Can Anyone Hear Me?

For me one of the most challenging obstacles I have faced since re-starting my writing career is finding my voice. Initially I thought how hard could it be? I’d simply be saying how I feel about the things that matter to me. I would write about whatever came to mind. I might even mimic some of the writing styles I have been raised on over the years and just add my own flare to make it somewhat unique.
The only issue is that isn’t me. That’s not the writer that I have dreamed of becoming my whole life. I never wanted to be an imitation of someone else, especially considering how important maintaining my originality has always been to me. I always wanted to speak from such a profound and wise place – to be able to invoke thought or even change.  So again I was faced with the problem of, what is my voice? And better yet, how do I discover it?

Over a series of weeks which included the reading of several articles, blogs and a couple of books I started to wonder what my voice would be and how would I get my message out there. “How will I be able to captivate minds with my words?’’ A thought that ran across my mind a many times. The first thing I did was compare myself to the writers of the works I’d been studying. Thinking, what was their voice? Although I read their works, I was more concerned with what their message really was. Then I quickly realized one important fact and I think one of the most essential aspects to realize before becoming a ‘’real writer.’’

I am not any other writer. I cannot find my voice in the works, or rather the words, of other writers and to find my voice, to really hear how I sound, I most speak. I most first find my soul then my heart and lastly my words and speak out right and out loud. I have to truly know myself and extract the truest pieces of my heart and soul then turn that into words. Only in connecting with myself as wholly and as honestly as possible, will I know what it is that I have to say. And after all of that, actually figuring out how I have to say it is the least of my problems.

The bottom line is that with every day and with every word I write, I get closer to discovering my voice. The more I connect with myself and the more I uncover my inner ‘’literary god’’ the more my voice will become as clear and as audible as a diamond scratching against glass. And the more undeniably unique and undoubtedly sacred my words will become.

So the only question I have left to ask when comes to my voice now is Can you hear me?