You Deserve To Be Heard

Use your voice. Tell your story. Write as if no one is reading. Sing those melodic rhythmic notes until your voice gives out.

I think at one time or another all of us have felt like our feelings did not matter. That what we had to say was not important. Hell, maybe you have even been told by the ones you love dearly and hold close.

Fuck that.

Maybe you have let your fears hold you back. Guilty as charged. Feeling that other people are deserving of success, but not you. What others say is more important because they know what they are talking about.

You feel as if you don’t.

You convince yourself over and over that these lies are the truth. I’m here to call you on your bullshit.

Someone has to.

What if we did write about what we wanted and shared our deepest vulnerabilities with others? Deep down we still worry that no one cares.

Or worse, no one even bothered to read it at all.

You poured out your heart and soul. Left everything on the paper. Just to have it squandered and stomped on. Then we let ourselves shatter into a million pieces. Broken. Alone in this hollow feeling of self-anguish.

Maybe you have had people tell you that you have a gift for writing. People told me. I still didn’t believe it myself. My former partner told me many times that I was a gifted writer. That I have a talent.

Part of me felt it was true and the insecure scared little girl inside me didn’t.

Fast forward several years later and I was in grad school for counseling. I’m more of a quiet type. I sit back and listen. Letting others do the talking. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say. I’ve never been one to like all the attention on me. As I’m writing about myself.

Don’t worry. The irony hasn’t eclipsed me there.

I was sitting in one of my classes, not talking, as usual. But this day I pushed myself to talk. I participated in the discussion and spoke my thoughts. I’ll never forget what happened next. The gentleman I sat next to all semester turned toward me.

He said, “I didn’t know you had that in you.”

He told me that he wished I had talked more because he liked what I had to say. I was caught off guard. I had no idea that using my voice would have an impact. Let alone, someone wished I would use it even more.

A semester later one of my professors said something that left me awe-struck. I spoke more in this class than I did in most of my others. I made an effort to put myself out there. Get out of my quiet comfort zone. Let my voice out of its box.

The more I did this I began to notice a freeing sensation.

After I said something in this particular class my professor said aloud, “I love listening to you talk. I’d love to read any book written by you. Wouldn’t you all too.”

She addressed the class as well. This compliment and adoration left me feeling shy and flushed. Me? Write a book. Yeah right, I thought to myself. Don’t get me wrong. I was very flattered. Almost in shock.

There was a shift in me after she said that. Even more so when the other students nodded their heads in agreement. Now, it was evident. Many others were now believing in me. Something I didn’t even believe in myself.

The greatest gift given to me was their belief in me.

Even with all of this external validation. I had my doubts. Still, I began thinking and feeling. If that many people see this in me. It must be true. I slowly started to believe it myself.

And I mean slowly…

My process now has been slow. That is ok. I have been crawling. Sometimes not even moving. That has been my journey. I fully believe that wherever you are is where you are meant to be. I’m slowly moving along. Each day becomes a bit sweeter in my process.

As the fruits of my labor begin to ripen. The sweet nectar within gets sweeter.

So will yours. If it doesn’t, then, there is always a deeper lesson to learn. First, we have to get out of our way. Stop being our biggest obstacle to overcome.

We have become lost in algorithms and fighting for followers. That mindset of I’m only successful if I have this amount of followers or this much engagement on a story. I think we have all succumbed to that at some point. It’s hard not to.

You deserve to be heard. For your voice to be spoken into existence. Even if no one acknowledges, leaves a comment, or reads your story at all. At a point, it should be enough for you to share your voice even if no one listens.

Or if only a few do, celebrate that. If even one person sees you, you don’t count as invisible anymore.

Express yourself. Let your words flow. Let your soul bleed onto the canvas that is called life. You are a piece of art in human form.

Get lost in honoring yourself and your voice. Lose your voice. Then find it again. Discover it. Cherish it. Fall in love with the process. That is what all this is about anyways.

You. It’s about you. So get out there and do the damn thing. Just promise me you will do this one thing.

Use your voice. Even if no one listens.