On being BRILLIANT...

I’ve known that I loved to create since I was a little girl. 

I used to write, direct, choreograph and star in little musicals for the neighborhood kids back in the day. I would fill notebooks with stories and poems. I would set up my art easel in the front yard and paint. 

My brother and I would put on our record of Copelia and sit our parents down in the basement while we danced around in our swimsuits, him lifting me up in the air like a swan, until they were pursuaded to enroll us in ballet lessons. 

My mom worked at the opera house and we were in every possible children’s chorus of every opera that was performed at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City during our childhood. I played clarinet and piano and I was given every opportunity to be as artistic as I wanted to be. 

This led to many wild and beautiful adventures. I went on to receive three degrees in vocal performance studying at one of the best music conservatories in the world in NYC, was a teaching artist at the Metropolitan Opera, have gotten to live in five different countries and sing on international stages. 

I started a band, have written a book, musicals, poems and hundreds of songs. I even did a crazy songwriting project, called JennyRebecca's Song Diary, where for over a year, I not only wrote at least one new song but made a music video to go with each one, culminating in over 400 music videos of original songs created with friends, at home, in the bathtub, in restaurants, grocery stores, on the street, and in various cities all over the world. 

I’ve gotten to act in a blockbuster movie, record with some of the best music producers in the business, I’ve created and directed musicals and operas with many groups of children and I was even a Professor of Music at a university for 5 years. 

Basically, things haven’t changed much since I was a child. The fundamental ingredient of my heart’s most alive and awakened state is a constant, torrential, tizzy of creativity.

I have also faced my share of extraordinary sadness, challenges and disappointments but life has been, and continues to be, brilliantly beautiful. 

My new album is called Brilliant After All, words taken directly from one of my songs that poses the question, Do you want to be brilliant, after all? Big question for a big dreamer. And the question has taken on different meanings at different times. All of my grand and wild adventures and pursuits have had one thing in common, this search for greatness and my highest potential of love and passion, goodness, authenticity, expression and excellence, connection with God and the world around me. I think everyone wants to live the best life they possibly can. To experience the fullness of who they were created to be and not be held back by fear. We live our lives dipping our toes into the possibility of who we can become. And I think that for most of my life I have allowed myself to be held back by the limitations and boxes I have put on myself.

If creativity has an opposite, I would say it is judgment. Every art form and profession has labels and expectations and this is necessary when we want to measure greatness and assess talent. However, one of the reasons I was lured away from opera world and into songwriting is the creative aspect, where imagination, not perfection wins. Even so, there is a whole new set of rules, I’ve learned, that one must conform to in every genre of songwriting. This is both exciting and frustrating and prompts me to ask the question, what IS brilliant, after all? How do I want to define it? I believe this album is a brave step for me in the direction of freedom from caring what labels and judgment anyone else might put on me or my music, and stepping into the brilliance we are all born with. It is the first official album that I have released and I hesitated for a long time, because it only reveals parts of who I am and I was afraid that these songs were not good enough, that they were not edgy enough, or avant-gardes enough, or unique enough, etc. And that is true. This album is not edgy or avant-gardes, it is not a great many things that I admire and wish to express at some point in my life. These are simple songs that helped me get through, that have helped me heal and have challenged me to stand up and ask questions and to grow. And what I have come to realize is that up until now, my definition of brilliance has had to do with excellence and ingenuity. If I created something that was more unique than the others, more superior or accomplished, then my potential would be realized. But this is only part of a much greater picture. Yes, you have to have some sparkle to shine, this is true. But my definition of true brilliance now, has much more to do with connection than simply excellence alone. The definition of brillant is (of light or color) very bright and radiant. And the definition of radiant is light or heat as emitted or reflected by something. We cannot be brilliant unless it is reflected back to us from someone else. And so my desire to connect has become a much larger and more significant goal.

This greater desire to connect overrides my perfectionism and forces me to hold my high expectations and standard of excellence with a grain of salt. My title track of my debut album, "Brilliant After All", is the honest expression in question form, asking us all if we are willing to put our insecurities and excuses aside and step into the roles we are born to be living. I believe it is our innate privilege and responsibility to pursue our dreams for the greater good of everyone in the world.

We are ALL brilliant beings. And ultimately, the process of fulfilling our own dreams and desires is the beauty and greatest gift we have to give to others. So cheers to your brilliance and your process and to the ways we are all connected! May you be encouraged and inspired as you are in the process of pursuing and fulfilling your highest potential and sharing that brilliance with the world.