Fan and VOICE Guest Reporter Heather Hunt and Linda Eder

We all know and revere Linda Eder as the unparalleled talent who touches our hearts with her musical ability. Many of us have also had the opportunity to encounter her personality; on-stage as she banters with the audience between songs; and off-stage as she signs autographs, gets photographed and offers advice to her fans on how to get the best picture with their cameras (She's a whiz with the Canon Powershot!).

In an industry, which generally measures success by the dollar sign, I've often wondered how Linda has managed to remain true to herself and full of integrity. Much to my delight, I had the opportunity to see Linda in a different venue. On May 11th, 2006, Linda received an honorary degree (Associate in Arts) from Central Lakes College (CLC) in Brainerd, MN. In addition to receiving a degree, Linda was asked to address the graduates in the esteemed role of commencement speaker. Instead of captivating the audience with the big notes, Linda infused honesty, humor and wisdom to share her philosophy of life with the graduates. In the process of imparting knowledge and during an interview after the ceremony, Linda answered some of my questions about what motivates her and how she continues to come out on top in her career and personal life.

It's no secret that when the beginning of Linda's college career intersected with the opportunity to pursue her music career, she chose the latter, leaving Brainerd Community College (now CLC) to perform on a regular basis in Minneapolis. As Linda accepted her honorary degree, she joked that her parents never thought they would see the day when their middle child obtained a college degree. In fact, after the ceremony, Linda's mother, Laila Eder, teased that she figured her chances were higher of getting struck by lightning than ever seeing Linda in graduation garb, let alone giving the speech.

Joking aside, Linda values and respects the power of education. In fact, Linda and her family have established the Eder Family Scholarship in collaboration with the Central Lakes College Foundation to help students in the Brainerd Lakes Area finance their education. It is evident that, even though Linda's own college experience was cut short, her education did not stop when she left Brainerd. Her experiences in "the business" have helped her discover realities about herself and the world through trial and error. Throughout her career, Linda has learned that you have to know yourself and know your capabilities to achieve what you want. In order to best capitalize on her natural gifts, Linda has learned to surround herself with people who are good at being "finishers." She realizes that she needs people who continue to push her through the process and, more importantly, she is not afraid to admit that she needs those supportive people in her life.

One such person became important while Linda was a teenager. Linda's vocal talent was evident early, but her shyness and stage fright prevented her from sharing it with many people. To overcome her fears, she opened herself up to a challenging, but rewarding, mentor relationship with her high school choir conductor. It wasn't always pleasant to be pushed and stretched in that way, but it certainly paid off, as over time her audience grew from appreciative farm animals to applauding concert goers at Carnegie Hall.

Linda acknowledged that, while the beginning and end of the journey receive all the glory, the middle of the road typically gets overlooked. But it is this work, the day-to-day, behind the scenes efforts that no one applauds, which truly leads to self-discovery and growth. In an interview after the ceremony, Linda recalled that the 10 years it took to get JEKYLL & HYDE to Broadway was a clear example of the middle of the road. She credits the exuberance of the people involved in the project for helping her to quell the doubt that occasionally crept in. Finishing the NYC Marathon was a great source of pride for Linda, yet she admitted that she couldn't have done it without the support of one of her good friends who kept Linda from succumbing to tempting food along the way (i.e. Hamburgers and Margaritas).

One aspect of her career that is unavoidable and not always pleasant is the critics. Although Linda admits that the words can still sting, she has learned to capitalize on critics' responses to her work without compromising her vision for herself. Instead of being paralyzed by difficult reviews, Linda uses them to gain insight on areas where she can improve and to capitalize on areas she knows are her strengths. While it is true that fear is often a motivating factor in success, Linda feels strongly that fear should not hinder your willingness to try. Facing your fears head on and working through the "negative voices of reality" have not only kept Linda in the game, but have contributed to her ability to reflect and change course if necessary.

Lucky for her fans, Linda was able to acknowledge her talent and define her dream of becoming a professional musician. This sense of self-awareness has helped Linda throughout her career. Instead of considering herself lucky, Linda asserts that the way you present yourself and utilize the skills of others are key to realizing your dream. As she stated, "Luck is the world responding to the energy you're putting out." Although Linda admitted to being nervous about writing a speech and feeling pressure to make an impact on the graduates, their laughter, enthusiastic nodding heads and smiles were clear indicators that her energy, honesty and humor made a real impact on the audience… and she didn't even sing a note!

