As a teacher, there are many times you learn some valuable lessons. Sometimes these lessons come from the oddest circumstances. There is a saying in Karate that you should enter the dojo (karate studio) with your cup empty. Why is this? Because, when your cup is full, there is no room to add even a drop more, without overflowing. Therefor, you will leave with the same as when you arrived and there will be nothing new for you to take with yourself.
So, how would this relate to a singer? Before I answer my own question, I'll say this: I had a friend when I was a teenager who broke his leg in a motorcycle accident. He told me that "once you feel you have mastered the bike, it is time to stop riding." I had a student recently whose ego was so far beyond the skill level that it had become more than just an impediment to improvement and learning. The student's cup was beyond full and it wasn't water that was in that cup.
What is a teacher to do? Be patient and either the student will enter with an empty cup or will never return and reality will hit hard and painfully, when it is least expected. Sad but true.
What is the student to do? Figure out how to be honest and objective.
You have to have confidence and skill and artistry and even ego BUT when the ego is beyond everything else, you are living in your own "Truman Show" and you can't see the world around you but the "world" is watching and listening to you. It is a hard reality and there is no sugar coating it, no excusing it, therefor, it may be time to reassess
