I’m sitting here in my back yard next to the compost heap of goat, horse, and chicken shit wondering when it’s happened to you.

Maybe it was in a virtual work meeting or a group workshop you were in? You were at the office with some colleagues or clients.

Or you were on a hike with some new folks you were hoping might become friends.

Maybe you were about to post an new article to your blog or share something you’d been thinking about on social.

And right as that static electrical shock-of-a-moment arrived when you were gonna say the thing, a voice inside you spoke instead.

And it sounded something like:

“Someone else is probably already talking about this in a {wiser/deeper/more creative} way.”
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“There are no new ideas, anyway.” (So I won’t share mine.)

“Why would anyone take my word for it? Who am I to even talk about this?”

Big breathe. Looong exhale…

First, that voice you hear saying “whatever flavor” of the above?

Not yours.

That’s right. That’s not your voice. Those are your beliefs.

And beliefs usually don’t come from you. They come from what’s around you. And they can be changed.

And the “whatever flavor” of above that it’s saying?

Not true.

How do I know for sure?

Reader, I know it’s not true because Nature tells us so.

Would you ever think to yourself in the searing late August swelter when you’d grilled up some bacon to just the right fatty crisp and meaty chew, “Well, these 5 tomato plants in my garden are all pretty similar, so I don’t think we’ll eat the fruits of the 4 of them that bloomed and fruited later. We’ll just have the tomatoes from the first plant that fruited. No need for the rest.”

No, you wouldn’t.

Because that’s insane.
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(And if you’re gonna pass up a late summer and fall full of garden tomato BLTs with extra mayo on both slices of seedy loaf, romain and butter lettuce then you should unsubscribe now because… that’s just… just criminal.)

Instead of name-calling you about your tomato beliefs, though, maybe let me respond in answer to each of those “whatever flavor” of beliefs above.
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More likely truth: Yes, practically speaking, many other people are probably already talking about this. But many other people are not you. They don’t have your perspective. They don’t process things like you do. They didn’t have your childhood or family growing up. They didn’t grow up where you did at the exact time and season you did. And their path to this point likely looks very little like yours.

All that to say, they can’t possibly have your voice.
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More likely truth: Can you tell me how this one is true? We live inside an experience of infinite possibility, which is only limited by our perception of what’s possible. Every idea when born from a new and completely unique individual is, on its face, new and completely unique. Again, I’ll point to the last more likely truth above.
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The idea is always new when it comes from your experience (and is shared with the voice that only you have).
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More likely truth: Why would they not? Who you are might be the very combination of voice, lived experience, knowledge and knowing that someone else needs to hear to help them shift something inside themselves. And who you are to talk about it points me back to the first more likely truth above.

No one else has your words or your wisdom. Because they come from your voice. And they can’t possibly have that.

So maybe the real “problem” isn’t that you have nothing original or valuable to say.

Maybe it’s that you’ve learned to chronically interrupt yourself before your voice fully arrives.

Sit with that a moment, Reader.

And then I invite you to ask yourself with kindness and curiosity:

what were you about to say before you held it in like a breath, edited it, or pulled it back?

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​Reply to me right now with the unedited version.
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※ Koa​
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I work with this exact interruption. The moment when you soften your voice. ​You edit it or pull it all-the-way back. Because your voice isn’t gone. It’s just been shaped by the places it didn’t feel safe to exist in. (And still doesn't today.) I work with all the stories. The inner stories. The outer. Some need to be seen, held, understood and ushered into the light. Others need to be gathered, stayed with and shaped, crafted, and finally expressed in your voice. I do both. ​ Voice (+ Story) Discovery session​ (75-mins of presence with your stories) ​ ​Walk away knowing what’s shaping your voice and what it's asking for next.​ ​ ​In this 75-minute, 1:1 virtual session, we’ll uncover what’s shaping your voice right now and whether it’s asking to be understood… or expressed. Then, work with what wants to happen.

Did you get something out of this email? Then forward it to a friend.

A giggle. Some wisdom. Resonance. A witness. The gift of grace in simply acknowledging how absurd it is to be a human right now in a culture that offers LOTS of input but little help? Then, please share with another human who may need this too.

Thank you for reading and sharing,
​Koa

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