Backstage Beats and Bravery

Guess what my 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 was backstage before 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐄𝐃𝐱 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞?

Not light jazz.
Not soothing ocean waves.
Not faith-based hymns.
Not classical.

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐮𝐩 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚.

With index cards in hand and a full auditorium waiting, I stood stage-right with heavy metal blasting in my ears. I’m not even a die-hard metal fan. 🎸

I had trained for that moment with 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 ... leaf blowers, at a jujitsu gym, my hangry 14-year-old. I needed to embed my message and build focus no matter what.

But something was missing now.
I needed to shut down my overthinking.
I needed hype.
The stakes were high.

I was about to share the 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝘢𝘯𝘥 for the first time share my personal journey with housing insecurity.

Vulnerability, nerves, passion.
All of it on stage.

We all have a story.
We all are afraid to push through.
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤.