When I began graduate school I became instant friends with a talented singer who entered at the same time. One afternoon we were leaving class and walking across Harvard Square, headed to our favorite tea café. As we were walking, she stated nonchalantly (in a thick New Zealand accent), “don’t you sometimes just LOVE the sound of your voice?”

I made some attempt to half-smile, and did not answer, head down. What I was thinking was, “Um, no? Who thinks that?”

It took a long time to acknowledge and accept that my voice was… my voice. The end. No tradesies, no opting out. This is my voice, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. So I best figure out how to make peace with the one and only voice that I’ve got.

It took steady affirmations and much inner work to get this current place. It took a lot of falling down, and getting back up. It took quite a great deal of nurturing and reassuring. And it is a constant work in progress.

And right now, I will most certainly assure you that yes, sometimes I just LOVE the sound of my voice. But way more importantly, I just love my voice for who she is. And guess what? She is so much more than mere sound.

When we have this kind of soul-level acceptance, past the barriers of ego and self-doubt, your voice begins to change. There is something exciting that begins to brew. You have an access to greater flexibility, greater confidence, and greater flow, but amazingly: you have access to a new dimension.

This a sacred dimension. It is the place from which the sacred voice is sourced. But it is more easily defined as an inner peace that flows from within, and explodes in the form of possibility.

Have you felt that before? Or does that sound crazy to you right now? I would understand if it did. I would understand if this experience of sacredness made you feel resentful or sullen. It would have for me, just as I felt when walking to TeaLuxe with my über-confident friend. I certainly do not intend to do so.

But I want you to set aside any resistance to this state of being. Instead, allow yourself the space to hold this question: how will I use my one and only voice?

Please refrain from saying “I don’t know.” Your ego does not know, because it’s a new and intimidating question. Just hold space for your inner self to answer, because that is where the answer lies.

I ask myself this question every day. Perhaps I am never satisfied with the answer. You know why? Because using your voice, in its truest form, is challenging. I have do hard things every damn day.

This unfolding process of discovering and actualizing the voice is a life’s journey. It is also one of the most enriching and important journeys I could have hoped for in this lifetime. 

Your voice, and the pathway you walk with your voice, has the potential to transform your entire life. That is certainly what has unfolded for me.

The work and the practice is to persevere in your efforts to grow more in love and acceptance with your voice. The byproduct is the expansion of your current reality, and your expanding access to a dimension of creative potential more than you thought was possible.

Please do not let the new and intimidating nature of this journey to shut you down. I have bad news: growing bigger will always feel new and intimidating. There is simply no help for it.

But you are in good company: we all desire a true connection with our voice. We are all scared, too. But we move ahead anyway, because that is what seekers do, despite the relative discomfort of change and growth and expansion.

So knowing that the road is bumpy (unavoidable), and knowing that you have work to do (inevitable), and knowing that the result could be more gorgeous that you ever thought possible (insanely absolutely)…

How will you use your one and only voice today?

Hugs,

allison

IMAGE: 五玄土 ORIENTO on Unsplash

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