EWP :: 06. Claiming your voice

Embodied Writing Pleasure series

This week we reclaim our Voice.  

For many of us speaking up for our own wants and needs is unknown territory.  For some of us we are quick to speak out for the wants and needs of others, but not for ourselves.  Because, as I wrote about a couple weeks ago, we learned from a very young age that speaking up, asking for our own wants and needs, is not acceptable.  

Today is about stating clearly to ourselves that having our own needs and wants met is acceptable.  Having our own boundaries respected is to be expected.  

And.  

To have these needs and wants met, to let others know where our boundaries are, we have to speak up for ourselves.  

Speaking up for ourselves can be terrifying at first.  It can literally make our bodies and voices shake.  It can be so anxiety provoking that it overwhelms us.  Because of the discomfort it causes, many times many of us will go the "easy" route of not speaking up at all.  We convince ourselves that things aren't that bad or that we don't really need/want…