The voice is first heard when we popped out of a tummy, all goo'ed up and icky, but we were still the most sought after thing to be held and admired. Isn't it a wonder how all we see through the goo is the little wonder.Over time this voice goes through learning, performing, and adapting phases, to then become an inherent part of our personality, charm and identity.
Some of us may have this voice altered through voice lessons, public speaking classes, or leadership workshops, or then just living with someone who doesn't particularly like your style of speaking!
And that's just the physical voice.
Then there's the voice that identifies your thinking, beliefs and values. It's a completely different type of voice, that firstly takes years to find, and then develop as time goes on. While the two are very different, I see them both intertwining so much that the extent of their relationship begs for a separate discussion. It'll definitely help me make lucid my own opinions and ideas about the subject! It's quite a murky and highly intriguing area.
There are no hard and fast rules that can be listed, but there are some generalized impressions that exist socially. I read a bit online and what I gleaned from some of the forums (vs. articles, because sometimes it's more interesting to read what a regular person thinks, rather than a bubbled academic version) is this - People have created criteria including loud, soft, confident, shy, introvert, extrovert, leader, follower etc. and these criteria have undergone combinations to arrive at a person's personality traits. For example, I've picked a sample of the most basic ones -
Loud people are more confident?
Loud people have empty heads?
Soft-spoken people are shy and not confident? Or
Soft-spoken people are more sure of themselves?
Then, to complicate it further, let's mix the other voice. The one that reflects your values, and helps carve your character.
If you are loud, does it mean you have stronger beliefs? Or is the other way around?
It's all meshed together, but with specific paths within the mesh if we choose to look carefully. Still, perhaps there exists no clear cut answer because haven't these opinions or voices been shaped by our own circumstances or environments which are unique to us alone, and oblivion to others?
I have no answers, as I sit here today and type this, I'm thinking about the trigger for this post - an article by Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair "Unspoken Truths". It really is very well written piece that moved me (thanks me love for sharing).
It is eye opening in that it makes us realize how easily we abandon the importance of our voices until we have it no more. The voice, both literally and figuratively support each other and should make its way to the forefront of you, whether it is said loudly or softly. In Mr. Hitchens words, "So this above all, find your own voice."
PS: Thanks Casey for the nudge.
Today I'm humming Ne Me Quitte Pas by Regina Spektor
