i don't understand nervousness.
physical nervousness, i mean.
i understand facing mortal danger and experiencing a surge of adrenaline that makes your heart race and your pulse quicken and your eyes dilate. when i was a kid, and we lived in the country in southeastern kansas, i was once prancing around in the backyard and stepped on a snake. evolution kicked in, and i sprinted superhero-like through the yard, to the back deck, and in through the sliding glass door.
without the benefit of mortal fear, i am an extraordinarily slow runner.
i do not understand heart race, pulse quicken, eyes dilating, when... singing in front of people. what is the evolutionary connection? did my ancestors have to sing and dance for survival? when they encountered a hungry t-rex (only dinosaur coming to mind. were they vegetarians?), did the t-rex say, "You! Sing! Dance! Here, play this guitar! Do it!"
no. that did not happen.
therefore, i do not understand the fight-or-flight response to singing songs in front of people. there is no evolutionary basis.
i only understand that it makes me feel like fainting and pooping and barfing. which, really makes for an unpleasant thursday evening, if you don't mind me saying.
Playing a song that you wrote in front of an audience is like telling a stranger about your sex life. In every song you write there is emotion and intimacy and all that goes with it. If you mean what you sing, and most songwriters do, then you are exposing a vulnurable part of yourself, which evolutionarily speaking you really want to protect. Hence, fight or flight kicks in. Or the pooping and the barfing. If you are nervous, then you are doing it right.
ReplyDeletewell, put it that way, and it makes perfect sense!
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