An authentic voice is when we are being 100 per cent ourselves, without fear or reservation. Think about the person you are when you are with your friends, spouse, or your children, and your family. Are you consistently the same or do you change according to who your audience is or how they respond? Have you discovered your authentic voice? Think of how you speak on the phone, the voice you use when you are typing an email, or the words you chose when telling a story at the dinner table. Have you ever tried journeying? Or maybe you’re a blogger who hasn’t found your voice yet.  If so try this little exercise. Think of a memory or story  now call your mom or best friend and tell them the story. 

You can start out by saying. “Hey, remember when.  . . ? Or, “Did I ever tell you the story about the time . . .? Once you finish the conversation, write it down in your journal or on your blog and as you are writing say it to yourself without any fear or reservation and when you are finished ask yourself if the voice in which you just told the story matches the voice in which the story is written. If they match great! You have just used your authentic voice. If they’re quite different, well, read on!

There is no better place to start getting to the authentic heart of your story than with your own blog entries and the nice thing about using a blog is that you can write in a timely manner while topics are still fresh on your mind and the true emotion is there. Many bloggers use events as starting points for writing or journeying. Such as a wedding anniversary.

For example I read a story on a blog about a woman who wrote about the night her  husband proposed to her and how it took her fifteen years to feel brave enough to write him a love letter.  I applaud her for being brave and taking  an opportunity to write from her heart using her authentic voice. Her story  reminding all of us that we don’t always get do overs and second chances.  Some don’t get fifteen years with the love of their lives . So write from your heart and use your authentic voice  . . . and be real.