Reclaim Your Voice

Write the letter.

Don't send.

Today is all about expressing yourself. You've got some things that need to be said. Keeping it all bottled up inside is likely what's causing you to lose sleep, have headaches or stomach problems or why you can't seem to kick that persistent cold.

We can run scenarios over and over in our minds and question if we should have said something when we had the chance and wonder if it's too late now. This is something that's unresolved in your own mind and means you are not at peace.

Just for today, allow yourself to express your voice. 

Write the letter. Let your thoughts and feelings all flow out through you onto the page. Preferably, use paper and write by hand. There's a deeper connection made in the brain when we write instead of type.

Don't be afraid to express yourself and your feelings. This isn't a letter for them, it's a letter for you. It's for you to say what you need and want to say. It's a time to honor your feelings and be heard, if only by your own soul.

Sometimes we are the only witness to passages in our lives. 

Writing letters can help in the process of finding closure and bringing in forgiveness and peace. Of course, if during the writing of the letter you find that more feelings of anger, sadness and disappointment are coming up to the surface, don’t let those raw emotions shut you down. In order to break through something we often need to break down. Continue writing. Volumes if you have to. Use your favorite self-care techniques and keep at it.

You don't want to hold on to these lower emotions but you do want to fully express them and release them.

You deserve to live a happy life with contentment, peace, love, good health and to experience positive and joyful feelings. You deserve to have kind people treat you with respect and who value your presence and friendship.

If you're surrounded by people who mistreat you, don't value you and are selfish and treat you poorly, the first thing you absolutely have to do is start treating yourself better. If you don't think you're valuable, no one else will. If you aren't nice to yourself, you won't be treated nicely by others. If you don’t respect your time, your mind, body and soul, you will find people who treat you disrespectfully.

In addition to writing the letter, start using your voice to speak up about what is best for you. Before saying 'yes' to every request of your time, pause and ask if you really have the energy, desire or time to do what's required. Speak up about what is going to be best for you.

Part of writing these letters is to release the grip we've felt from person who we loved, maybe loved more that we loved ourselves, and to let go as best we can, of the hurt, the pain, the disbelief, the rage. Perhaps it’s a family member who you can no longer absorb their vitriol, or a boss who demeans you.

If you keep a journal, write these letters separately from the journal. I'd encourage you to do a burning bowl ceremony with the letters and any other documents, notes, certificates or photographs you'd like to release to unbind you from the person whose energy you no longer want to carry.

It can take a lot of processing and practicing to speak up for ourselves. It doesn't happen overnight. Be patient in the meantime. Be open to what you are feeling and write down the lessons you're learning so that hopefully, you never have to venture down this path again.

An Exercise To Try