This week’s Blog is dedicated to a very special friend who has shared with me some of the stories I mention below.

I recently saw a quote that said “If you can’t handle me randomly blurting out song lyrics that relate to what you just said we can’t be friends”. This really did make me laugh as it is very true and something I do on a regular basis.

I am not a good singer, I am completely tone deaf and can’t hold a note to save my life but I love to sing and dance, it makes me feel happy and lifts my spirits. I usually find that whatever I am doing I will find a suitable tune that matches my environment or my mood. Luckily most of my friends are used to this and do not mind and will invariably join in (that is assuming they can recognise the tune I’m trying to sing).

There are also health benefits from singing and research has shown that our bodies release endorphins when we sing.   Singing requires us to breathe more deeply and in turn this oxygenates our brain and by breathing deeply it can produce a calming effect which helps us especially if we find ourselves in a stressful situation.

Singing evokes memories and when I sing, I find myself smiling as I recall memories, happy or sad. Regular readers will know that I enjoy music and believe that music is the language of the world, it breaks down barriers and connects us to each other. Music and lyrics raises our energy and make us feel alive.

Most days I will have a song of the day, inspired by something I may hear on the radio or will look at the sky whilst walking my dog and think of a time place or tune and that song will usually stay with me during the day. A game I sometimes play is choosing a song, usually based on the weather, or where I am and finding something to suit, for example whilst camping out under the stars in the Wadi Rum desert I couldn’t resist singing every song possible about stars.   Amazingly my friend and I still laugh and share fond memories about this almost ten years later and at the time we couldn’t sleep for laughing.

On another occasion we were travelling on a long flight and was tracking our flight route and just starting taking turns to sing a song about all the places named on the map and rather remarkably we managed it. Again, I still recall my friend breaking out to the song “Do you know the way to San Jose”, so from our silly game we have very fond memories and whenever I hear that song it reminds me of our trip together.

The other day I was singing to my song of the day and decided to also dance, but I didn’t want to see myself in the mirror (because the saying goes dance like nobody is watching) so I turned the lights out and decided to dance in the dark. Incidentally, I was not listening to “dancing in the dark” by Bruce Springsteen and I should say try because believe it or not it really is quite difficult to dance in complete darkness, mainly because if you spin it isn’t possible to focus on one particular point and you can become unbalanced very quickly. I am sure professional dancers can dance in the dark and like everything, with practice I am sure it is possible so I think some more practice might be required.

I sometimes wish everyone walking across London Bridge would break their morning ritual of looking at their phones and take  time to look up and see the beautiful world we live in, maybe sing, or even better, imagine if we all sang and danced across the bridge, I am sure everyone would feel quite exhilarated once they had overcome their shyness. Maybe one day I might ask some of my friends in the music and acting business to see if they could try and instigate it.

I really do believe that life really is a much richer and happier place with music, song and dance. I would love to hear from you if you enjoy singing and if you regularly pick a tune of the day or what song brings back special memories for you and your friends.

Wishing everyone a wonderful happy week full of song and dance.  Make your life a musical.