Their power, unintentional writing advice, and renewed intentions.
Have a pretty voice
And tell me pretty things
And I will listen to you forever.
I am unbelievably enamoured by sound and marvel at the waves of noise that come from the people we love and admire. I love beautiful voices, and every one is unique. A voice saying something thoughtful or clever or wholesome is infinitely better than a pretty voice on the radio that has nothing in particular to say. The voice of affection has many different sounds. It sounds like a caress on your back as you fall asleep, it sounds like being served warm food, and it sounds like concern and care for you and your potential.
Voices, figuratively and literally, shape our movement through the world. When someone discovers their calling, we say they have ‘found’ their voice. To empower oneself or others for a just cause is to ‘use your voice’. To threaten someone, you can either raise or lower your voice. A unified statement is delivered ‘in one voice’. Timbre and tone and volume and emotion all surge through our vocal chords, and the arrangement of these are crucial to our understanding of anything from questions to announcements and instructions. The voices in our head are everything about who we are.
If one is comfortable with their voice, how it sounds and what it is used for, I believe they will have achieved inner peace. For example, I love the sound of my voice, I no longer think it is too deep for a girl, as I did when I was younger. But I would like if my voice would be used to say kinder and more meaningful things, and I would like if I raised it less often. If my inner voice could be harnessed to pure positivity, I’m certain ninety-nine percent of my problems would cease to exist. That is my voice in relation to my image of myself, my patience and self-control, and mindfulness.
Similarly, in writing, I have noticed recently that the distinctness of my voice in prose has been wavering lately. I find myself more focused on crafting words that show off than what I’m actually saying. That voice of mine was recognisable by her hyper-awareness and sly, subtly-changing tones. She sounded self-certain and thoughtful. It disturbed me greatly to think that she could be becoming obscured by pretence and seriousness and second-guessing. My solution was to re-find my voice using my voice. I decided to fall back on the habit of whispering my words under my breath as I type, or speaking out loud to myself to craft a sentence to sound natural. I also decided to take the chance to ‘listen’ back to the literary voices that inspired my own in the first place as a new writer. But my grip on my figurative vocal chords is not tight. I am willing to endure change and development if it is time for the natural evolution of my voice. I believe this applies whether I am writing or speaking (especially as long periods of silence since lockdown have slightly affected my ability to converse). My voice has to be the one I admire most; sophisticated, measured and graceful, and used for necessary and beautiful things: praising and complimenting people, reciting the words of my Lord, speaking words of goodness, knowledge, love, and comfort.
The voice is the muscle of the soul.
~ Alfred Wolfsohn
