Written by: Aubrey Smith
“The opinions expressed by the Tabor College EML student bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of Tabor College. Tabor College is also not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information in the post.”
Beat. Rhythm. Sound. Resonance. Tone. Do we hear music? Or do we feel it? For Mandy, it’s the latter. At the age of 18 she lost her hearing completely. The curly-haired, folk-singer and songwriter lost her ability to hear her own musical creations, and some would argue, she lost a part of herself.
Can you imagine never hearing your own voice again? Not being able to listen to your favorite sounds? No more sound of the ocean, or the wind. Not even your family’s voices. But could you feel those sounds again? And would that be enough. For Mandy it is.
“I watched myself die.” she said. “Every hope, every dream that I had, was wrapped around that center idea that I could hear.” Mandy spent much her life being afraid, but eventually realized sound still exists because she could feel it everywhere. So she started on a journey of playing (and feeling) music. And in doing so, gained the courage to sing again.
In his book, David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell shares: “Courage is not something that you already have that makes you brave when the tough times start. Courage is what you earn when you’ve been through tough times and you discover they aren’t so tough after all.”
Mandy admits, “Music is a ghost, but I can feel it.” She finished her fourth album and continues writing, singing and playing her sweet-spirited music with a renewed confidence. Fear did not win this time.
With each beat of the drum, and every strum of the guitar, another part of her “courage-chorus” echoes out to those who are listening…or feeling. I know believe they are doing both.
Watch Mandy’s story now: http://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/singing-by-feeling-this-musician-doesn-t-use-her-hearing-to-sing
Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath, (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013), 149.
The opinions expressed by the Tabor College EML student bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of Tabor College. Tabor College is also not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information in the post.