heyyy, i'm lizzie

[VeganLizZie]

which rhymes with lazy. which is why i signed up and havn't been on in about 2 weeks. haha. hello, everyone! i feel like i'm lost in a video game. i don't know my way around. help a kid out, please.

i'm a nineteen year old music major at Lee University, although i'm miserable here. so, i'm moving back home to Virginia Beach where i will probably intern for PETA and attend community college.

it's good to be here. love you all.

[Joe Brummer]

My first thought after reading our post is......follow your heart!

[Zerbie]

Welcome back!!

Fwiw I'm fish-atarian. . .everyone thinks I'm strictly veg still since I was for a lot of years, and I still think of myself as vegetarian. So I connect to the vegan part a little bit (though I could never give up egg whites).

All the best in transferring schools. There is no point being miserable - higher education is a wonderful privelege and it's not supposed to make you totally miserable, so go find a place where you will flourish.

What kind of music? What instrument? There are a LOT of musicians on this forum.

[Emproph]

Hey Lizzie, I’m glad you came back after my diatribe of a post I placed almost directly after yours. Thank God Jamie got there first to welcome you and offer me some buffer zone.

You sound like a real humanitarian, I really admire that and used to aspire to it more so in my earlier years. The personal serenity part, as much as I tried to cultivate it, never seemed to take though, it’s sporadic. (Get it? Cultivate - spores, sporadic.. )

I love music too and PETA, I’m sorry to hear you’re miserable at Lee.

You’ll fit right in around here, there’s lots of great minds, good good supportive and understanding people running around here. We’ve been getting a lot more new members as of late, possibly because of the equality ride publicity, so it even seems a bit more hectic for me.

Just relax take your time and look around. It’s pretty easy to get along here, I’m not normally confrontational like that one post, and yours fit perfectly in that thread, it was welcome support.

Hope to exchange two cents with you soon,
-Emproph

[VeganLizZie]

my primary instruments are guitar and voice..though i'm studying piano and drums as well. [i'm terrible at them..shh, don't tell] my style is indie/folk/chick rock. major influences being rilo kiley, gregory & the hawk, ani difranco, patty griffin, etc.

so, i can't wait to go back home and figure things out. we'll see what the Lord has in store.

[Daniel]

Lizzie,

As someone who makes his living in classical music and went to school (I studied Music Ed at Evangel College in the Dark Ages), I can say that, if music is something you really want to continue with, school isn't always the best way to pursue things. You can take lessons whether you are in school or not. Working musicians have often bypassed school. Why? The key issue is instruction.

Do you have a really good instruction? The best teacher for your chosen instrument? And I don't mean good, I mean the BEST. If you are intent on making a career in music- get- or find- the best teacher you can. This makes a huge-huge difference. You need someone (and it helps to have an extended support system) behind you 100%.

And even if you go ahead with music, having a 'back-up' plan is essential. I can't tell you how many people I know who spent a ton of money on a music degree (and schools seem very happy to take it) and have nothing to show for it.

Now- things are a bit different in education- jobs are pretty available. But in the performing world- it is good to think about going 'solo'.

Also: Develop your own style. You can do this (and I bet you do this already) by imitating your idols and then going further. Commit to having your own voice. Get used to singing into a mirror (which never lies) and let yourself be extroverted. Charisma is as much important in performance as technique.

Wishing you much success.

[VeganLizZie]

well i've been singing in kereoke bars & churches since i was a kid, so i'm pretty comfortable. haha. my mom is a private vocal teacher & musically directs musical theatre. i spent most of my nights, as a child, asleep in the aisles of a theatre during rehearsals. and i attended an arts high school.

so i'm comfortable with my gifts. i just wish i played better guitar and read music better than i do. which i know i can study privatley..i guess i'm just not really sure what to do.

i never wanted to be in college. i still don't..but everyone's telling me i should and i don't feel the Lord pushing me any other direction...so i'm just kinda stumbling through school.

i need divine intervention.

[Daniel]

Lizzie,

Sounds like you know the score as far as music is concerned (pun intended) and want to bone up on your music reading/guitar playing. That's just a matter of the right training and a lot of practice.

I learned to read music by reading music- it's that simple. It takes the brain a bit of time to assimilate all the skills necessary. The key is to keep at it relentlessly. Ok. So those who start at the age of 4 have a head start. How nice for them! I started learning piano at the age of 18 and did very well- but I was also highly motivated. An ear training class where the teacher makes it fun is invaluable too. It's a matter of skill and confidence.

What seems at issue is your life direction. That's a big one. And you're not alone in that. What stands out to me is this: you never really wanted to be in school and only have gone along with the program to please other people. You need to ask youself why you have this thought and take the answer seriously.

If you take 'other people' out of the picture what are you left with? Your own desires for one thing. If you've been in the habit of pleasing others you may not be in touch with your own 'still small voice.' Gotta make time to listen to it. That takes practice too.


One suggestion: read The Soul's Code: in search of Character and Calling by James Hillman. Good book. Deals with one's search for meaning and how it reveals itself in childhood. It's very 'Back to the Future.'

Re 'stumbliing through school': we stumble before we learn to walk. That's normal. I hardly knew what my life was about before I was 30. Seriously. Not everone knows what they want to do from the get-go. Some do, some don't. It's perfectly individual. I spent my undergraduate days at an AG school, hardly knowing I was gay or what to do with myself, but it was, I have to say, a good place for me. It keep me safe- and that is what I needed at that time. To be blunt, if I had been fooling sexually (this was the early 80's) I might not be alive today.

There is also the 'don't worry be happy' approach. A good approach if one also trusts that the Lord will point the way. One must, however, keep alert to the signs along the way and act on them.

Lastly, there is the 'hang on for dear life' approach. Sometimes that's all we can do. Then our task is simply to wait for calmer water.

How about taking a long walk (or many) to nowhere and keeping you ears open?

[VeganLizZie]

so first off: wow. talk about God's timing. i've been praying hard & having conversation after conversation with friends & family. i've been getting the same reaction, all around, basically: "why the heck is a talented girl like you going to school when you really don't want to?"

i feel a release from school..i dunno. maybe i'm being irrational. but i'm not at peace with staying in school. so i'll go.

thank you so much for your much needed advice. ahhh i love you. take care!

[Lakota1981]

Nice to meet you, I'm a Newport News native myself...I sometimes miss home because I miss the beach...lol.