Can You Hear My Voice? Part 1

It occurred to me that many of us may not know what our true voices sound like. How many times have you recorded your voice, heard the play back only to say "I sound like that?" Of course there are many physical/auditory reasons for that but bear with me as I explore this idea...


It is my opinion that the only true voice we ever possessed was at birth. That first cry. It was authentic, unrestrained, even welcomed with enthusiasm "hooray she/he is alive." But then things start to change. Mom and Dad start to "hush" the baby, start to wonder what each cry means, assign roles to each cry. As we get even older we are taught about the inside and outside voices and when to use them. Then we are told never to use a certain tone with our elders. As we age even further into puberty the girls are encouraged to keep a girly voice and boys will lament for not having bass in the voice at age 12.


But our literal voices are not the only thing we alter. What we say with our voices starts to become taboo. In my household I rarely had a say. Shut up and/or stupid. These words met my ideas. So I started to keep things to myself. "Quiet my voice."School wasn't any better. I remember writing a paper on date rape in the 8th grade. Don't ask me how I knew about something like that, let's say that I was mature beyond my years or perhaps clairvoyant. My male teacher didn't seem to like the paper and gave me a C without any red markings. When I inquired his behavior was so ill a meeting with the principal was warranted.


My former church was an extension of family and school. When I tried pointing out a sin by an authority figure it was met with silence. Thankfully GOD hears my voice otherwise I would have ended up in a coffin over all the ill in the church I attended for many years.


I'm sure most of you have stories to tell about not being heard, taken seriously, or plain told to shut your face.

After years of silencing, molding, and controlling the voice, where does that leave us?

Can we recognize it anymore?

Can we even hear our voice?

Can anyone else hear us?

Really hear us?