Sing a Christmas carol!

This Christmas I've discovered something wonderful: the great benefits of singing and how easy they are to reap. As neighborhood kids would come caroling at my door - which happens quite frequently - I would come out and join in the singing. And I've been singing like I never did before.

I have, in this month alone, sung with carolers at least thirty times already! And that number might still double before the year ends. It's like I'm hooked; I couldn't stop or simply don't want to. Each singing opportunity brings me a special feeling-an emotional high, a very profound self-connection.

Singing together with carolers is an opportunity to sing with abandon. It's different than singing in a group. You need not fear of not singing well enough, because you know that one inferior singing will not matter much in the overall sound. So you can focus your attention in feeling the song and not in trying to impress the others.

Many people think that singing is an art; that you need a good voice; that you have to be highly knowledgeable about music; that you can sing only with accompaniment by a musical instrument. A good voice is an advantage, of course, and so are a certain competence in music and a skill with a musical instrument. But these are not indispensable requirements for singing.

It seems enthusiasm counts for more than a good voice, a music diploma and a talent at the piano combined. A human emotion vocalized in a song makes the loveliest music of all. And the act of singing offers, for the singer, a variety of emotional engagements ranging from shuddering excitement to a keen, comforting self-awareness.

When you immerse yourself in a song, a certain power engulfs and lifts you. My own experience has brought moments of transcendence that seem to sustain me through intervals of drab periods. For a long time afterwards, I feel self-assured and -confident; any work I do seems to get done by itself, and problems seem to shrink. It's like I'm riding on a current and don't need to exert as much effort to move myself forward. It's like I have a sustaining-rather than sustained-zest for life.

Our own voice is the sound we hear most often and with great interest. More than anything, it makes us feel secure and in touch with ourselves when we hear our own voice. We need to hear ourselves for a sense of anchor and balance. Hearing our own voice gives us a strong idea of who and what we are.

However, in our modern times where too much noise is going on, our ability to hear is increasingly numbed. We're being bombarded in all directions; the sound of motor, of loud conversations, of household appliances and many others are everywhere. We're so tormented by sound that we habitually turn off our hearing, and lose a dimension of social reality.

The world is wholly real only when heard as well as seen. It is, for example, quite hard to really know a person by sight alone, without hearing his voice. The sound of his voice can reveal a lot more about him; for instance, his social standing, his education, his age and the particular mood he is in-elation, depression, anger, joy.

There is in the whole universe a glorious symphony playing, hinting us of the innate joy that is available to us once we fully open up and join in the chorus. But to do that we need to learn to momentarily drop out the future and the past from our minds, and remain for a time on a still point of the turning world-the present moment, our only true reality.

Singing is a good way to be caught in a momentary yet timeless quietude. People who sing are often the happiest. The act of singing is therapeutic in that it allows you to dwell in your emotions, and provide safe release of these, thus promoting psychological balance. Yet the greatest benefits come when you immerse yourself in the singing, when you completely lose yourself in the song, when you choose to be there - right there, right then - in the emotional and spiritual richness of the experience, in the eternity of the moment.

Christmas is a good time to start a singing habit. Pick any song you like and sing it. The festive atmosphere of the season will allow you to sing your heart out, without the neighbors peeping out at their windows. Besides, no amount of poor singing could be any worse than the deafening sound of firecrackers.

Incidentally, Leslie Bricusse's A Christmas Carol is one song I like because I can sing it alone (often in the bathroom where it's safe) and imagine I'm singing with the angels. Try it yourself. You may feel the same surge of celebration, like I do, every time. The words are simple yet beautiful. Sing it from your heart and your voice will give it the power to create sparks of heaven for you:

Sing a song of gladness and cheer
For the time of Christmas is here!
Look around about you and see
What a world of wonder this world can be!

Sing a Christmas carol
Sing a Christmas carol
Sing a Christmas carol
Like the children do.

And enjoy the beauty
All the joy and beauty
That a merry Christmas can bring to you!

There's a fable told of an eaglet stolen from its nest and chained to a stake. The story has it that the young captive, fed well and befriended, soon accepted its fate. Until one day an eagle appeared in the distant sky. Each day the eagle came closer, circling lower and lower, until at last it touched the captive with its wing. It was this act that made the bird on the ground tug with such might that it pulled up the stake and flew off.

Whatever the grubbiness of our lot as earthlings may be, we know that there is some sky in us. We may not be able to pull up stakes, but there will be times when we will be touched by wings and we will want to soar. Sing a Christmas carol and listen closely to yourself; you might hear the sound of those wings flapping inside.

May you all have a Merry Christmas!

E-mail: modequillo@hot mail.com