Let Your Voice Fly

Seems like I've been seeing more articles on voice lately. It's all over the place. But, what is voice, really?

Well, I invite you to a cup of tea and let's sit down and talk about that, that fleeting, misunderstood thing, that being voice.

Voice.

It was a mystery to me up until a couple years ago; what is voice, how can I achieve voice, what is my voice and is it point of view, and what else could I possibly tie to voice to make it so irritatingly difficult to understand?

It made me crazy, voice did. I read and read and took a class and I wore myself out with it.

What I found is, voice is not that hard, but it is specific.

First of all, voice is not point of view. Point of view is an entirely different subject and it is not a part of this particular discussion, at this point. Do not worry about point of view right now, today.

Okay, so.

Voice = everything that you have experienced, from birth up until this very moment. It is your parents' verbiage to you, it may even be your granparents' verbiage to you. It is your achievements and failures, it is your hopes and dreams, your belief system and your doubts, your political statement, it is simply you.

And then, you say but, who am I? What is my voice? Do I have a voice?

Yes, you have a voice and it is unique to you, whatever your story is, whereever you have been, whatever has been a part of your life. Yes, I promise you, you have a voice.

You are a product of your environment to a point. However, closer to the bone, voice is the culmination of all you have ever been, your particular view on the world, your gut.

Yes, your gut. That is where voice starts. That is where it dwells.

I have said things before about, hey, think about where you come from, you parents, their lifestyle, their point of view, so on and so forth, and now I'm ready to take it on home.

You do not have to be some great orator to have a voice. No, that is so not what it is all about.

You just have to be you. You have to recognize where you have been, where you come from, you have to analyze your own stance in the world and then, write from there. That's all that's required really.

Really.

It is safe. Go ahead and write. Send it out, your voice. I would love to hear it.