Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life by Clay Aiken, Allison Glock Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life
Book Review: More Than Just a Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Clay has done more then write a book, he has opened his heart and his old wounds for the sake of helping others. My 10 year-old daughter has had an ongoing problem at school with some girls who bully her. I bought her a copy of Clay's book (which she so thrillingly got autographed!)She not only read the whole book, and she is not that fond of reading, but we discussed alot of the issues that came up in Clay's life and tried to apply what he had done to my daughter's situation. My daughter is now standing tall, has more self confidence and has learned how not to let those girls bother her. I am very thankful to Clay for giving my daughter and so many others the tools they needed to learn how to love themselves. I urge parents to get this book for their child, and don't forget to read it yourselves, it is very inspiring.Book Review: Look alike
Summary: 5 Stars
I swear this dude looks like chucky...other than that it's an interesting book I recomend a read.Book Review: Fabulous Book!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the best book I have ever read. I felt really inspired and confident after reading "Learning To Sing: Hearing The Music In Your Life" by Clay Aiken. It's a FABULOUS book, and I highly recommend it.Book Review: The Real Hero In Clay's Saga Is God!
Summary: 5 Stars
The real Hero in this story is God...
What leaps from the pages is the faithfulness of an unseen Hand... it's hardcore reality and how God's hand cuts through all that for His own purposes in young Clay.
We read how Clay navigated through heartbreak, rejection, pain, and devastating loss. Against such a canvas we see the picture emerge.
My Mother Loves Me
Beginning with Clay's earliest recall, clinging desperately to his mother's love, with little else available in his life, again and again he defaults to that one constant, My mother loves me. No doubt, looking back through the cloudy glass of time, her love shines brightly through the long, sad journey in his search of a father's love that was continually denied him - always just out of reach.
So, this story is mostly about how God can bring victory out of defeat, joy out of mourning, and Who, in His wisdom, led Clay to key people, placed him in carefully chosen circumstances, thrust him into events that would challenge him beyond his wildest imagination, and all of which served to teach and instill in him an inner wisdom and perception far beyond his knowing, far beyond his years.
The Real Thing!
And what we see in Clay Aiken, is that he himself is The Real Thing - uncompromising, learning his lessons well, taking heed, paying attention, all the while wiping the tears from his eyes.
There's no human explanation for the fact that not only has he survived, he has excelled, yes, and in taking these lessons to heart, he has won! People don't just come equipped with these coping skills, and that is his testimony to the world, that a person can experience the physical pain, the emotional bruising of their plight in life and depending on how they take them, thrive, and most especially, if they'll recognize a bigger hand at work, a grander scheme.
With that, I want to share a few of my most moving moments among Clay's wonderful memoirs, Learning To Sing!
"A little child shall lead them..."
The most beautiful thread woven throughout this story, is that Clay never loses his innate heart of a child, somehow this is magically preserved!
By chapter 11, I'd laughed, but mostly cringed and gasped at the atrocities young Clay endured. Those first chapters are a barrage of countless assaults to his tender young soul, seemingly without end. I breathed more easily as he would find solace, fun and even some degree of happiness among given relatives and close friends of his mother. But, there was always that "dark place" waiting for him back at Vernon's, the haunting reminder of blatant indifference.
Enter Ray Parker, and I hope for the best, as did Clay, but again, that glorious father-son moment would never dawn. Add to all that, gross rejection by his peers in school, at least up until high school, where, thankfully, things take a decided turn for the better (was Brian an angel unaware)?
But, mostly, my heart kept waiting for the moment of rescue, only to be led into one tragic event after another. I wanted Faye to become super-human in her sense of protection, to extend her magic shield over her son, but soon realized that her greatest gift was her unwavering love for Clay - and we can see evidence of that love, not once did I get a sense of Clay's feeling unworthy or unloved - an unchallenged testament to her love for him!
What Clay lacks - God provides!
Clay needed a job AND a role model.
In high school, after years of being bullied without mercy, we see the rescue begin, the real saga begins to unfold - God though his source of comfort and protection hitherto, has intervened in Clay's history. Clay needed a job AND someone to model self-confidence - enter Brian, one of the coolest kids in school, a jock no less, THE most popular guy, but mostly, HE WAS NEVER ASHAMED OF CLAY! Wow, here was a changing trend! Clay got the message loud and clear - coming into a new realization of his own individuality, of who he is and what he's about - a place of strength from which he'd never look back. This was only a prelude of many such interventions to come.
"I need a job," but God had something else in mind!
At last we're at chapter 11 - enter the YMCA - this choice was pivotal for Clay. He doesn't share with us why or how he made this choice, but we soon see that it was the right choice.
Here was his training ground, here Clay would not only discover the reality and power of his own child's heart, but the children behind that heart. Beginning with "Joey," Clay connects with the outsiders, profoundly and passionately. He is coming alive, he is finding depths within himself he never knew were there and a little child was leading, modeling, learning, overcoming. From the nightmare of Joey's young life Clay witnesses the difference being there for a troubled child can make, the transformation rivets him - he's "hooked for life" as he is impacted by what can happen to a child when "someone who offers another opinion of their worth" is made available to them, and amazingly, it's evident that not only was this happening to the children, it was happening to Clay. Ah, His mysterious ways!
And then the well placed adults begin appearing, "Jeff" - a man he would put on a pedestal - the father figure he craved to idolize. The lessons were diverse, even eye-opening, but extremely necessary for the road ahead.
"Dr. Mac" - a human hand opens a divine door, and Mitch climbs into Clay's heart.