**Special acknowledgement and thanks to Diane Scearcy of the Central Lakes College Foundation 1) for her role in getting Linda back to Brainerd for a concert and, 2) for making it possible for the author to attend the ceremony and reception. Thanks, Diane!

(Above commencement photos by Steve Waller, Assistant Director of Marketing & Public Information at Central Lakes College)

The text of Linda's insipational address to the graduates follows...

"When I was asked to speak at this graduation my first reaction was why me? I'm just a kid. Then I remembered that a few years have passed since I went to this college. Too many years have passed. But they have been really good years, and maybe that is why I was asked to speak.

I still had some moments of panic. What would I say? What could I possibly say that would not be forgotten a few minutes after walking out of this room? So I thought back over some of the speeches that I had heard in my life, and the truth was that I couldn't remember most of them. I remembered how uncomfortable the seats were, the clearing of throats, the fact that it was usually too hot, but I didn't remember the speeches. Mother nature has given mankind an amazing ability to forget. It's a blessing in times of sadness and pain, but most of the time it's a curse.

I may not remember most of the speeches, but every now and then I would hear something that would stay with me. So I wrote something down and I can only hope that somewhere in it you might find that one thing that causes a spark that doesn't just burn out a few hours after you walk out of here.

I have been asked many times over the years, 'How do you get into show business?' My answer was always the same. 'I have no idea; it sort of fell in my lap.' But somewhere along the way my answer started to change. I started to have an answer.

I honestly believe …
The hardest part of getting what you want is knowing what it is you really want.
It sounds simple but it's not. Oh, it's easy to think, 'I want to do this or I want to do that.' But unless you can actually imagine it in detail, then you don't really understand what it is and have no way of knowing how to get it.

I believe that if you really know what it is that you want, then somehow you rearrange the world around you to make it happen. What feels like luck is really just the world responding to the energy that you are putting out. But to do that you have to know what it is you want… and you can't want it just a little.

I knew what I wanted to be when I was eight years old. It was 1969. That's the year I 'Woke Up.' It's the year that I can clearly remember writing in the upper right hand corner of all my school papers, and it's the year I first watched Judy Garland sing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' in the Wizard of Oz. A shy eight-year-old kid from Minnesota found her PASSION. I wanted to be a singer, and it didn't matter that I was too shy to sing in front of anyone except our three cows, two horses and a sheep named Clara.

I'm not here to promote show business. Far from it.
The single most important thing that I can say tonight is…
FIND YOUR PASSION.

It doesn't matter what it is. Producing a three-legged chicken, designing a better toothpick or running for President. The most important thing is to FIND YOUR PASSION because it's the spark that's going to fuel your life. It's going to get you up in the morning and make you too excited to sleep at night. It's your single best defense against apathy and boredom. It's the antidote to Pay Per View, Infomercials, Soap Operas, and Reality TV.

FIND YOUR PASSION AND DREAM BIG.

Don't be afraid of the brass ring. If I had announced to the kids in my 9th grade math class that one day I was going to make record albums, fly around the country giving concerts, star in a Broadway show and sell out Carnegie Hall, they would have laughed me right out of the class room. (I'm sure my math teacher was probably hoping I could sing because I certainly wasn't any good at math.) Carnegie Hall was my dream. Maybe because it was a concert hall so famous that its name reached the ears of a kid growing up in Garrison, Minnesota. (You have to multiply the entire population of Garrison 16 times in order to fill Carnegie Hall.) I may have had to use a calculator to figure that out, but I have now played Carnegie Hall four times.

DREAMS DO COME TRUE IF YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS YOU WANT AND YOU HAVE A PASSION FOR IT.

Maybe all the parents and teachers will cringe at this next remark, but I'll say it anyway.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT REALITY.

Reality sounds like a nice word, but think about how it is so often used.

'You have to face reality…'
'I know you WANT this but the reality is…'
'You have to face the reality of the situation…'
'You have to live in the real world…'

I'm not saying live in fantasyland. I'm saying don't worry about reality. Reality is something none of us can run away from anyway. It always grabs hold of you around the age of 40. So run ahead of it for as long as you can.

