Once More, with Enthusiasm

The wisdom of karaoke

It is a truth universally acknowledged that there are two ways to approach singing karaoke: with great talent or with great enthusiasm. And while I don't have any actual research to back this up, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that most who choose to take the stage fall solidly in line with the second approach (unless you've found yourself in one of those bars near any university with a strong musical theatre program).

Last Friday, I stumbled upon karaoke night at our local social club. We'd had dinner there with some friends and then moved from the dining room to the lounge area to sit by the fire and enjoy the holiday décor. It was only when we noticed the folks setting up microphones in the corner that I remembered seeing karaoke on the schedule for the week. The decision to stay and listen to just the first few songs turned into sticking around for the whole event, and (most surprisingly!) participating.

I can very vaguely recall participating in karaoke one, maybe two other times in my life. It was definitely as part of a giant group and probably for a birthday or bachelorette party. Generally, my preferred way to interact with karaoke is to be an incredibly supportive audience member. But this particular situation on Friday night was a little different. The lounge area at this club is my third space, a place just down the street that I frequent fairly often. I knew a lot of the people there (my spouse and the friends we came with and another friend who showed up). It was a small-ish crowd with the same 6–8 people doing most of the singing. It was less singing on stage amongst strangers, more singing in your living room with friends.

So when my friend sang Sara Bareilles' version of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, I professed my love of all things Sara and asked if we could both sing Brave. And that was it. She put our names in and two songs later we were up.

First things first—that song is hard. The cadence of the lyrics is way faster than I ever realized singing along by myself. Also, it's deceptively high, or low, or I honestly don't know enough about music to explain exactly what, but the pitch of it is complicated. I imagine that this is why people who karaoke more than I do actually pre-listen to songs and don't just pick a song they love from an artist they love. Rookie mistake.

My friend who sang with me is one of those people who has a deeper roster of karaoke-able songs, and yet she jumped right in to sing my tough choice—because enthusiasm. And support. And fun.

Which was really the big reminder that karaoke held for me the other night: some things in life can be just for fun. You can throw yourself into something just for laughs with friends, without any intent of being good at it now or getting better at it in the future. And you know what—other people can be really, really good at that same thing. They can shine while you cheer them on. We aren't all excellent at the same things, but we can all be excellent to each other.

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This Week Last Year

I was thinking about how words of motivation hit differently at different times in our lives and sharing what felt meaningful then (still pretty accurate a year later).

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Squirrel of the Week

Thanks to friend of the Healthier Hustle, Adam, for keeping me posted on this squirrel at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art coffee bar which changes its outerwear with the seasons—looking cozy for fall in a sweater here!

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Are you a karaoke person? What's your go-to song? Bigger question, what is something that you do purely for the fun of it with zero pressure to succeed or be good at it? I'd love to hear about it!