THE NEED TO SPEAK

“Just by speaking I can break our of my self-made prison.”

~ June Singer

So many times we suppose ourselves our of existence, imagining that if we speak our heart we will be rejected or ignored.

I once watched a man reach to call a friend, excited to share a deep idea that had overcome him. But as the phone was ringing, I saw him imagine a cool reception, saw him try on the pain of not being heard, and quickly, with a sigh of deflation, he hung up before the fourth ring.

Still, the expression - whether misunderstood, well received, or rejected - matters. For the cost of not making the call is that a piece of us dies. Consider how fish swim and birds fly. They do do because it is in their nature. For it is the swimming and the flying that makes them fish and birds.

Likewise, it is speaking one’s heart that makes a human being human. For even if no one hears us, it is the act of speaking that frees us by letting the spirit swim and fly through the world.

~ Sit quietly and allow yourself to be as still as lake water when there is no wind.

~ Breathe slowly and look into yourself. Look to your bottom.

~ Inhale deeply and feel whatever rises from your bottom.

~ Exhale cleanly and, though you are alone, speak what you are feeling, aloud to yourself.

The Book of Awakening

~ Mark Nepo