Word Up!

I'm loud.

I could just end this post right now.  Fact shared. Truth known.

My mother would often say to me, "do you know how your voice carries?!!??"  I often was given the task to call the family in for supper --- this fit perfectly with my skill set. I'm loud enogh it's a wonder that families miles away didn't gather around our dinner table.

Several years ago, I was at  local event for women leaders who worked in various areas in the field of health justice. We were in a medium sized room on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.   Gathered eight at a table we were sharing responses to the opening question. I don't recall the question, yet, I do remember the woman sitting on the other side of the room who made it a point to exclaim to me, "We can hear you way over here! Do you even have an inside voice?"   The comment was not made in a laughing way. The comment was made to intimidate me, to quiet me.  It worked.

Being in this gathering of women leaders in my field, her comment had its desired impact, I was embarrassed and felt small.  The chortles and chuckles of others throughout the room added to it.  I stopped speaking.  

During a refreshment break, Andrea, my agency's former board chair, made a direct line to me and said, "Don't you EVER let anyone silence you. You're loud for a reason."   

I'd like to tell you that after Andrea's affirmation I walked over to the person who labored to silence me and told her to suck it, yet, I didn't.  I pondered.  I listened as much to myself and what was brewing inside as much as to the convdersatons happening around me.

One of the greatest and needed gifts we can give to another is to listen, to notice and give one's full attnetion to another.  We each have a story.  Whose have you listened to lately?  What did you learn?

This brief treatise came from a quote I read duing my morning quiet time. The words are wise and speak to what can be, if lived....

"Each of us is a word of God spoken only once". ~ Sister Peg Dolan