Voices

I have a voice. When I wake up in the morning it’s a little rough and much lower than it is the rest of the day, but I have a voice.

I have a voice. After I drink my morning coffee it gets a little louder and I speak a little faster than the people I am speaking with deserve to endure, but I have a voice.

I have a voice. When I eat cheese, which I seem to have an odd allergic reaction to, it gets a little nasally and I will go through a lengthy sneezing fit which could last upwards of 8-10 sneezes, but I have a voice.

I have a voice. If I happen to enjoy a few too many alcoholic beverages it sometimes becomes rambling, slurred, and progressively incoherent, but I have a voice.

I have a voice.

Luckily for me, my voice is able to be heard. It’s loud and often carries much farther than I’d like, but it is able to be heard.

My voice is able to be heard. The very fact that you’re reading this proves that my voice is able to be heard. My voice, MY voice, takes on a life of its own when I put it to paper. The things that I want to say and the way that I wish to articulate them translate much better for me in this format. In conversation my voice can be quiet and stuttering. It can be loud and rambling. It can be confused and unable to find the big word I want so desperately to use.  But still, it is my voice.

And I will use it.

I will use my voice to tell you how I feel. I will use my voice to make you laugh. I will use my voice to tell you what I think. Hopefully, I will also use my voice to make you think as well. But never will I use my voice to tell you that your voice doesn’t matter.

We live in America, idealistically the greatest country in the world. I can use my voice to scream from the rooftops or from atop our highest mountains and tell everyone within hearing distance my feelings on any topic that I choose. I can also get on a computer and write a seemingly random thought in 140 characters or less and instantly have it spread throughout the world.

Instantly throughout the world.

And that’s where it gets scary.

Too often in this age of instant news and its resulting reactionary response we forget to put thought behind our voice.  This lack of thought is often facilitated by the ability to hide behind a screen name or nom de plume. It does our voice no favor when it has to be hidden. It does our voice no favor when it insults or degrades someone else’s.

Right now in this country we are experiencing possibly the second greatest divide between red and blue, conservative and liberal, gun lovers and tree huggers - whatever you want to call it - that we have ever seen. We are no longer one nation under God, but instead two nations struggling to live as one.

Struggling mightily.

Today, I use my voice to make you think. Today, I use my voice to ask you to use yours. But there’s a catch. Today, I ask you to use your voice not as a weapon of righteousness or indignity but instead as an instrument of hope and enlightenment. I ask you to use your voice to address the issues at hand and tell the world how you feel without belittling those who choose to use their voice in opposition. Let your opinions be known, your facts be received, and your strategies for improvement be submitted while being open to the same opinions, facts, and strategies of those you disagree with.

We are still a young nation. We have yet to get it right. Together, though, using the voices that we were given we can start to mend our fences. Respectfully, responsibly, and receptively we must use our voices to encourage those with a larger audience to see that the way things are working are not working at all. We may not have all of the solutions, but by using our voices we can help create a pool of new ideas to work from.

We are at a crucial stage in our brief history where things could go right or could go horribly wrong. Our voices are our best means to ensure that the result is positive. Write a letter to your mayor. Write your senators and congressmen. Write your governors. Write the President of the United States of America. But do not use your voice to tell them what they’re doing wrong.  Use your voice to offer solutions. Use your voice to offer support. But most of all - use your voice. It’s how our country was founded in 1776 when 56 men used their voice to declare independence from a king across the ocean.  They used their voices to enable me to have the freedom to use mine.

I have a voice

My voice is able to heard

So is yours

Use it, and use it wisely