The basic sound of your voice is like your fingerprint – unique to you. But unlike your fingerprint, it also changes and develops as you go through life. Your voice can express the person you are today – if you allow it to.
When we are born, our first cry comes from our whole body and with no delay between the impulse to cry and the actual uttering of sound. But very soon, we are told to “be quiet”, “wait for your turn” and “be good”. Through school we learn to conform to the norms and rules of our peers. In our careers we adopt the behaviours that are suitable for our professional roles – including the tone of voice and way of speaking.
This is a natural process – as human beings we need to belong and get accepted by the group. It’s also to some extent necessary – coexistance in a family, a workplace or society at large would be impossible without social norms.
But the question is: have we become so civilized that it is actually restricting our ability to communicate? How many layers of censorship have you put between your impulse to speak and what you actually say? How accurately do you allow your voice to express your true thoughts and the different aspects of your personality?