Sing Your Own Songs
The pathway to authenticity
I recently saw the movie Finding the Voice, a documentary about legendary Australian singer John Farnham.
Depending on your vintage, you may remember Farnham's early pop songs - Sadie the Cleaning Lady and Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.
Keen to swap his plumbers apprenticeship for the opportunity to sing, Farnham followed the recommendations of his management team to record these catchy, sing-along tunes. They sky-rocketed him to success and he spent five years as Australia's King of Pop before finding himself in the wilderness as his popularity waned.
After years on the sidelines, including a battle with depression, Farnham was offered the role of lead singer for The LIttle River Band. With a well entrenched play list, his role was to sing the band's hit songs.
It was at this time one of the break through moments in his career came.
After feeling frustrated with his lack of influence on the play list, he made the choice to leave the comfort and certainty of the band, to stop singing their songs, and to start selecting, and singing, his own.
Despite facing financial ruin at the time, his choice paid off. With the belief and support of his manager, Farnham recorded You're the Voice - a hit locally and internationally - and created Whispering Jack which went on to become the highest selling album of all time by an Australian artist.
Farnham found the courage to stand alone, and in doing so, created and liberated his voice. With authenticity and freedom, he went on to share this with millions of fans world-wide over years of subsequent success.
It takes courage to make choices that honour who you are - to keep believing in yourself and to take action - particularly in the face of financial strain and risk.
Social researcher and author Brene Brown might refer to this as following the path toward true belonging. She may say that Farnham braved the wilderness in an effort to connect to the truth of who he was and to share this more aligned version of himself with the world.
Choosing not to sing other people's songs - to not settle for good enough, for fitting in or for giving up due to the circumstances of life, requires you to take direction from your heart, rather than falling victim to your hurt.
I wonder, to what extent may you be living life singing other people's songs?
Here are a few questions that may be useful for self reflection:
Are you making key decisions for yourself, or is someone making them for you?
Do you give in to other people's requests, even though their priorities don't match yours?
Are you staying in your job because you're afraid of letting other people down?
Do you look to others to tell you what to do?
Is your intuition telling you you're not where you want to be?
Is it time to let go of comfort and compromise and to start living life marching to the beat of your own drum?