Episode 757: When You’ve Forgotten Your Own Voice (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT757 – When You’ve Forgotten Your Own Voice

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

[00:00:34]   Megan Porta

Hello awesome people. Welcome back. Today I would love to talk to you about something that is a little bit tender for some, me included. And that is something that happens really slowly over time, almost without us even noticing. It’s that moment you realize that you can’t hear yourself anymore. You wonder, where are your voices? Where did it go?

[00:00:58]   

Was anyone ever hearing me? Maybe you’ve been tuned in so closely to what everyone else needs so your kids, your spouse, partner, your business, your friends, your coworkers that your own voice feels like a faint whisper, like background noise. You can’t quite discern. You can respond to emails in seconds. You can show up for everyone else at a moment’s notice.

[00:01:24]   

But if someone asked you, what do you want? What do you need? You might completely draw a blank. If that sounds familiar, I’m with you. You are not alone. I’ve been there too. And today I want to talk about how we lose our own voice and how to start finding it again. There was a time not too long ago when I didn’t realize how quiet my own voice had gotten.

[00:01:45]   

I thought I was doing okay, keeping up with my business, showing up in Facebook groups, learning everything I could learn about food, blogging and being an entrepreneur. I was asking all the right questions. Then one day I suddenly removed from this Facebook group that I leaned on so heavily. No warning, no explanation.

[00:02:08]   

Just poof. Gone by Megan I remember when I realized what had happened. Staring at my laptop in total disbelief. Kept refreshing the page, hoping it was a mistake. Maybe I was dreaming. Maybe someone just hit the wrong button. And when it sank in that it actually happened, I cried. And I’m talking. Not for just a few minutes, but I cried for days, on and off.

[00:02:34]   

It was so silly. It felt like someone had pulled the rug right out from under me. Like the one place I thought I could speak had been locked and I was just left pounding on the outside of the door like, let me in. Why did you shut me out? I reached out to the admin of that group.

[00:02:52]   

But the answer was finally, I was not allowed to come back, even though I didn’t know what I had done. And in that silence, I felt like my voice had been completely taken from me. Here’s the twist. About a year later, Eat Blog Talk was born. My podcast for food bloggers. Out of that loss, I decided to build a platform where my voice and the voices of others could never be muted.

[00:03:17]   

It was a place of conversation, community, and freedom. What once felt like silencing became the spark that led me back to myself and helped me to serve others as well. Here’s what I’ve learned. Your voice is never gone, even though it might feel like it. Sometimes it can get buried, it can get muffled, but it’s always there waiting for you to tune back into it.

[00:03:40]   

The good news is that you don’t need to start a podcast to find it. I mean, you can if you want, but you don’t need to make a giant leap. You just need those small, quiet pockets of listening and tuning into yourself. When you stop hearing yourself, life can turn into a performance.

[00:03:57]   

You’re going through the motions. But when you begin to tune back in, life becomes more like a partnership between who you are now and who you are becoming. If you feel like your voice has been muted, you are probably like, okay, great, yes, I feel like that. How do I start? You can try this simple ritual of just listening.

[00:04:16]   

It really is that simple. Choose a time every day when you can pause intentionally. Does not have to be long. It can be five minutes outside after you’ve eaten lunch. During this time, you ask yourself one gentle question. What do I need right now? And from there, you listen for the whispers. You don’t listen to the shouts.

[00:04:42]   

Your voice usually returns as a nudge, not a giant roar. Here are some places to begin. You could start journaling before bed or anytime. No editing. Just letting your words spill out onto the paper. See where that takes you. Journaling always brings me clarity, which is why I think this is a really good one to start with.

[00:05:04]   

You could also try just a short walk without AirPods, without listening to anything, without talking on the phone. Just being present in your walk and noticing what thoughts float up to the surface. The shower is a magic place for allowing those truths to surface. So just take the shower without any intention of overthinking.

[00:05:26]   

Just go in and let the water run over you. And then you can also try asking yourself, if I didn’t have to please anyone else today, what would I do first? It’s a powerful question. When I started tuning into these things, my voice returned in fragments. At first they were like little sparks.

[00:05:43]   

Is the only way I can think to describe them. Like I would just get a fleeting thought come to my head. Like I need more rest or I want to write or I need a good laugh. Each whisper became a stepping stone back to myself. It’s so incredible, it begins to rise up when you give yourself permission to to tune in and listen.

[00:06:06]   

If you feel like you’ve forgotten your own voice, know this. It has not forgotten you. It’s always there. It’s always yours. My memoir, Take the Exit is my raw, honest story of how I stopped drowning in the noise and started to hear myself again. If you have ever wondered where did I go?

[00:06:25]   

Where am I? This book is for you. I know you’re going to love it. If you go to eatblogtalk.com/taketheeexit you can join the list. You will get early details, sneak peeks, peaks and the chance to pre order you guys. Your voice matters. The world needs your voice. Your desires matter. You need to follow through with them. Listening to yourself is the first step back to freedom. That’s all I have for you today. I hope you liked the episode and I’ll see you next time. 

Outro 

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self care episode. These mindset episodes are now available on YouTube, so watch it over there. Search Eat Blog Talk on YouTube and we’ll see you there.