I woke up this morning unable to speak. What little voice I have is coarse and scratchy; my head is spinning and and my body aches. I realized after a few attempts at talking to my husband even in a low tone, it was not worth the effort. I opted to spend the rest of the day being quiet. It is a rare occasion to find me speechless, and it made me think of other ways to express myself. I could have spent the day curled up in bed lost in my thoughts and body aches. But a little voice inside of me said: “Get up and write. Speak out. Share your thoughts and make something out your day.”
I think we all have a voice inside of us that embodies our expression. Some of us have several voices. The key is finding it and using it. My voice is in my writing. The written word enables me to express myself in ways I cannot speak aloud. If I lost my gift of gab forever I know I am able to share my ideas and my creativity through my writing.
Artists find their voices in a myriad of ways from paint to pen to pencil to performance. Dancers express themselves through movement. Cooks put a dose of expression in the foods they prepare. Writers and bloggers use words. Photographers take pictures. Activists rally others to speak out. Some show their voice by their actions: giving time or sharing expertise. Others share their voice quietly through small gestures and soft words. Creativity is not always required to find your voice but ingenuity is. Too often our lives are so cluttered by information and chores and by listening to others that we forget to take the time to express ourselves. We say to ourselves, “I don’t have the time.”
But we do. And we should never make weak excuses to hide our expression. There is a book called The Diving Bell and the Butterly by the French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffered a massive stroke that resulted in a rare condition called “locked in syndrome.” He was physically paralyzed with the exception of some movement in his head and his left eye. To most he was left unable to communicate. But, by blinking his one good eye and working with a transcriber, this man dictated his book over the course of ten months and an estimated 200,000 blinks. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly became a best seller in Europe and was later made into a movie. Imagine what would have happened if Bauby remained locked in his thoughts, the one form of expression he still had control over?
When I was undergoing treatment many moons ago, some friends gave me colored pens and markers and sketchbooks. Another gave me a diary. And as my chemically induced life unfolded for the months that followed, I found solace in writing in my diary almost daily. After treatment ended, this blog was born by the desire to speak out and be myself again and inspire others to have the courage to do so as well.
We should never let petty excuses, day- to- day chores or even catastrophe or illness put us in expressive lock down. So on this Silent Sunday, I turned to writing.
If you have found your voice, you are a lucky person. If you are still searching, what’s holding you back? Listen up! This is the time of year when we make new year resolutions. Why not resolve to find your voice and share it?
