What's wrong with mediocre?

All my life I have played sports and made music. I have been chosen for teams and passed over for teams. I have been named Most Sportsmanlike Player and never chosen as the MVP. I have made the choir and not gotten the solo.

In university, I got roles in the operas but never won the concerto competition. I was respected by my teachers as a hard worker, but never got the highest performance exam marks. Why? Because some of my peers were better singers. Period.

As an adult I have been able to make a life as a professional musician, and have been turned down for numerous grants and rejected for dozens of performance opportunities. I have applied to and been ignored by many festivals. And I’ve also got fans and colleagues who like my music and want me to keep making it.

I’ve received accolades and been overlooked. I’ve been turned down for jobs I would have been good at, because someone else was better.

I have had success, and almost never been the star.

And I’m grateful for that.

Reaching higher than I can grasp has been nothing but good for me. Being in the chorus so I can watch the phenomenal lead singers do their thing, so I can understand what they’ve got that I don’t, so I can learn and grow, was incredibly important for me as a young artist.

Playing hockey at a mediocre level all my life might be the reason I still enjoy playing now, even though I’m slower and a worse player than I was in my teens. I don’t expect to be impressive, I just expect to go out and play hard and have fun. I can still do that, so hockey is still fun for me.

I have learned a lot by doing things I’m good but not great at. I have made a whole life of making music, even though there was always someone better than me in every choir, every competition, every opera, every band.

Maybe the most important thing I’ve learned is that I don’t have to be the best at anything in order to keep doing that thing and keep loving it. Some of us - most of us, statistically - will never be “the best” at anything. And that’s more than fine.

I’m here to tell you it can be the basis of an entire, gloriously fulfilling life.

xo
Shannon

---

Upcoming Shows

Hibernate: Under Covers
Friday, February 13 at 7pm
Port Hope United Church
Tickets On Sale Here
Come catch me playing with a band full of folks who are better than me!

March 15 - Sunday Song Circle
Old Camborne Schoolhouse
1-3pm
Let’s make some music together, shall we?

SAVE THE DATE - May 9
More details coming soon

---

Featured Song - Perfect (Alanis Morissette cover)

In honour of Hibernate’s All-Canadian theme on Feb 13, here’s an Alanis #momshort for your listening pleasure.