Finding Your Inner Voice

As with many friends and colleagues, I have been very carefully trying to find clarity in my thoughts as of late. And for me, I have learned that scratching thoughts on a piece of paper in B&W gives them focus. This can be a shopping list for the grocery store or my patter for a cabaret set. It starts with a basic concept and then with editing becomes clearer to me, as I add more and scrap what does not sound authentic or true.

I use several outlets in my life and have found the value in What goes Where. I wouldn't write my shopping list on the back of a resume draft. Or my Google Playlist in a column beside my Christmas list... I will never be a novelist or a poet. But I do think that I certainly have a "unique voice." I was made aware of that from old cards and letters sent to family and friends. And this was further pointed out to me in early travelogues that were sent via emails from abroad. Others let me know they got a keen sense of the journey I had taken and felt it was shared personally with them. Fast Forward 10+ years.

I now have a Blog and have become a Twitter fanatic. But today I was mindful of how each is a different channel and how I have used them each to further a cause. I think there are plenty of misconceptions in the concept of Social Media and what is literally "thrown out to the world." Just like Music - one needs to find the right outlet for that Voice. Are you going to be a Pop Star and invest in American Idol or the Voice? Are you going to be a classical diva and study for a degree in Vocal Performance? Maybe the acoustic world is your milieu where you can share political beliefs by raising your voice in song. But the realization needs to be that each is a different voice nonetheless. Find Your Audience!

I believe that Facebook has become the ground zero for voices. From the miles of diatribe there, one can easily descend down that rabbit hole into a void that only infuses but does not usually pacify or even unify. For me, my Blog is a glimpse into my very personal life. It can be a small token of baking, a fascination with a current trend or like this, something that is profound to me. It is an opinion that is mine alone to share. Although not by invitation only, it is a choice to share in those thoughts. Facebook to me is a broadcast network. Mine is huge - high school friends, distant cousins, acquaintances from years back from every career I have pursued. It is a varied pool and allows me a glimpse into their lives and them into mine - with a photo or a keepsake. I don't pretend to use it as a platform to convert or vent. It is not therapy. Twitter has become my most recent outlet. And to me this is where I make myself heard. Often a political statement or a product endorsement. Occasionally a witty comment. But I feel like these short outbursts are meant to connect only with the few that choose to listen or hit directly to those I am trying to oppose. I do not kid myself that this is a platform to carry out a conversation. I have no real connection to these people I converge with. That is the wonder of 140 characters - I need to be concise and accurate. This has been a great lesson in editing for me. I am not the kind who appreciates long chains of Text Messages or even email threads. If I have something that important to share, let's talk at the table over a cup of coffee.

So give this a read - if you are one of those who chooses to peruse a bit deeper into who I am and what I'm trying to say. But please! Decide what it is you truly want to say and then think about who is your audience and get your message out. Otherwise we are merely howling at the moon to people who have no intention of truly listening to us.