Carly: I know why Gene Kelly is singin' in the rain, and it has nothing to do with Debbie Reynolds.

For many more years than I have been biking, falling over in yoga and pretending to run, I have been singing. I grew up in a very musical household, where my Dad and stepmom have their very own band (no, really…check it: www.marcyandthehighlights.com), and it was not uncommon for my family to break out into four-part harmony at the dinner table.

I like singing for many reasons, but the biggest one being that no matter where I am, I have my instrument with me. I tried orchestra and band, but my heart really wasn’t in it. There’s nothing like feeling the music resonate in your head as you make beautiful sounds with those around you. I just didn’t get the same feeling from a tenor saxophone.

Now, while you will probably never see me on American Idol or Glee, (mostly because singing pop songs in public terrifies me) my singing has led to some pretty great experiences and opportunities in my life. First and foremost, I have met and kept some of my best friends from high school and college choir. The rapport and bond you have with a choir can be as great as that of a sports team. Singing also has taken me across oceans and to exciting places. I will never forget singing Franz Biebl’s arrangement of Ave Maria with my high school concert choir in the cathedral of Köln, Germany.

I am writing about singing this week because I just wrapped up my winter concert series with the Minnetonka Symphony Chorus. This group consists of a bunch of choir-nerds from around my age to the age when a hip replacement was “so last year”. Our program consisted of the usual choir Christmas fare, and we were joined by the Minnetonka Chamber Orchestra and the Minnetonka Chamber Choir.

From my friends in the audience, the reviews I received were all positive, which of course was to be expected. ;) This is all fine and good, but my real sense of accomplishment comes from having stuck with singing this long. Singing can be compared to a sport in that you need to train your voice. If you don’t take care of it and you don’t properly warm it up, you can strain it and even permanently damage it. The more you work and condition, the better you should sound. And, similar to any sport, you should realize that even with all of the voice lessons in the world, not all of us are natural Josh Grobans. This realization can be a hard one to grasp though, I have just finally made peace with the fact that I will never be able to sing “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” the way Whitney can.

I could have stayed a shower performance artist, or a commute-to-work pop star, but I choose to put on an unattractive, itchy dress and sing songs that were written in a dead language. Why? Because it makes me extremely happy. You’ve heard of a runner’s high, right? Well nothing quite does it for me like 100 voices singing a capella in perfect harmony around me.

With that said, just like any athlete, I’m looking ahead and I’ve got a new goal in mind. It’s a bit terrifying, and it might take some liquid courage and a few good friends to get there (any volunteers?), but I am confident that before 2011 is out, I will be the master of the domain known as karaoke. Hold me to it, people; accountability is a great motivator.