Free Yourself

How To Uncover Your Authentic Voice

0 Comments 16 January 2011

Over the last few months I have been doing a lot of research on self-expression and finding ways to tap into my true ‘authentic voice’.

Your ‘authentic voice’ comes from the place where the real you exists -a place free from our internal censors that water down our true thoughts.

As a blogger, it’s vital to be able to connect your readers on almost a cellular level.

With over 1 million blog posts created every day, you have to be remarkable if you want to be heard above the noise on the internet. You have to be real.

I think it’s a mistake trying to build up this authorative persona of yourself. That was the path I started down originally and never was I more uncomfortable in my own shoes. I had convinced myself that I needed to be someone else in order to be successful.

Of course, being able to express yourself freely is not something that comes easy for most of us- certainly not for me anyway.

It can be very scary at first to share with strangers the way you really see things-to trust yourself enough to open yourself up to criticism-to be ok with the fact that not everyone is going to like what you have to say.

But you’ve got to be willing to cut the majority of people loose in order to impact the few who matter. It’s not an easy thing to do when for so long we’ve been auto-programmed to try and please everyone.

However self-expression can be incredibly liberating.

I believe that true freedom and energy comes from knowing who you are and then having the courage to shout it from the rooftops.

But first you will need to touch with a very clear place buried deep within yourself. A place where our deep beliefs, our passions…maybe even our obsessions live freely without censorship.

You need to be able to burn through your first thoughts that are obstructed by ‘social politeness’ and ‘political correctness’ to get to the place where your mind actually thinks and feels, not what it ‘thinks’ it should see or feel.

Thoughts can be so quick, so fleeting- that if you are not consciously aware of them the moment they happen, you may never get the chance again to ask yourself “hey what did you mean by that?”

Then poof… that thought, that golden nugget, that glimmer of insight can disappear faster then it came.

Sadly, most people will never take the time to explore themselves. Instead they will sit mindlessly in front of the tv allowing their minds to be programmed by the big corporations who tell us how we should feel, what we should think, and what makes us happy.

I think alot of people have trouble “finding themselves” because they’ve kept themselves so distracted, they don’ t even realize they’re lost.

Just Start Writing

One of the best ways I’ve found to true self-expression is to start writing. I got in the practice of carrying a small notebook or journal with me so I can capture thoughts alive they happen.

This way I am ready to take action whenever the universe runs through me.

Start recording what your mind actually sees and feels before your internal censor squashes them. When you feel moments of inspiration write them down.

When you feel moments of clarity, write them down.

Whenever you are reading an article or book-take a moment to reflect on how it impacted your thoughts & feelings…and write them down.

Just keep writing what’s in your head. Don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t censor. Keep writing forward without looking back.

Don’t worry what other people will think. The only person who is going to see this is you. No one is going to grade you on your thoughts.

It can take a lot of practice writing before you are able peel away all the layers of social conditioning that has hidden your core self for so long. To discover all the complexities that make up you.

But when you are able to finally pierce through that tiny membrane that separates your façade and the real you…

-that’s when you will be able to radically transform the way you see yourself and your ability to communicate with others.

So how about me?

Am I able to bleed my emotion all over a page and share it with the world without fear of judgment?

I’d be lying to you if I said I could.

But I know that with every journal entry I make, I get a few words closer.