JOINING A CHOIR
I've always loved singing, but singing hasn't always loved me. I would open my mouth with a beautiful song in my head, fully expecting my voice to follow suit-only to get an awful tone (音调) in return.
Still, without a second thought, I continued to try to sing whenever possible. On car journeys, when my now twenty something sons were small, they would make a great play (hands over their ears, shouting 'No, Mum, stop!') of going through punishment as I sang along to the radio.
Never in a hundred years would have thought about joining a choir. And when I did finally become a member of my first choir 15 years ago, something fantastic happened to my life. From the first time I experienced my voice as something special but also comfortable, in harmony (和谐) with the other singers, I lost my heart to singing. It was like falling in love. And everyone in the choir had the same shining smiles and bright eyes-singing made them feel happy, too.
Although it is singing itself that makes me happy, it is also how a choir works together. There is something magical about breathing together. The voice of everyone singing quietly together is powerful and excitingly mysterious(神秘的), almost spiritual.
And there's the unexpected friendship from the activities we do as a choir: raising money for good causes and taking our singing sometimes to places where people are forgotten and sad.
I am now a member of six choirs and, if I can, sing every day of the week. I stand in front of several hundred people, and know that some, if not all, of each song will sound not bad at all.
