First thoughts

Where to begin?  As a singer, the answer to that question unsurprisingly comes to me in the form of a song.  The song "Do, Re, Mi" from the Sound of Music -  Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...

Well, there isn't really a beginning.  I think I'll start with the title.  Why "My Prairie Renaissance"?

I was having a conversation with a dear friend a few days ago and I told her that I was starting to do some writing and really enjoying myself.  I am trained as a classical singer and have been cobbling together a living doing teaching, singing and now writing.  And I did consider it cobbling.  No linear career path for me.  Until my friend said to me "You're a real Renaissance woman."  It struck a real chord with me.  I'd been looking at this all wrong.  My life isn't dominated by one over-riding thing anymore.  My life is a quest to be whole.  To be a good parent, a good wife, a good friend, a good daughter, a singer, a teacher, a writer, an activist, a fitness enthusiast, a dog momma, a cat momma....and the list goes on.  I always felt that this made me less.  Less focused.  Less ambitious.  Less passionate.  Now I realize the opposite is true.  My ambitions are too small to be contained by one label.  I guess if I had to apply any label to myself it would be "artist" - because artists tend to defy being labeled!  I have so many passions in my life, so many goals and dreams to fulfill.  I want to be a well-rounded human being with a sense of balance in my life.  So, a Renaissance woman.  Hm.  Cool.

The word Renaissance is from the French and it literally means, a re-birth.  This is very significant to me.  A year ago when we discovered that my father-in-law had terminal lung cancer, we made the decision to pull up stakes and come home.  Alberta bound.  A new beginning for us all.  This year was also the year I turned 40 - a milestone.  I returned to the place of my birth, and indeed have been experiencing a re-birth.  Messy, painful, frightening, joyful, and ultimately transformational.