Trusting Your Voice
August 28, 2008 RS Gathering ~ Notes
TRUSTING YOUR VOICE:: Part 1 of a 4 Part Series of "...Your Voice"
A Warm Up:
Labor Day weekend is approaching. Summer is coming to an end. Write for 10 minutes about the autumn season and what it means to you.
I want to talk a little about “voice.” Discussion driven ~ 10 mins
“Every woman’s life has a voice, allow it to speak.”
Write for 20 minutes:
Write about the worst meal you ever had…
The last Reflective Souls Carol talked about the inner critic…that voice inside that taunts us and has us question our voice. The writing assignment was to write a letter to your Inner Critic.
This week we are focusing on Trusting Your Voice. Have you ever watched a chipmunk? Our (creativity) voice is much like that little critter. The chipmunk is skitzy and timid and needs a safe environment to peep out. If it is startled it quickly retreats back into its hole. Maybe you know exactly what I’m talking about. Why is our creativity (voice) so shy? Maybe it has been diminished as we grew into life – nasty teachers, laughing peers, being told we can’t make a living as an artist, comparing our work with that of historical artistic greats. We give up and say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” Which is not true, it just needs a lot of encouragement to creep out. We must be patient with our voice as well. Remember, it’s a bit skitzy, like the chipmunk.
You have a Voice, trust it…
Like a fingerprint; your voice makes the story/art uniquely yours. You don’t need to learn your voice; you just need to discover it. It’s already in you. But it's the hardest to achieve, because it involves trusting yourself. Even if you have all the building blocks of a story in place, if it lacks your voice, the piece will be flat and somewhat lifeless. If you are writing nonfiction or a reflection, bring your passion, your own way of looking at the world, and your excitement for the topic because this will give your work a soul. And you can trust that.
Imagine what you could do if you fully trusted your (creativity) voice!
Write for 20 minutes:
Sit quietly before God; listen for His voice, then write an encouraging letter to your (creative) voice. And read that letter every time your (creativity) voice seems skitzy or if your inner critic is speaking loud and clear.
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