I just lost my rain of thought

Last week in choir, my director invited a friend from the Gospel music industry and named Darius Brooks, who is a renown writer, singer, accompany-er, and probably everything else in the industry. He was pretty much the coolest person I’ve ever been in the presence of. He somehow managed to tie singing this particular genre of music to everything in life without turning it preachy, which is what I especially liked about him. He was really, really cool, because he was so excited about everything and emitted this glee that I can hardly describe. He was just such a delight to be around, because you could tell he did everything with his heart and celebrated any hint of effort put forth by others in the biggest ways possible, usually by giving them high fives and saying the word “awesome.” Mr. Brooks was quite a character, falling all over the place with joy, reminiscent of slapstick characters you see in old TV shows and such. His message to us that day was that it is not about talent but about giving it your all and to try to have fun and enjoy whatever you do, because if you don’t even try, you’re just being ignorant. And if you do try and still don’t like it, then don’t do it! He makes it so simple.

Not only was he great because he was so positive about everything, delivered awesome life lessons, and put on a one-man show, but he was also a super great singer. That guy’s voice can melt hearts, mang. He taught us a few songs, some of them I believe were his own. I especially loved when he was demonstrating how attitude and appearance affect the way an audience would perceive the message of the music, because one of his examples was like some sort of gangster lean. haha.

I am most likely the only member of that choir who is not religious, so it’s always a little weird for me, but I have always liked Gospel music because of the way it is sung and the way it makes people feel when singing it, not because of the content. I got a lot out of Mr. Brooks guest directing, because he made me feel like I am not necessarily singing this to praise a higher being but instead I can just sing to praise life and all its wonders. Yee!