I remember being told, even in high school English classes, that you should “find your voice” when you write. At the time, it seemed straightforward to me. Just write from what you know, express the uniqueness of who you are.

It took me a bit of time to fully recognize the complexity of that effort. It also took me a bit of time to understand that our “voice” changes throughout our life experience. Everything that happens to us in life has an impact on that voice, it shapes us and how we interact with and respond to the world.

I think about the need to find our authentic voice as more than the ability to write but the way in which we communicate and connect with others both personally and professionally. Who we understand ourselves to be shapes our relationships, our reactions, even our entire path through life.

Should be easy to hear that inner voice, right? But it is far from it. We often don’t allow ourselves to really know how we feel and why. We accept situations, we allow others to determine our actions and reactions. There is nothing wrong with that. But we need to understand that we are making a choice.

I am not suggesting that we all suddenly need to spend our lives in a constant process of “navel gazing.” What I am suggesting is that we have the ability to look more deeply and understand more deeply. I am suggesting that we can find ways, simple moments of quiet or journaling or walking in nature, when we can look inward more deeply. We can not only find our voices, we can honor them and, in doing so, live with fuller hearts.