So, I had a sore throat last Wednesday night, and I thought I’d just ‘suck it up’ and bear it… I went home on Thursday night – good times. Then on Friday I couldn’t talk. Really. Totally lost my voice. It was a real pain on many levels – firstly, I had an important visitor that I longed to talk with freely – and although I pressed through it, it was very difficult to talk… then, I was supposed to speak all day (teaching at a corps) on Sunday and had to get some others to fill in because I honestly couldn’t speak… it was nuts.
But then I started thinking about it today and considered the pain of being voiceless. Then I started to think about the homeless. I realized that a big part of the pain of homelessness isn’t just the isolation and reality of being homeless, but also the alienation from society itself – it’s the ‘voiceless’ reality of your situation – you really have no one to tell. No one is listening.
We were able to talk freely with a guy who lived in his car for the last year… it was a great interview… he was articulate, smart, funny and very charismatic. I liked him and really enjoyed giving him an opportunity to speak for himself. I want his voice to count. From now on, I don’t want to talk just because I can – I want to speak for those who have no voice… I want to use my voice well for those who have no voice. How ’bout you?
