When Do You Turn It Off? (A reflection for singers)

I’ll bet you are seldom - if ever - alone in your embodiment.

You’ve internalised a deep understanding of what’s required of you:

the inner voices that instruct, correct, and sometimes confine your every movement and sound.

Do you ever wonder where it all comes from?

Do you question it?

Are you exhausted?

It’s no wonder, my love.

You carry a double helping of the world’s expectations - for you and for your body.

When you stood up and offered your voice, you invited yourself to be looked upon.

What you couldn’t have known was just how much of yourself you would give away - again and again.

That giving is beautiful - magical, even - and so very brave.

But here’s a truth:

the internalised visions of how others see and hear you come at a cost.

You must begin to unpack this, to understand it.

This stance - this way of living in the eyes and ears of others - becomes an internalised perception that shapes you every day.

And if you are female or female-identifying, the sting of it began long before you ever called yourself a singer.

Do you ever feel worn down by that inner chorus of opinions and judgements?

Can you imagine how much time, money, and creative energy they steal from you?

This isn’t “woo,” my love - it’s real.

Your mind, body, and spirit are stretched to capacity, so accustomed to this pressure that it feels normal.

But there is so much more for you

so many hidden gems of your creative self waiting to evolve.

They only need time and space.

I know you’re mocked for being “self-absorbed.”

Of course you are.

You live under a double dose of the third-person gaze

constantly self-objectifying, both functionally and aesthetically.

So my question is:

When do you turn it off?

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