Being creative is essential to our success – in whatever we do. I wrote 2 articles recently about the process of creativity – Are You Crazy?, and The Art of Serendipity.
Here’s another crucial piece of your creativity that no one is telling you about: Your voice.
I’ve seen it over and over again with my clients. When you free up your voice, when you learn to play with your voice, and gain a greater range of self expression through your voice, your creativity sky rockets.
Your voice is an expression of your essence.
So, if you’re holding your voice back (which most of you are doing without realizing it), you’re holding back your essence. And you’re holding back your creativity, which is tied to freely expressing your essence.
Here’s what I recommend:
Read out loud regularly, especially from books or poems that are just silly and fun, so you can actually PLAY with your voice. 10-15 minutes 3x a week is enough. I love Dr. Suess books for this practice.
Play:
* different voices for different characters – lower voice, higher voice, stronger voice, smaller voice, loud voice, soft voice, witchy voice, kid voice, sweet voice, stern voice, angry voice, loving voice, silly voice – every voice you can think of
* allow parts of yourself to speak that you’ve kept under wraps for years – the “you’re too intense” part, the “toot your own horn” part, the wounded inner child, your inner diva, your inner know-it-all, your inner bitch, your inner bad guy, ALL of them
Imagine you’re coloring with your voice. Free your voice to express ALL of you – not just the self you decided was acceptable – and you’ll unleash your creativity.
The important thing is to STOP judging and holding back your voice. Really give yourself permission to PLAY and HAVE FUN.
SUPER IMPORTANT – when you’re trying new things with your voice, it may get tired, but it shouldn’t HURT. If it hurts, stop, and contact me right away. You’re in danger of creating an injury to the delicate muscles in your larynx, or to your vocal folds themselves.
Blessings –