Dr. Mac invites 19 year-old teacher Clay to substitute a class, what she neglected to tell him was that the students were autistic!
From his "nightmarish first day" to his desperate prayer, "What am I going to do with these kids?" - I was struck with Clay's willingness to walk into the unknown, to take each step as it was revealed, thus coming to that magical moment when, as he puts it, "Mitch, climbed into my heart!" From this dramatic turn, the anecdotes are enchanting, mesmerizing, sad, joyful, often funny.
Then comes "Tina," who modeled what a true pro can do for autistic kids, challenging his heart to new heights. Clay underscores the discovery he made with these kids, their unique individualism and worth - how could he miss connecting the dots all the way back to his own personal saga? Awash in the possibilities of even the worse cases, Clay found it intolerable that there were no programs in place or even thought of, for the inclusion of these gifted children. New rooms were opening up in his heart and head.
Enter Diane Bubel - The angels must've been packing his bags!
"I convinced myself that after I graduated I would go back to the YMCA and institute a program that would help make a large scale change. As God would have it, I was about to get my wish." After getting Clay to watch American Idol 1, Diane badgered Clay to audition in Charlotte. Clay, well into obtaining his degree in special education, confidently declared, "I'm not really all about that stuff anymore." By design, it would seem that Diane was not a woman who would take NO for an answer - needless to say, Clay made his way to Charlotte, but was cut! I ask you, does God know how to challenge the stubborn? By personal history Clay was accustomed to being the winner when it came to singing competitions - and now the one area in which he took so much pride, was being challenged. I can almost see the angels packing his bags!
The Wild Card Winner
"The most significant event in my life to date" Winning the Wild Card, and ultimately the runner up on American Idol - from Clay's perspective, was but the miraculous means to a larger classroom. And that would begin to manifest right away. Clay created a model nonprofit organization in order to accrue the final hours he needed to graduate. He would call it the Bubel-Aiken Foundation. Making mention of it on national TV, everyone took it as literal, and during the AI tour, fans began handing checks to ushers to give to Clay! His dream came alive even as he held it in only in his heart. Soon, other key people became actively involved in making the foundation a real entity. By the end of the tour, $50,000 had been donated. Here were the indicators that Clay indeed was "On the path God has chosen...."
AI - The Monastery of Show Business
At last we come to the gradual unfolding of the swan. "If there's one thing a boot camp is supposed to do, it's to prepare you for anything." Well, Clay, a little spit and polish didn't hurt either! By the time Clay Aiken stood before Simon Cowell, his armor had been tried by fire. Clay had stood up to the worst bullies, the most challenging of mentors, and thus he took Simon's barbs on the cuff, with a wink, a crooked smile, and his infamous snark!
And he looked different too - gone were the dorky glasses and geek cut, there stood a handsome prince, the duckling was now a swan, swimming in the hearts of millions of Americans, especially women, who were now starting to gravitate towards, not only to his golden voice, but to his radiance, his purity, his authenticity, and would you believe, his self-confidence - that glow of inner assurance coupled in a child-like faith - we were graced!
Inquiring minds always want to know! For a litany of Clay Dislikes, see page 186, among which is not liking surprises! Being allowed to see that Ruben was the winner BEFORE Ryan announced it to America, gives us pause - was it providence or an added bonus for being such a good student?
The final chapters are but the answers in the back of the book!
"Sometimes I ask myself: Why did THIS life happen to me... I don't know why I'm here, doing what I'm doing - other than, it's my calling." Clay goes on to tell us that as he looks back, he realizes that God placed him into every situation that led him here. That it was God who introduced him to each one of those settings, shaping him into a better servant. And of his greatest gift, his voice, Clay says, "I didn't get this singing voice to make myself rich and famous. I got it to become a better messenger."
Coming full circle, we see that God is not only the Hero in Clay's life, but Someone he reverences and serves, striving to be uncompromising in an era when the in-thing is "Anything Goes."
I'm thankful Clay can do the math and see that in the purely human realm, nothing adds up, that an unwanted child doesn't just naturally become the champion of the most wounded of children, that the outcast among his peers doesn't suddenly become a pop star, the darling of millions of females, the envy of all - the celebrity, whose bus is chased by his adoring fans.
And being given a class room as big as the whole world, as big as his heart, yet lived his childhood with a sense of fatherlessness, a student that was a joke to most, the unloved, the unlovely, becoming the beloved, the lovely, the singing teacher, filling hearts and holding us all in his heart.
The Bubel-Aiken Foundation has grown and is now added corporate sponsors including Krispy Kremes and Disney. This week, Clay was announced as a new ambassador for UNICEF.
Someone once said, "The sky is the limit" - well, I think Clay's amazing life may have set a new world record and he's only just begun! As the guest on Larry King Live last night, Clay said it best, "I no longer have my own ideas about the future --I've learned to let go and let God...."
Good student, Clay!!
Book Review: Oversold
Summary: 2 Stars
I read a few of the reviews of this book and I am wondering if there were pages missing from the copy I have because I found nothing inspirational about it at all, nothing I could use as helpful advice for my child.
I don't know why Dr. Phil chose to feature this particular book and author on his show and I wrote to his producers registering my disappointment. I have to believe that Dr. Phil did not even read it.. We all take risks when we buy books endorsed by celebrities like Dr. Phil, Oprah, etc., this was a first (and last) time for me.
I don't have much more to offer in the way of a review other than to say this is not a book for parents looking for advice on bullying. If you have some interest in the personal musings of Clay Aiken you might find it entertaining but to call it inspirational is a gross exaggeration. For me it was a wasted $20.00 and next time I will check first with my local library.