“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
~ Steve Jobs US computer engineer & industrialist (1955 – )

Do you watch America Idol? I admit to watching the audition part. It is a spectacle. Who will have talent? There are those people who insist they can sing, but, their notes are very short of melodious. What compels them to put themselves in the path of potential humiliation? What makes them want to sing?

I guess we could spend some time figuring out the psychology of a person who believes they have a talent they clearly don’t possess. I am sure there is someone who has written about it. I may wince at the humiliation, because I know the pain of feeling my talent is unrecognized. Even when the talent is lacking I have to give a hand to each person who can stand up and give it a shot. We may question their motivation, but, I would like to put this forth; what if the people just want to be heard?

“Part of being a Master is learning how to sing in nobody else’s voice but your own.” ~ Hugh Macleod, How To Be Creative: 25. You have to find your own schtick., 08-22-04

The King’s Speech is an award winning movie about King George VI finding his voice, and hence his power in a time of war. Below is a trailer for the movie. Watch what happens.

“…I have a voice!” the King exclaims. I have a voice. Until we discover our true voice we are living a less then authentic life. We all have known those situations when we have kept silent when we wanted to speak out. Maybe you grow up in a home where children were to be seen but not heard. I spent years in Catholic school where free speech or thinking was not encouraged. In fact, those students who spoke their minds were sent off to continue their education in public schools. I don’t know if they were worst off then those of us left to our own silences.

“Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth” ~ Katherine Mansfield (1888 – 1923)

When writing, the most difficult thing to do is create a character with an authentic voice. Without a voice of our own, our characters may be flat and with out life. If we are confined in some ways we can infuse our characters with the voice we don’t have in real life. But we must be willing to speak the truth. Having a voice means claiming our power and our vulnerabilities. Either on our own, or through our writing, we have to be willing to lay it all out for our audience. Do you have a voice? I know you do. What are you saying?

Journaling for Healing Writing Prompt:
Find your voice. Practice reciting a poem or a piece of an essay each day. Stand in the middle of a room or on a street corner and use your best and loudest voice and recite your piece. Gather family and friends and recite for them. If they laugh at you, all the better, it will build up your humiliation muscle. Really I mean it. So often we stop at embarrassment and don’t move through it.
Here is my example of reciting my poem, “A Body of Work”

After you recite spend some time in your journal writing about the experience. What piece did you pick and why? How did it feel to use your voice? What did it sound like?

You might even consider recording your voice and listen to it again and again. Get used to sound of your own voice and use often.

Create a character that says the things you may not have the courage to express now. Imbue this character with all the qualities you would like to have for yourself. Give them a fabulous voice and wonderful words. Have them rant and rave, or have the sing with full volume. The idea is to create a character that can give voice to your words.

Copyright © 2011 Sandra Lee Schubert. All rights reserved.

Originally published here >http://www.selfhealingexpressions.com/journaling_for_healing.shtml

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