Do you remember when you were little? I do. I remember knowing everything I needed to know about life: My family loved me, dogs were the best thing ever, and I could sing. There was no indecision, no uncertainty about the future...I lived every moment knowing what and who I was.
I remember the first time I realized I was supposed to be a singer. I was watching Sister Act II (I know, right?), and in the movie Sister Mary Clarence tells Rita, "If you wake up in the morning and all you can think about is singing, you were meant to be a singer, girl." My little four-year-old brain had a lightbulb! moment and and I thought, "Yep. I'm a singer."
And it was true. I have been singing for literally longer than I can remember. Not only would I wake up in the morning singing the song in my head, but I would also sing myself to sleep. It wasn't because I thought I was any good (I didn't discover I actually could sing until a few years later)...it was simply because somewhere in my soul it felt right.
And that was it. Simple as that. I was meant to be a singer.
When you're that young, you don't think about how hard it is to make it. You don't think about how illogical it is to be a singer--how you should focus on something more lucrative, such as engineering or law. You just know what you love, and it makes sense. What I wouldn't give to feel that now.
Now, I have to think about how I don't want to live off of my parents for the rest of my life. How I'm going to have to pay rent. Eat. Keep warm. I have to think about my future family, and supporting them. And all of a sudden something that felt so incredibly right in my soul at age four doesn't make much sense now--at twenty-one.
The other day I realized how wrong that is.
I sing. I'm consumed with music every second of every day and I don't care if it might not work out. Why would I have this passion if it was meant to go nowhere?
I don't care about being famous. I don't even really care about making tons of money (although I wouldn't say no to it). I just want to do what God created me to do, and there is no way that my voice isn't a part of His purpose for me.
So today, I choose to be four years old again. I am certain of who and what I am--Erin Whitmire, the singer.
