Hey all!!

A few days ago, I performed a concert here in my hometown of Valentine, NE at my parish. This concert was completely my idea & completely voluntary. I say that because that might be the thing I’m most proud of!! Not the $410 we raised for St. Nicholas Church, not that 60 people attended, not that I did well, not that I got great feedback, & not that lots people liked it enough to get my CD after the event. Although I’m extremely proud of those things, I think I’m most proud of the fact that I had this idea to put myself out there, I scheduled it, & I followed through with a genuine smile on my face & a love for my music.

You see, I used to have to be forced into these things. Maybe “forced” is too strong of a word, but I really did not enjoy playing for other people, even if it were just a few of my extended family members who wanted me to play for them. When I did perform for anything, it certainly was not my idea, & I struggled through the whole process. That’s why I know this time around is different. No one asked me to do this, no one expected me to do this. I did it because I wanted to, & I truly enjoyed the process.

Getting more & more comfortable performing has been a goal of mine since the release of “Reflections of Joy.” I know that the only way I can do that, is to just DO IT & know that it won’t be perfect, there will be mistakes, I might feel nervous & have some moments of fear, but I will survive. I will live through it, be stronger afterward, & I’ll do better the next time. And that’s exactly what happened. My performance wasn’t perfect, & I don’t know if I’ll ever have a perfect one, but I accomplished what I sought out to do. I put myself out there, I “practiced” performing, & most importantly, I had a love in my heart for sharing my music & my story…

… and next time will be even better.

Here’s a clip from the concert:

 

Love,  Janeen

Website: janeenarens.com
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