A Christmas Carol?

Today I went to my favorite Bible Bookstore and was saddened to see that it was going out of business. It's always bittersweet, isn't it? You get terrific bargains, but at the same time you realize that people will be looking for jobs and the mega-chain store buying online and off is taking over the "little" stores.

As I browsed through the aisles--some half empty--I felt sick inside. I even saw my book, Trading Ashes for Roses: From Pain to Passion at half off. It's always strange for me to see my book in the bookstore, mainly because I haven't gotten used to my "author" title yet. I just think of myself as someone who is passionate about writing.

I still had a few people to buy for on my Christmas list, so I checked out the music section of CD's--most of them had been picked over. But I found one by Sandi Patty--it was a sound track for singers. Okay, I'm not a singer, but I am asked a lot if I sing. I think the world has the notion that if you're a speaker/author, obviously you must be able to sing too, right? Wrong!

Singing has never been on my passionate to-do list. In fact, it's never made it to the top 27. But I have to say, I bought the CD and listened to all five sound tracks (one with vocals, one without, and of course Sandi Patty singing the "real" version of "It is Well with My Soul." It's one of my most favorite hymns. Now mind you, I have acute laryngitis and acute bronchitis, so all I could do was lip-sync. It didn't seem too hard until I really tried to sing (I don't suggest it with laryngitis). And then I thought, I just might be able to do this.

I was actually surprised to find out that "singing" is not listed under the top 10 fears of most people--speaking in public is still #1, so it may not be that bad afterall. Guess what my new passion for the New Year is going to be?

Fear is what holds back most of us from living out our passions and who knows, I just might become passionate about singing. And then when meeting planners call and ask if I sing, I can say, "Yes, I'm actually passionate about it!"

Speaking of passion and adventure, check out my dear author friend Susan Kelly Skitt's new blogsite at Living Life's Adventure.

Now that I'm back in the blogging rhythm, you'll be hearing more from me so stay tuned.

Living Passionately,


Connie Pombo
Author, Speaker, "Singer"?