Find your middle C

Find your middle C

I love to sing.  I ended up with a very good vocal teacher when I was in middle school and while she thought I could hold a tune, I never was given a solo.  That didn’t matter to me because I just loved to sing anyway.  She taught us about listening to each other and finding the notes.  Once she taught us how singers find middle c.  It is a note that is neither low or high, it is in the very center of range.  I never thought about how difficult it was if you didn’t have perfect pitch, because I can tell you if a note is sharp or flat.  I have a good ear.

That is what makes life difficult, finding your perfect pitch.  Most of us wander through life and it can be a little sharp all the time or even flat.  To much work, makes stress and stress makes us sharp.  Not enough time to do what gives you joy, life is flat.  How do you find your middle C?  It is about balance.

As an artist, many of us understand that we need low lights and highlights to help us define what we are looking at.  Too many neutrals, and your composition becomes flat.  Too many contrasts however, your work will look sharp. When I design my palette, I try to start with 6 or 7 main colors. 2 neutrals, 2 highlights and 2 darks.  That is just to start, I add a few colors later as I need them.  I look for the same thing in life.  Dark is my negatives; debt, stress, obligation.  Light is my joy; my family, my studio time, my art.  Neutral is the day to day; chores, eating, and exercising.  Too much of anyone thing ends up creating an unbalanced life.  If you concentrate on your joy and ignore your negatives, your negatives grow to overshadow your joy and make your life sharp.  Too many neutrals and you dim the joy and make it flat.  Make it all about tending to your negatives, you will loose all of your light and joy.

Take the time to stand in the light, but never ignore your darks and try to keep your neutrals from running your life and making it dull.  Balanced life, balanced composition, balanced soul.  Compose your self and breathe.  If you can, listen to a middle C; a grounding sound in the center of it all.