The Onset of the Sacred | Finding Your Full Voice with Barbara McAfee

She said she needs to be ridden by the gods before she can really teach.

Barbara McAfee has been helping people find their full voice for over 30 years, and she means something much bigger than how you sound. She means the version of you that stopped being heard somewhere along the way. The one that got careful, got quiet, got told it couldn't sing.

In this conversation, Barbara walks us through her five elements framework (earth, fire, water, metal, air) and what happens when you finally let the sounds that got stuck inside you come out. We get into the Morning Star Singers, the volunteer hospice choir she's been leading for 19 years. We talk about stage fright, perfectionism, and why Barbara now interprets that anticipatory terror as the onset of the sacred rather than evidence that she should stop.

James talks about Kristen. About his mother.

And Barbara says something neither of us will forget: I would rather hear something true than something perfect.

Barbara's upcoming Full Voice Fundamentals class runs November 9 through December 7, five 90-minute sessions, limited to nine people, $249. If this conversation pulled at something in you, that's a real place to go. [barbaramcafee.com]

Her books:

• Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence [barbaramcafee.com]
• Vocal Intelligence (audiobook includes over an hour of music) [barbaramcafee.com]

The Reinvention Project is where we do this kind of work every Thursday. Free class the third Thursday of every month, a weekly Circle if you want company in it, or book a call if you'd prefer something deeper.

Find us everywhere: linktr.ee/kerouacscruising

Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/kerouacscruising