Good Talks, Good Walks

I had the opportunity to meet with Corrinne May, arguably one of the most successful female singer-songwriter figures from Singapore (though based in LA) - she's back in town to sing for national day, cos she wrote this year's theme song - check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGY5ff831B8. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to talk to someone who's actually walking the life of a singer-songwriter, and who is also a mom (her daughter Claire is SO BEAUTIFUL!) and who from her walk, you can tell that she believes that being a singer-songwriter is not about money or fame or power - but that she really does what she does because she enjoys connecting with people and sharing her songs with them.One of the things I remember from the conversation most clearly is how she advised me, in response to me telling her the difficulties I was facing on the path to becoming a full time professional in the music industry, is that often, things don't go according to plan, yet, on the other hand, one thing leads to another - so just to take things as they come. But the most important question I asked her was, what made you decided to do what you do, or in other words, what keeps you going in what you do? And her answer was simply - that she does what she does because she couldn't imaging living without doing it (i.e. singing, writing songs, producing records). And I'm sure she phrased it much more succinctly than me - but her answer to me, was really a question to myself: could i live the rest of my life WITHOUT singing and writing songs? And a part of me cried, inside, at the thought of not being able to sing and write songs and make music. And so her answer made me realise that making music is really what i couldn't live without... and if I gave up even the littlest belief or hope that this is something I could make a living out of - though it's not how most "normal" people live - i know that I would be cheating myself. I had something else said to me just yesterday by a very wise Gani Karim.When something good gets taken away from you, something better comes to take its place. I reflected on this line and realised it's truth. I was once very very disappointed at not having the chance to go overseas and study - but it is only now I realise that the opportunities I have found here to pursue my singing and songwriting skills even in the microscopic singapore, have far exceeded all my expectations.