Our Voices Carry

The greatest human need is the need to be heard. Take away our voice and our story becomes disabled, stunting our ability for healing and forward movement.

And yet in the other direction comes things like blogs and Facebook and Twitter: turbo-charged vehicles that carry our voice straight from heart to Universe. At least a biography takes time and editing and patience and approval--all this social media horse shit (and I'm excreting it on my keyboard right this second) if, manned by a driver under the influence of wrong motive, can cause a major wreck.

And yet we do it anyway. Because for the ten people who will squelch our voice and ridicule our story, there will always be the one who is encouraged and helped.

I find it to be like eating and drinking, and any other verb in this world that we tend to soak dry to fill unmet needs. Eating and drinking can bring people together if done well (when I use the term "well" I refer to an action filled with things like integrity and good health) but if abused can lead to sickness and death. This is why I keep quitting and re-joining Facebook--because I am aware of its explosive nature and I want to tread lightly through its minefield.

I have a friend on Facebook who, like me, is pregnant and due around the same time. And yet she found out that her baby probably won't live until her delivery day and if he does live, he won't live much longer out of the womb. Would it be easier for her to let her voice be disabled along with her baby? Much easier. But this woman stepped out in vulnerability and courage and shared her story with the Universe. I have no doubt that for every ten people who ridicule her and her family for the decisions they have been forced to make, there are a hundred people who are healed by her voice. Who hear her story and from the guts of our humanity, hold her up, breathe in and out beside her and let her speak.

More often than not, that is all we need.