What’s Your Persona?
As a music major in college, I had to perform–a lot. Unfortunately, singing in front of people scared me stiff. Speaking in front of an audience was no problem, but singing sent shivers up and down and around my spine. My knees would shake. My mouth would dry. My hands would get cold and clammy, and my stomach would flip out.
If only I had interviewed psychotherapist Bridgit Dengel Gaspard way back then, I would have learned to step in my courageous performer persona purposely. Looking back, I learned how to step into it tangentially. In other words, I would casually step into a different persona on stage but never fully embody the courageous singer within me.
There was one performance where I came close. I was performing “I Cain’t Say No” from Oklahoma the musical. In the song, Ado Annie Carnes confesses her sexual desires and how she simply cannot suppress them when she gets around men. It’s such a fun, cheeky piece to perform. And I rose to the occasion and acted the part. My performance even elicited some appropriate laughter from the audience.
Imagine how much more dynamic I could have been if I had enlisted my courageous singer’s help!
What’s your persona? Which of your inner selves is yearning to speak and help propel you to success? Write a journal entry in which you engage with that persona. What does she have to say?
