You may not realize it, but we’ve established a tradition in the “Just A-Passing Through” columns that have been published in March.
For the past two years, in March I’ve written about something associated with – you guessed it – the word “march.” In 2024 it was “March winds: a symbol of life’s challenges and opportunities.” In 2025 it was “Marching forward with steps of faith.”
So, I decided to go back to my trusty word list that I’ve saved on my computer: “Things to Think about in Different Months.”
I have two entries left for March: “motivation” and “music.” I think both of those words are excellent choices for this month.
At first glance, they seem unrelated. One belongs in the self-help aisle. The other lives somewhere between a hymnbook and a playlist. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’m convinced they’re closely connected.
We tend to think of motivation as something loud – a burst of energy, a surge of determination, a rousing speech that sends us charging ahead. But sometimes motivation is quieter than that. Sometimes it’s simply a nudge. A stirring. A sense that we are meant to move, even if the step is small.
If we continue to ponder, we realize that music has always stirred people. Before armies marched, someone beat a drum. Long before we had podcasts and TED talks, we had songs. For centuries, when we’re called on to evaluate ourselves after a sermon, we’ve lifted a hymn.
Scripture is full of these. Songs after deliverance. Songs in exile. Songs of lament and songs of praise. We looked at those when I wrote about the Book of Psalms last year. Over and over, we met people who breathed out their faith in melody.
Indeed, that word – breathed – keeps catching my attention.
We are animated by breath. That’s how humans’ very life began – when God breathed the breath of life into Adam. Now, the breath that carries our words carries our songs. When we sing, we are doing something profoundly simple and profoundly human: We are taking the air given to us and shaping it into sound.
Maybe that’s one reason music can move us when nothing else does. It begins in the most ordinary place – our lungs – and somehow reaches the heart.
Motivation, then, may not always arrive as a command to “try harder.” Sometimes it comes as a melody we didn’t expect. Perhaps a familiar line is heard in a new way. Or a harmony reminds us we are not alone.
March has always been about movement, as I’ve written here before. Wind moving through trees, feet moving forward, the season shifting into spring.
As we noted above, sometimes the movement we need begins with a song.
In Ruston, this coming weekend, we’ll have a chance to test that idea. On Saturday, my chorus – Southern A’Chord – will host a free women’s vocal workshop with a nationally recognized clinician. Women ages 16 and older are invited to spend the day learning, breathing, blending and, yes, singing.
It’s called “Find Your Voice: Empowering Women Through Song,” but in truth, voices aren’t “lost” so much as they are unused.
If you’ve been waiting for a little motivation, perhaps it’s been there all along, carried on the breath you already have.
Sometimes what moves us forward isn’t force at all.
Sometimes it’s music.
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(“Find Your Voice: Empowering Women Through Song” is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the fellowship hall of the Presbyterian Church of Ruston, 212 N. Bonner. Nationally recognized vocal coach Robin Curtis will lead the workshop.
Pre-registration has been extended through Thursday. Walk-ins will be accepted as space allows. To pre-register, visit bit.ly/women-sing.
A 2:30 p.m. program that day will feature all workshop participants singing together, followed by two selections from Southern A’Chord’s repertoire. Family, friends and community members are welcome to attend the brief performance.)
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Sallie Rose Hollis lives in Ruston and retired from Louisiana Tech as an associate professor of journalism and the assistant director of the News Bureau. She can be contacted at sallierose@mail.com.
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