Panda and one of my coworkers seem to love the idea of life being like a musical. Whenever we walk, Panda will start singing a little tune he makes up to go with the rhythm of our footsteps. My coworker always is talking about breaking out into song and dance (and apparently he’s sizing up everyone to see who he’d want to be near if this did happen, so he could be next to the better dancers). Yeah, I’m surrounded by strange people.
When I was younger, I used to sing a lot too. I think for me it stemmed in my upbringing. My parents would sing old Chinese songs for no real reason as I was growing up. In the car, we’d pop in a cassette or CD and sing along (that actually served a purpose: keeping my dad awake and alert while driving). Around the house, they would do so without any accompaniment. And there’s something really harmonious about singing or humming while gardening, which is something my mother loved to do. I never saw any shame in singing in public and only in later years did I learn to tone it down.
This unconscious behavior got suppressed over the years as people always looked at me funny or asked me why I would burst into song. Perhaps my voice is not that great, but I didn’t care. It felt good and it felt right. But nowadays, that doesn’t really happen and I wonder if that feedback affected me over the years until I got to this point, where I laugh and shake my head at people who sing randomly (or would like to). It’s a pity, because I see nothing wrong with it. I’d like to get in touch with that part of my behavior again.
What is so wrong or strange about singing in public anyway? I find it to be a great way of expression, and usually a positive outlet. Though I listen to certain types of songs when I am down and want to get sadness out of my system by having a bit of a cathartic release, I can’t ever recall wanting to sing a melancholy tone to express myself. I can imagine a sad song being sung at organized events and the like, but not really by a lone person walking the streets. Instead, I’m always inspired by happy, positive, upbeat feelings – and it brings a smile to almost everyone’s faces, whether or not they actually like my singing. The spontaneous desire to sing tends to go hand-in-hand with smiling and skipping.
It would be really cool if life were a musical and people burst out into song and dance more often. It’d certainly make my world a happier place. For now, I’ll just settle for the bit of singing Panda and I do from time to time, usually without realizing it’s happening. There must be something deep down that drives us to do it and why should we deny ourselves that sort of innate joy? It’s a beautiful thing, really.
