It's happened more than once. The day has gone horribly and all you want to do is get in bed and stay there with the covers over your head.
The first time I discovered what going to my chorus rehearsal could do to turn the day around was years ago. My boss at the time was a good 20 years younger and could be very opinionated and arrogant. He was also a bit of a bully and seemed to actually enjoy pulling rank. He would make personal jabs when talking about any kind of work place conflict. I could usually shrug it off, but on this particular day he kept me in a meeting far longer than necessary and by the time I went back to my desk I was feeling very low and defeated. As the day came to an end, I got in my car and when I came to the intersection of the lane exiting work, I stopped. Should I turn right and go home or left and go to chorus rehearsal? With much effort, I made myself turn left.
When I got to rehearsal, I was in a pretty fowl mood. We started physical warm-ups, and as the music played and I started to move and stretch, I felt slightly better. Soon we were totally engaged in the musical work for the evening and as the chords rang out and the chorus came more and more together as a harmonizing unit, the horrible day started to fall away. I stood in the middle of those ringing chords and felt just great, filled with energy and happiness.
My cell phone rang on the way home; my boss calling to apologize for being such a jerk. I accepted the apology, of course, but laughed a little to myself. My day had turned around all by itself, because I went to rehearsal, because I had discovered this wonderful hobby, because I am a Sweet Adeline.
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