Megan Jacobson
November 11, 2008
Voice and Movement I
Elizabeth Terrell
“Breathing is Meaning”
I have just finished reading Catherine Fitzmaurice’s article, “Breathing is Meaning.” When reading
the first few paragraphs of the article, I was frustrated because I felt as though it would have been much more
beneficial for me to have read the article before we started destructuring. However, as I read on in the text, I
realized how important the article was for me to read. Catherine Fitzmaurice’s article reinforced important
fundamentals we have learned in class, reminded me of discoveries I have made thus far, and gave me insight
into what to expect for the remainder of the semester.
Upon finishing Fitzmaurice’s article, I actually realized how many rudimentary elements of vocal
production I had completely forgotten about. As a singing actor, it is important for me to constantly review
components such as the larynx, and various articulators, and reading the article allowed me to do so. I was
also reminded of the fundamental differences between singing and speaking. I found the comment about
‘speaking being improvisational’ very interesting and hope to try to incorporate a more improvisational
element into my singing. The article also reminded me of a conversation we recently had in class about
making sure your pauses for breath do not signal the end of a thought.
This year, I have witnessed many positive changes in life as both an actor and a human being and I
attribute these changes largely to the work we have done in class. Reading Fitzmaurice’s article reminded
me of many of these instances. For example, the other day I was told that a very close friend of mine had
betrayed me in a very hurtful, demeaning, and disrespectful way. For the remainder of the school day, I tried
my best to control myself around this person. However, when faced with this individual in private, she and I
had it out. For the first time in life, I felt and saw my body shaking from frustration, anger and hurt; I can
only assume that this was my body’s way of physically expressing my emotional upset. Although I found
this ‘involuntary tremoring’ to be extremely interesting, it was not nearly as shocking as the control I had
over my voice throughout the entire endeavor. As livid as I was throughout the entire ‘conversation’ with
this person, I had complete control over my voice, which is something that rarely happens for me ‘heat of the
moment’ situations. I found this control very liberating and upon reading Fitzmaurice’s line about the
autonomous, authentic and authoritative affect of autonomic control very much validated that liberation for
me. Fitzmaurice’s article also shed light on the painful emotional implications of destructuring. I found this
comment incredibly reassuring as I have undergone many painful emotional discoveries in class thus far. I
completely agree with Fitzmaurice in that the rewards that come from these emotional pains are ‘great.’ Not
only have I been able to deal with issues that I have deeply repressed, but I have been able to accept
emotional release as a normal and imperative aspect of existence. In reading this article, I was able to relive
the importance of destructuring and ultimately appreciate the progress I have made with my emotional and
physical self.
I was happy to see that at the end of the article, Fitzmaurice explained restructuring in detail as it
allowed me to intellectualize the process we are now undergoing in class. I appreciated the notion of
‘speaking as an extension of breathing’ and I find the concept very interesting. In my mind, the concept
translates very easily into the idea of breathing between sentences and thoughts. When looking at speech as
the simple vocalization of breath, one is able to give the simple act of breathing an entirely new and
important place in speech (be it on stage or in everyday life). I am very excited to embark on the journey of
restructuring, having had a taste of vocal control. From reading the article, I now know that in restructuring I
must trust my instinct to breathe in order to reduce upper chest, shoulder and neck tension (the latter being
something I have always experienced in excess).
I very much appreciated Catherine Fitzmaurice’s article, “Breath is Meaning.” After reading the
article, I was able to reflect, on a much more intellectual level, what I have been doing with my mind and
body. Even in writing this paper, I ingrained the principles of breath and vocal production that were not yet
second nature to me. In my opinion, the article was generally a reflection of the processes we have been
undergoing in class and briefly outlined the remainder of the semester. Part of me wishes that I had read this
article at the very beginning of the semester, but I trust that we read the article this far into the semester for a
reason. Overall, I found the article very reflective and informative and believe it is an important article to
read, actors and non-actors alike.