Communicate Heart to Heart Series

Every Act of Performance Is a Process of Creation — Creation Begins When Pretence Ends

“Anitha, your voice is so sweet.”“We love your singing.”“You are amazing.”“When you sing, the story becomes vivid.”

These were the kind of comments I often received when I sang.

They made me happy.

They made me feel appreciated.

One early morning, my husband asked me to sing.

He is not formally trained in music. He doesn’t sing. He simply listens.

So I sang, as I always did.

When I finished, I waited—almost unconsciously—for appreciation.

Instead, he said something unexpected.

He said,

“You sing to perform. The day you start singing to express, your singing will have life. It will touch people. It will touch their souls.”

I didn’t know how to respond.

He then gently asked, “Did that hurt you?”

I said no.

But the truth was I was quietly moved, caught in a moment of deep reflection.

Until that moment, my singing had been shaped by training.

I was taught to keep the notes perfect.The rhythm precise.The words clean.

Sometimes we spoke about emotion, but this was different.

This was not appreciation.

This was not criticism.

This was acknowledgement.

And acknowledgement does something appreciation cannot.

It holds a mirror.

It does not tell you that you are good.

It invites you to become true.

From that day, my relationship with singing changed.

I stopped trying to sound beautiful.

I started allowing myself to feel.

To experience.

To express.

Before my voice could touch others, it began touching me.

Singing became less of a performance…

…and more of a meditation.

Something else beautiful happened.

Expression did not stop with music.

It found its way into other forgotten parts of me.

I returned to portrait painting.

I rediscovered creation.

Today, I no longer see art as performance.

For me, every act of creation is an experience.

Not of impressing others.

But of expressing myself.

And in that expression, I feel alive.

Have you ever experienced the difference between performing… and expressing?

Learning:

The Difference Between Appreciation and Acknowledgement - And Why It Changed Me

For most of my life, I believed appreciation was the highest form of praise.

When people appreciated me, I felt seen.

When they applauded me, I felt worthy.

When they admired me, I felt confident.

Appreciation made me feel good.

But one day, I experienced something deeper.

I was acknowledged.

Not for how good I was.

But for how true I was not yet.

Acknowledgement did not flatter me.

It revealed me.

Appreciation says: “You are wonderful.”

Acknowledgement says: “I see you. And I see who you can become.”

Appreciation celebrates your strengths.

Acknowledgement awakens your possibilities.

Appreciation feels comforting.

Acknowledgement feels confronting and transforming.

Appreciation comes from observation.

Acknowledgement comes from presence.

That day, I realised something profound.

Appreciation made me happy.

But acknowledgement made me grow.

Because acknowledgement did not give me an identity to protect.

It made me discover. the truth.

Since then, I have learned to value acknowledgement more than appreciation.

Because appreciation may last for a moment…

…but acknowledgement can change a lifetime.

Today, I ask myself a different question.

Not “Who appreciates me?”

But,

I respect anyone who acknowledge me for who I am that helps me become more of myself?”

And more importantly,

“Do I acknowledge myself?”

Because the most powerful acknowledgement…

…is the one you give yourself.