Did you know that one of the hardest things to learn to do in a voice class is to simply let your voice be heard? Some people don’t have a problem projecting, but others, even with beautiful voices, will constantly be pulling their voices back, as if they are afraid of the power of their own vocal chords.

I’ve never had a problem projecting my voice. I naturally project. I was once told I had the lungs of an opera singer, and when I was a child you could hear me singing at church from outside the building. But there is another place where my voice wants to project but I’ve constantly pulled it back, tried not to stand out.

The thing is, God made each of us with a voice, a unique mind and insight that is just our own. And the thing is, that voice is needed.

But so many of us were shut down. It might have been a parent, a sibling, a teacher, a friend, or even a stranger, but we’ve all had moments where our voices where shut down, excused, found wanting.

Some of us have been able to push past those moments, and some of us haven’t.

I’m tall. Really tall. Believe it or not I’ve always had a hard time liking how tall I am. I stand out and standing out is frightening when you feel you might be rejected. Better to hide in a corner and not be noticed.

But you know what?

God made me tall. He made me to stand out and be noticed.

He made me with a voice that projects.

He made me a poet, a reader, a thinker.

But at times its been difficult to want to own this voice of mine, this tall romantic woman who simply doesn’t fit the mold. So I pull back my thoughts, slouch my shoulders.

That was never what any of us were meant to do.

I have a challenge for you today, I want you to take an honest look at yourself. Not the you that you think you should be or that pain has made you to be, but the real, secret you that is deep inside.

Look at this person, see who she is, affirm her, tell her its ok that she is different, because we are all different.

Now, ever slowly, I want you to let her out.

Let her shine! Let her project! Let her come out in all her quirkiness, in all her silliness, and in all her beauty.

Because you are beautiful, you voice is beautiful, and it needs to shine!

~Joy Aletheia Stevens

Photo Credit: guitar practice by woodleywonderworks  (CC BY 2.0)