Voice? Voice? What’s this voice?
I’m not talking about physical voice, but voice in the way we speak about it in writing. In writing, voice is the thing that makes your writing specifically you. The way your soul and brain mixes with words and grammar to create a fingerprint. All the little clues and glitter that we scatter around us that tell the world, yes I’m here, let’s get to gettin’.
In all the stuff I’ve been writing about friendship, it’s been very outward focused. What do other people think? How does communication work and how can I make it easier for other people to understand me? How can I connect with them? How can I change myself or my approach or highlight the best bits of me to entice people to stay or at least not sabotage it all?
The last couple years of high stress, depression, health issues, and the cascading effects of all that had stolen my voice. The voice that I already neglected and hid and translated to all hell for all the years since childhood and beyond.
I’m still interested in the structure of friendship.
But now I’m interested in the role of voice as well.
Interested in authenticity through multiplicity. We all have many sides to us with many voices with many fingerprints (I have ten fingers after all). And where and when we choose to share them is a calculated risk.
And maybe, just maybe this will be an interesting ride on my blog. Buckle up.
The Friend Manual: How to make friends when you're bad at it 