soft-spoken truth-tellers

affirmations for the powerfully quiet [from the drafts]

Hello gentle-people,

I hope these days are kind to you. If they are not, I hope you find your way towards kind people, kind places, and kind thoughts about yourself.

I have ideas brewing in me for prose /longform pieces to come. I am excited to share! For now, I have question and an idea that still lives in my drafts:

Have you ever traced a sense of call back to a first draft of an idea or thought you had? Do you remember the point where you abandoned it and found something more sketched out?

I had an idea like that once…won’t say too much more about what it could’ve been.

But as I honor my pause, I thought I’d share a few lines from this halted project. I still believe these words…and I believe they are for someone who needs to know their soft-spoken voice is speaking volumes…I believe they inform those who need to quiet down in order to listen for the voices of others.

NOT ALL TRUTH-TELLERS ARE LOUD.
SOME ARE JUST LOUD ON THE INTERNET.

NOT ALL TRUTH-TELLERS ARE LOUD. 
SOME ARE JUST LOUD ON PAPER.

NOT ALL TRUTH-TELLERS ARE LOUD. 
SOME ARE JUST SPEAKING AT A NORMAL VOLUME, WAITING TO BE HEARD.

NOT ALL TRUTH-TELLERS ARE SOFT-SPOKEN. 
SOME ARE JUST CONSTANTLY SPOKEN OVER OR SPOKEN FOR.

NOT ALL TRUTH-TELLERS ARE SOFT-SPOKEN, 
SOME ARE SILENCED.

NOT ALL TRUTH-TELLERS ARE OUTSPOKEN, 
SOME ARE PREPARING THEIR WORDS FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT.

SOFT-SPOKEN TRUTHS MAY NOT ALWAYS DEMAND AMPLIFICATION 
BUT THE QUIETING OF EVERYTHING ELSE.

SOFT-SPOKEN TRUTHS MAY NOT ALWAYS DEMAND A PLATFORM AND PROJECTION
 BUT A MOVE TOWARDS CLOSENESS AND CONNECTION.

NOT ALL TRUTH-TELLERS USE WORDS 
SOME LET ACTIONS SPEAK
PUNCTURING STILLNESS WITH MOVEMENTS,  SOFT AND LOUD

🐦‍⬛ Landing Tracks

• Revisit these questions from the intro: Have you ever traced a sense of call back to a first draft of an idea or thought you had? Do you remember the point where you abandoned it and found something more sketched out? What would it mean to go back and reclaim or reshape those early beginnings?

• What does it mean for you to be “soft-spoken”? Is that an identity that fits you or someone you know?

• Who are the “soft-spoken,” among you because they move/speak in ways that aren’t honored by dominant cultures around you? What would it take to “quiet everything”?

• Share or receive this affirmation: Your soft-spoken voice is speaking volumes.

Oprah asking Meghan Markle, “Were you silent or were you silenced?”