Soft Voices

As much as I write ‘here’ I am not often writing about ‘me’ or anything specific I am going through.  Sometimes whatever is going on around me may influence me, or it may be something I jotted in my notebook last week or last year.  This one is kind of personal but not because anything is going on or has prompted it.  I know I’ve written about it before, about I do not like to be yelled at.  If anyone is yelling at me I am not hearing their message.  Not one single word of it.  Speak softly, however, and I am all ears.  I’m sure it goes back to my dad.  I never remember him yelling.  I’m not saying he didn’t.  But I don’t remember it.  I do remember him speaking very softly, the angrier he may have been, the softer he spoke.  Maybe that’s where it comes from.   I don’t think it has anything to do with the ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’ quote from Teddy Roosevelt.  I think it has more to do with sensory (who enjoys being yelled at?) and perception.  Yelling is anger and disrespect and elicits a physical response, and an emotional response.  Both negative.  Speaking softly has the appearance of more thought, and consideration for who may be listening and the message being shared.  If I have a reaction, physical or emotional, it comes from hearing the actual message.

Ironically, I have a VERY loud voice that is often interpreted as ‘yelling’.  So, there’s that.

(c)

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