2. From day one, the doctor told me I would get worse, but then, the disease would go into remission. Having hope makes all the difference when facing any difficulty!
Lesson:
Singing can bring joy into daily living, hope for more happiness in the future, and inspiration to face the challenges along the way.
3. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t receive a visitor or a get-well card. Remember this when others are ill or struggling!
Lesson:
In addition to visiting the lonely and sick people in your life, reach beyond to the marginalized, the imprisoned, the homeless. They desperately need your support.
4. I found my inner strength through this illness. Life is unpredictable. There will be good and bad days. Strive to make something positive rise from the ashes.
After physical and speech therapy, yoga, acupuncture, electro-stimulation, cranial-sacral massage, thermage, and healing touch, I am still left with permanent facial and vocal-fold weakness; something I deal with on a daily basis in my choral conducting career. Yet, I don’t believe I would be where I am today without that illness. From growing up as a farm girl to standing on the Carnegie Hall stage, I discovered a fearlessness to take risks, to stand up for the truth, and to seek joy in what life might offer.
Lesson:
Choral music can heal a broken spirit. And it can challenge us to be a force for good.
For 2020, we shall work to include choirs who have a mission rooted in principles of equity, justice, inclusion, and diversity and give them a stage to inspire us.
This mission fully supports the Vision Statement found in the National ACDA
2018 Strategic Plan:
“To create powerful artistic experiences and be advocates for cultural and educational change that we might transform the lives of singers and listeners alike.”
(Lynch: p. 5: Global Concepts)
Peggy Dettwiler
