I can still see the desk and the classroom and the book in my hand in the music class where I discovered my ability to harmonize as an alto. Harmony was one of the several reasons that I loved singing hymns at my church. There was something so satisfying and complete about reading the alto line and seeing how all those notes fit together.

Many years later, I decided to volunteer to sing as part of the backup singers for the “worship team” at the church I was currently attending. It took me quite some time to get brave enough to sing on stage, and I was devastated by the fact that the other backup singer only knew how to sing harmony in thirds, which means that her harmonies were not always within the actual chord. For me, that was a tragedy. I could no more sing non-chordal tones than I could play the guitar and sing the lead. The real tragedy, though, I think was that I lowered my voice almost to nothing the morning I sang, because I knew I would clash with her, and I never sang there again.

I think I have come to accept my voice as it sounds when I speak and when I sing, although I have yet to accept all the time I wasted thinking it wasn’t good enough.

Along with our literal voices, we also have an intangible voice which comes through when we write and create. And it takes awhile to find that voice. I think I am still looking for how mine will be projected, even as I continue to simply use the voice I have to write and create.

A few years ago, at my last church (as in, chronologically, and at all), there was a man on staff who was quite creative. He spoke a couple of times on the main stage (a big deal at that church), and was a very interesting speaker. He left the staff and formed his own thing and has done very well. He has a podcast, a website, and has written several books.

As I was noodling about this morning thinking about the concept of voice, I came across this article called 10 Questions that will Help you Find your Voice.

I’m not sure what the pros say about inserting links into blog posts, and whether very many people will click on them, but I think that links work like advertising does. Advertising reaches people who are looking for the thing being advertised. Links reach people who have an interest in the idea being put forth. If you are looking for your voice, the article may be of help to you as it was to me.

And speaking of the voice and harmonies …