Just by speaking, I can break out of my self made prison.  – June Singer

Many years ago, I was working on my Masters of Arts in Theatre. I worked very closely with a visiting professor from England. She was Nigerian by birth, an accomplished theatre practitioner and scholar, and a Tai Chi master. I was writing a thesis focused on theatre artist Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints directing technique. As I drafted each chapter of my text, she did not let me rely on parenthesis. She did pushed me to either include my thoughts as text or as notes, as required by the style manual. She forced me to organize my words outside of what she called “whispers” of parenthetical expressions to the formal portions of the text.

Speaking, both on the page and out loud, was a critical part of my Master’s process.  When I would speak quickly and without focus in meetings, my advisor would ask me to stop talking and take a deep breath. She would tell me to “Speak from here.” She would stand and move her hand in front of her body tracing the energy of her spine as she shared those instructions. Standing strong like an oak, her hand moved from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. I have drawn from that advice, remembering to speak from a grounded and peaceful place, many times throughout the years.

In learning to speak, I am becoming clear, direct, and true. That is a journey that did not begin or end at any one point in time. It did not begin when I sang songs as a child actor in Equity dinner theatre or end when I completed my PhD. I believe we all have something unique and meaningful to say in the world. Learning to speak starts with knowing our stories. Learning to speak includes telling the truth to ourselves and others. Needing to speak centers on the world hearing what we are born to say.

https://kitt.global/april-12-the-need-to-speak-mark-nepo-the-book-of-awakening/