Singing for Our Lives

Celebrating and empowering women through song

“The world is full of people with pretty voices who have nothing to say. Do you have something to say?” - CODA

I did something this past week that was like rocket fuel - that left me empowered, inspired, and deeply touched. It also reminded me that the way forward is through self-awareness, creative expression, and continuing to support the best in one another.

The event was International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8th. Since I could think of no better way to celebrate women and gender equality than music, I invited 14 women to perform at my virtual stage in Second Life for twelve hours.

The stage and surrounding area were built specifically with women in mind, focusing on nature, fertility, and Mother Earth. Behind the stage, a giant oak tree stretched her arms upward, and in the sky above the dance space a full moon shone down on the audience. The stage itself (see below) incorporated the IWD theme and logo (#BreakTheBias) and featured a slideshow that showcased the images of the dozens of women we admire.

But the real stars of the day were the women (and one man) who took the stage. Everyone who performed not only brought their A-game but had clearly done some thinking about what the day meant to them as well. Our performers knew that they were singing for every woman on the planet and shared personal stories of women who have shaped their lives and inspired them.

To be clear, we also had our hiccups. In the middle of Cylindrian Rutabaga’s set, the whole region shut down and rebooted, tossing everyone out of Second Life. All the performers and 99% of the audience returned, but I can only imagine what those listening to the live stream on the internet thought. We also had some issues with the two performers who were dual-streaming. I left that portion of the recording intact so you can get a feel for the very real challenges involved in performing live in a virtual space. Everything worked out in the end, but it will show you how committed and daring these performers are.

Our last stumbling block was a no-show, which had me feeling frustrated and upset until Raspbury Rearwin (a singer/songwriter who also offered tech support) volunteered to step in and play for us. His words and his music were respectful and entertaining, reminding me that his voice and message had a place as well.

Finally, I want to leave you with a vision going forward. One of the reasons I hosted this event in virtual space - and live-streamed it to the net so that anyone anywhere could listen - was because I believe we had A LOT to learn from virtual spaces about what it means to be human. And, as Jane McGonigal argues so persuasively in her book, Reality is Broken, virtual worlds may offer tools for working on and solving humanity’s most pressing challenges.

Second Life, and other worlds - like AltSpaceVR, OpenSim, Animal Crossing, WOW, Minecraft, and the Sims - are not games. They are very real to those who spend time in them and have much to teach us. As many of you may know, medical science is beginning to use virtual reality to treat a variety of conditions (check out VRx - How Virtual Realities will Revolutionize Medicine by Brennan Spiegal) and I have personally worked for a wide range of businesses and organizations (the NLM, Johns Hopkins, US Bank, Smith&Nephew, Intersections International, the US Army), that use virtual spaces to educate, prototype, run support groups, and host conferences.

So in addition to listening to these magnificent performances, I’d like you to consider how we might collaborate going forward. How might we invite multiple realities to help define and shape events? How might we bring our many and diverse worlds - and the selves they represent - together to learn, create, and entertain?

Finally, allow me to express my gratitude once again to the amazing performers who made IWD possible. Thank you Erika, Cylindrian, Grace, Aubryn, Lexus, Suzen, Beth, Mimi, Tay, Abby, Shannon, Rasp, Phemie, and Noma. Your voices lit sparks around the world and I can’t wait to see and hear what comes next.

P.S. If you would like to know more about each performer, simply click on their names below to be taken to their profile in Pass Along Songs.

P.P.S.S. Some of the tracks have longer leads. Please be patient. They will play :-)

International Women’s Day Performers in the Order They Performed

I. Erika Ordinary

II. Cylindrian Rutabaga

III. Grace Loudon

IV. Aubryn

V. Lexus Melodie

VI. Suzen Juel

VII. Mimi Carpenter and Beth Odets

VIII. Tay

IX. Abby Jaidov

X. Shannnon Oherhily

XI. Rasp

XII. Phemie

XIII. Noma Falta

Copyright 2022 by Jena Ball. All Rights Reserved.