Courage
2023 • Soprano & Piano • 5'
an art song on traveling alongside your fear with text from Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love)
Performance
Jennifer Sgroe & Eric Sedgwick. Sparks & Wiry Cries NYC songSLAM 2023. New York City.
January 13, 2023.
Premiere
Program Note
“Courage" explores the human experience of meeting our fear and learning how to work with it rather than against it to realize our greatest potential. Text is adapted from Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic. This song was written for soprano Jennifer Sgroe & pianist Eric Sedgwick for Sparks & Wiry Cries NYC songSLAM 2023 and was premiered in New York City on January 13, 2023.
Text
It isn’t always comfortable or easy—carrying your fear around with you on your great and ambitious road trip, I mean—but it’s always worth it, because if you can’t learn to travel comfortably alongside your fear, then you’ll never be able to go anywhere interesting or do anything interesting.
And that would be a pity, because (your) life is short and rare and amazing and miraculous, and you want to do really interesting things and make really interesting things while you’re still here…I know that’s what you want… It’s what we all want…
It isn’t always comfortable carrying your fear—but you have treasures hidden within you—extraordinary treasures—and bringing those treasures to light takes work and faith and focus and courage and hours of devotion…and the clock is ticking, and the world is spinning…
Life is short and rare and amazing and miraculous… And the clock is ticking, and the world is spinning, and we simply do not have time anymore to think so small.
You have treasures hidden within you. Extraordinary treasure… It isn’t always comfortable or easy—carrying your fear around with you —but it’s always worth it. Always…
– excerpts from BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert. Copyright © Elizabeth Gilbert, used by permission of The Wylie Agency LLC.