome to me. Nor was I the only one to be so heavily involved. In fact, there were three of us who were involved in four acts apiece, most of them with each other, making up the entirety of the final 2/3 of the show (at least the last act was the choir and there were plenty of others involved). I thought it was a curious decision to lump us together so tightly and give so little room for us to rest once we started going back to back. Additionally, between singing a solo with accompaniment, a duet with accompaniment, and having a cameo in a skit I wrote, I was more than a little worried that the audience might suffer some fatigue seeing me too often, to say nothing of my voice giving out with all of that effort.

Fortunately, the acts seemed to go well. Bookending the show with an opening act and a closing act that dealt explicitly with the subject of giving thanks was expertly done, and matched the content of a pointed sermon about gratitude and its decline in our society by our pastor. There were a couple of well-done guitar songs with good harmonizing (one reminded me of some of the beautiful harmonies of the Corrs [2]). Among my own songs and acts, the skit seemed to be a crowdpleaser with the random singing and having to drag the kids off the stage at the end, and there were several people who really appreciated “The Prayer.” Notably, some people sang along, and at least one person (who taped the performance from her smartphone) said that it made her night. I aim to please, and sometimes I even manage to succeed. The fact that my voice held up through it all and I can still croak out some words makes it a night well spent, and hopefully pleasing to others, even if I was just a bit too busy onstage performing. Let us shoot for more balance next time.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/viola-names/

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/in-the-heat-of-summer-sunshine/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/borrowed-heaven/