Who isn’t instantly filled with joy at the sound of a young child’s laughter or singing voice, or first words! And what child doesn’t find precious comfort, safety and belonging in the sound of their loving mother’s gentle voice? Our vocal connections are primal.

We burst forth into the world with powerful voices riding on our first breaths, immediately expressing feelings and needs. In fact, if we listen to the world around us, we can hear a constant symphony of vocal expression - living and breathing and finding place for ourselves in the world.

We are naturally linguistic creatures who understand and connect with ourselves, each other and the world through the many language symbols and sounds we have created over millennia to represent and recognize objects, feelings and concepts. These vocal and linguistic tools help to define our experiences and relationships without which we would not have been able to thrive nor evolve to the extent we have.

Just as our bodies are born with nearly unlimited potential for growth, skill, strength, beauty and presence, so are our voices. In times past, societies around the world focused a great deal on the development of languages and vocal abilities. Qualities such as clarity and tonal beauty, melodic texture, expressiveness and effective communication meant that language, speaking and singing skills were understood for the powerhouses they were. Language brings identification and understanding. In fact, we now know that developing written and spoken language and voices was the primary reason we developed at all. Language and vocal expression really are at the very center of our human experience.

Since the beginning of time and in most of the world, singing, chanting and reciting together have been essential parts of everyday life. Used in spiritual practice, to calm our children, to express love or fear, hope, anger or pain, to celebrate important events, ease emotional and physical suffering, share our experiences and process our feelings. And believe it or not, speaking and singing can actually improve our health, our moods, breath capacity, oxygen levels, glandular function, immunities, energy, circulation, our posture, joint flexibility and coordination, improve our mental health and acuity while increasing our overall feeling of well-being. Vocal sharing strengthens relationships with ourselves and others, our families and our communities, increases our peace, pleasure, depth of experience, and JOY! What could possibly be better?! And the truth is, as long as we have enough energy to fill our lungs with air, we can strengthen and improve our voices. So it is truly never too late to start!!

Unfortunately, many children as well as adults are still being told in so many words that we should be “seen and not heard” at school, home, at work and elsewhere. We are content to bury our heads and our dreams in our screens while in the meantime, we have forgotten how to talk to each other. We learn early that our voices and what they have to say are not valued. This is deeply detrimental to our sense of meaning and self-esteem. We often hear people criticizing their own or someone else’s voice - in the guise of humor, perhaps, - because we may not have the development level of a professional! Sadly, the shushing of our natural and essential vocal expressions means that we live in a culture that has lost the plot!

The word “amateur” literally translates “lover”. We can love many things without needing to make a living from them. This is the silliest way to suck the meaning out of life. We will do well to allow our intrinsically valuable and unique voices (and what they have to say) to guide our hearts back home to ourselves, to deeper meaning, connection, creative fulfillment, increased feelings of health, well-being, belonging and perhaps, even world peace!! It could happen! So let’s make some noise together!!