I have come to temper my enthusiasm for singing.  Not as a personal practice – I still consider it a great gift of my life – but as a universal prescription.  While I agree with Pete Seeger that singing together could heal the world, I recognize that there are many other things – well-intentioned dialogue for example – that could do a better job and whose happening is just as implausible.  When a good friend told me that he doesn’t sing – not even to his grandkids – my picture of his life reflexively darkened a bit (the fact that his life is rich with his grandkid experiences makes the picture plenty bright, nevertheless).  Many singers are singing evangelists.  It is hard for us to imagine that something that feels so natural and gratifying would not have the same effect on everyone else.  We want that feeling for everyone.  I love Uncle Walt, but 

   … what I assume you shall assume,

   For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. 

if taken too literally, can cause problems.  I have personal knowledge of this, having been the target of evangelizing for other things.  So, I grant that fully human, richly-living people have given singing an honest try and it doesn’t do for them what it does to me.  And in spite of the “if you can talk, you can sing” (something I heard a musicologist say – I think it was some kind of TED talk) school, I think it’s possible that singing might be unpleasant for some or for those around some.  But … .  I think there is a sub-culture of shame around singing that keeps people from tapping the joy reservoir that would be theirs if they sang.  Many times the answer to my question “do you like to sing?” is “I am not good at singing”.  That wasn’t the question!.  In one case, the responder was told – by a grandchild! – that her singing was bad, but in most cases I think it is a self assessment with no outside verification.  So I do what I can to encourage and cajole and to model.  I also look for beauty in every singing voice – this is not hard.  Singing may not be for everyone, but I wish folks would shake off whatever inhibitions they have around it and give it a try.