Hey all! I recently finished reading a wonderful book that turned out to be oddly prescient: How to Do Nothing by visual artist and author Jenny Odell. She writes about the experience of deliberately turning one's attention away from the various immediate stimuli in our hyper-saturated society towards those parts of our physical environment that seem the most simple but are often the most overlooked: public spaces, flowers, birds, plant life. For most of us in these difficult times, that re-orientation is being forced upon us whether we like it or not as activities and workplaces shut down and we are thrown back on our inner resources and our inherent, innately human ability to connect to the world around us.
I'm on the serious side by nature, but, and you might not have gotten this from that introduction, I am very aware that I will not do well in quarantine if I only channel my inner Eeyore and ignore my inner Tigger. Being a musician, one thing I've noticed in recent days is how much more often songs are coming to my mind unbidden, ranging from Lizzo to old traditional songs I sang at summer camp; from campy disco favorites to hymns. Also being a perfectionist, I tend to balk at the idea of making music of any kind that is not immaculately rehearsed, yet I am finding myself being forced to let that go to some extent.
Without further ado, I bring you the first installment in "Korona Karaoke." I will be making short videos each day (I hope?!) singing a favorite song. All I ask in return is that if you watch and enjoy it please consider either making a small donation to an arts organization you care about and/or making your own Karaoke video. I promise you I would love to see it (and your friends and family probably would, too!).
All my love,
Gen
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