DON'T LET REALITY BE A NEGATIVE VOICE IN YOUR HEAD.

If I had listened to that negative voice, I wouldn't have pushed myself through all the difficult and sometimes scary moments that led me to the next step.

In 1997, I decided to run the New York Marathon. I had done a lot of distance running my life, but the 'reality' was that…
I was 36.
I was working eight shows a week on Broadway.
I hadn't done much running in a few years,
and my knees were already starting to bother me
because of all the running I had already done in my life.

During the months of training, I discovered how loud that negative voice of reality can be. As I ran, this nagging voice in my head would say,

'Why don't you stop?'
'You don't really want to do this.'
'You don't need to do this.'
'You can't possibly run 27 miles.'
'Why don't you run into that restaurant over there and have a hamburger and a margarita!'

The reality is… most people never run a marathon.

The voice repeated those statistics every step of my training.
I ran the New York Marathon with my best friend. She likes to talk; I like to listen. She talked nonstop for 27 miles loud enough to drown out that negative voice. We ran in the pouring rain, and finishing that race was one of the most satisfying moments of my life.

I don't know that I could have done it alone.
FIND SOMEONE WHO SHARES YOUR DREAM.
Find a friend to help motivate you. Find a mentor to help guide you. There are very few things in life that can be done alone so find someone who shares your dream. No matter what it is. There is someone else dreaming of that three legged chicken, so find them.

Don't let reality be a negative voice in your head.
Don't let it get in the way of your dream.

DON'T LET SOMEONE ELSE TELL YOU WHAT YOUR DREAM SHOULD BE.

I recently spent some time with a young 17 year-old girl who wants to do musical theater. This girl is tiny for her age, and there is not really anything about her that says theater performer let alone theater star. She didn't get a part in the school play this semester; they have her doing props backstage, stage crew. But she has a passion for theater that burns so hot that she can hardly sit still, and it isn't up to me or anyone else to extinguish the fire in her eyes.

You can't be afraid to fail. If you're afraid to fail, then you can't really succeed because you will always be playing it safe and the best apples are always on the highest part of the tree. Up there where that brass ring is hanging.

That 17 year-old girl will succeed. It may or may not be on the stage, but because she is pursuing a passion, she is alive with a light and an energy that is going to bring positive things into her life.

I'm NOT always great at this next point, but I know how important it is.

FINISH WHAT YOU START.

Most of the really successful people that I know are people who are finishers. It is so easy to start things. (I start things all the time. I'm an idea person.) It's much harder to finish them.

Everyone knows the saying, 'The Journey Is Everything!'
That's because most of the fun is really the process of getting there.
But you won't get anywhere in your journey unless you finish the steps along the way.

Beginnings get all the excitement.
Endings get all the glory.
It's the hard work in the middle that knocks a lot of us out of the running. So finish what you start.

BE AWARE OF THE PASSING OF TIME.

On my 9th birthday, my Mother said something to me that I will never forget. She said, 'Well, you will never be 8 again.' She's probably cringing right now, but she actually did me a favor. From that moment on, I was always aware of the passing of time.

Time flies…

That's a knowledge that older people are endlessly trying to make younger people understand. Trying and failing. But think back to grade school when summer vacation seemed to last a lifetime. The point is that if you have a dream and a passion to make it come true, then don't wait and don't waste too much time because dreams take work and work takes time.

You never know where you are going to hear something that stays with you. A few years ago, I was taking a limo service to the airport and I was chatting away with the driver (because I'm from Minnesota and people from Minnesota are friendly), and at the end of the ride he told me his secret to a happy life. He said the secret to a happy life is three things:

SOMEONE TO LOVE
SOMETHING TO DO
AND SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO.

It seemed very simple, but the more I thought about it the more I realized how right he was.

I WISH ALL OF YOU A HAPPY LIFE.

FIND YOUR PASSIONS.

LIVE YOUR DREAMS.

FIND SOMEONE TO SHARE YOUR PASSIONS AND DREAMS WITH.

BE AWARE OF THE PASSING OF TIME

AND HOW PRECIOUS YOUR LIFE TRULY IS."

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