I was singing about the time I could talk, and music has been a love of my life ever since.
It began with Primary songs. My brain processes music strangely - it gets stuck in my memory forever. It means that I don't often listen to the radio because I don't want some random song playing in my head for the rest of my life. I can still remember when the Spanish sister missionaries came into Primary when I was a sunbeam and taught us to sing "I Am Like a Star" in Spanish... and somehow can still sing it with all the right words.
The Primary songs have stayed with me and come to mind when I need them most. My favorites? "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus," and "My Heavenly Father Loves Me."
Primary songs moved into Disney music and Broadway musicals. I was in musicals through school and the community, and singing combined with dancing and acting and became a part of my life. I went to All-State, learned to play a few musical instruments, danced on teams, won awards, and placed in competitions. So when I got to BYU, I joined a dance team and started taking classes in preparation to be a music/dance/theater major. If I have a talent, I should develop it and share it, right? But I could never stick myself in a box, so I moved down the line to do a double major in science.
That didn't last very long, though, as I felt torn in multiple directions. I was at BYU and would never have the opportunity to take all the elective classes again. But double majoring and taking all the electives I wanted would require me to take 23 credits each semester and attend multiple spring and summer terms. Which would wreck my social life and club participation... and I wasn't willing to drop my electives across the board or my focus on science. So I dropped music with the hope that I could pick it back up later in life.
I've never really been able to do that. What I didn't realize at the time was that I was walking away from a network of people and relationships I'd never really have again. I could take voice lessons in the community, but the world of music is a world of who you know... and I became an unknown. I've been in musicals, opera, and film since, written songs and done some recording, but it doesn't ever stick. And today, most of the people I work with don't even know. Some days I wonder what would have happened had I gone down a different road. I still have trouble going to musicals because I want to be on stage. I made all the right decisions when they happened, though, so I don't usually regret it. The ultimate reality is that music fell out of the center of my life and it has never fallen back in.
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