Hope is the thing with feathers

In her July “Grace Notes” column classical crossover contralto Grace Foley shares a little of the faith it takes to be an artist

‘Hope is the thing with feathers’. Could disillusionment be the thing to clip them? Does repeated disappointment gradually pluck away at these feathers until the wings have disappeared completely?

Recently, I find myself thinking about how incredibly resilient artists need to be. Do not fear, this is not a column where I will blow my own proverbial trumpet! I simply want to delve into the reality of being an artist and the possibility that it is an inner magic, or some might say, madness, that keeps us going.

They say that nature makes women forget what it’s like to give birth. (Well, I am only a few weeks post-partum and I don’t think I have forgotten quite yet!). Perhaps love is what makes us forget pain. Perhaps, if you love something with every fiber of your being, you simply ‘forget’ the pain. Maybe the love is so huge that it blocks out any previous hurt. Could this be the same thing when it comes to rejection and disappointment?

Every time I create something, I get excited, be it an album, a concert or my own song. Every single time the thought crosses my mind that this could be the best thing I have ever done. This thing could change my career. What if this creation is what ‘makes me’? I share this creation with the world and wait to see what comes back.

During the process of creating, I am always completely emotionally driven. I often wonder if this is a curse or my biggest strength. I want to touch people’s hearts and minds. I want to entertain. I first create and then I need to put my ‘business hat’ on. Now, this hat is not my favourite item of clothing. It clashes with my sparkly outfits and often gives me a bit of a headache! While wearing this hat I need to think of all the ways that I can spread word about my work. I send countless CDs out in the post. I email radio stations, magazines and TV Shows. With every envelope sealed and every push of the ‘send’ button, I feel a glimmer of hope. This happens every time I share something new, but I have noticed a change in myself. Before, when I sent a song to a radio station or reached out to an event organiser, I had a certain naivety about the potential outcome. I used to feel really excited and daydreamed about what might be just around the corner. Now, when I do this work, I still feel something, but the feeling is now more of a satisfaction at having ‘stayed on top of’ my business check list. I feel excited, but I now notice a touch of realism in my thought process. My logical brain, that has experienced so much disappointment, tries to tell me to keep my expectations in check. I am glad to say that my hope and belief in magic and fate is still winning out over my level of realism, but what happens if the balance goes in the opposite direction? Will I want to keep doing this if my realistic mind takes over and I lose my childlike belief that ‘anything is possible’?

I am proud to be an artist. I am proud to be part of a community of people who keep going despite rejection. ‘The show must go on’. ‘There’s no people like show people, they smile when they are low’. I promise myself and my fans that, for as long as I continue on this crazy musical journey, I will do everything in my power to follow my belief in magic and let my logical brain write addresses on envelopes. I will keep sending out CDs and knocking on doors for as long as I know that my music is making a difference.

‘Hope is the thing with feathers’… Well, wings are meant for flight, not to keep your feet on the ground.

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