If you didn’t know, I take voice lessons sometimes. My teacher’s name is Lea Centauri and she’s amazing. Originally from Long Island, she sang in Paris for nine years and Istanbul for one. She plays the piano, writes her own music and even studied with the great Judy Davis. Now she’s here, in San Francisco, and I’m glad I found her. 

I don’t take classes often. In fact, I only recently started again after being away from her for 2 years. This past week, I was out of town so I missed her class, and of course, this odd rattling has developed in my voice, affecting the quality of my sound. 

She was stern with me about missing class. Not mean. Not angry. But stern. She told me that if I have a gift, I need to do what I can to keep it. Because if you don’t use it. You will lose it. And you don’t want to do that. You want to take it with you. Because we as human beings, we walk towards things. Walk towards your gifts. Work on them. Allow them to stay in your life.

We sing because we need an outlet. We have to have somewhere to go. So let yourself go there.

Feel the vibration reverberate from your lungs as you tell your story.

Keep it with you. Don’t lose it. 

Allow yourself to stay inside your authenticity.

by Jason Lam