Friend! What Happened To Your Voice?

How would you feel if someone took your voice away, like that thing that you're the most passionate about that thing, that you feel so deeply about that thing that you know, as people say, you'll stand out on a hill and talk about it forever. How would you feel if someone took your voice away And you can no longer do that? What if you took your own voice away? Ouch, i know, let's get into it, friends. Are you a gold digger? Not gold, gold G-O-A-L. You know someone that has big goals, aspirations, dreams and things they're trying to accomplish. I thought so. Keep listening. Welcome to Tea Talk with Ty. I am your host, ty Wonder, empowerment guru, holistic health trainer and entrepreneur, and my goal is to help teach you how you can make the ebbs and flows of life work for you and not against you, so you can make all of those goals a reality. Grab some tea, some water, whatever you want, and let's have some real tea. Hello, my lovely friends, i hope this episode finds you in great health, great spirit and in a great place, and, if not, i hope that this few minutes of this show helps to give you a brighter day. So I asked you how would you feel if someone took your voice away. So we all have that burning desire about something. There's something Maybe you have to search a little bit deeper to figure out what it is that you really care about that resonates really hard with you. But we all have that one thing, that one thing that if anyone asked you a question about it, you could talk about it for hours, and that thing is what you're passionate about. What is that thing? I'll give you a second. Now that you know what that thing is, ask yourself how you would really feel if someone took your voice away, like if they said hey, you know that thing you love to talk about. You can't talk about it anymore at all. Like you could talk about everything else in the world. If your thing is talking about penguins and I'm just choosing penguins because I freaking love penguins, they're like you want to see me act like a kid? Show me a penguin. I'm no longer the responsible adult in the room, but OK, so what if your thing was penguins? right, you love penguins. You can talk about penguins for hours, why they're amazing, the different species, the different places they live, their habits, their habitats, the things that they like to eat, everything. You could talk about penguins for hours, right? Well, clearly I can, but you can talk about penguins for hours. What if you could talk about everything, but then you could no longer talk about penguins at all, as you could talk about sports, you can talk about sea animals, you could talk about birds, you can talk about black and white animals, but you cannot talk about penguins. If it references penguins, if it has the word penguin in it, you cannot use it. What if that thing that you love so much you can no longer talk about? What happens when that happens? You know, i had to ask myself that And I'm asking you now this question because it's a real thing. We all know on this show if you're new to this show the way I rent to talk with ties. I always use things as a teachable moment. I typically step over my own toes when I'm talking to you guys, but that's also the beauty in the teachable moments. I'm never one of those empowerment coaches that tell you something to do that I know nothing about, or nothing that I haven't lived, or nothing that maybe I'm not so great at that. I'm still learning, just like you, because we're all humans and we're all learning how to grow and glow as we go. That was a lot of GO's, So your voice is now going about that thing. You can't talk about it anymore. How would that make you feel? Does it make you feel angry? Are you sad? Are you frustrated? Do you feel like you lost your purpose? Are you lost? Are you happy? Are you peaceful? How would it make you feel if that one thing that you loved so much you could no longer talk about? Here's where I'm going with that, and I'm going to tell you a story first. So, again, using the Teachable Moment earlier this spring, like the last week in April, allergies are really bad this year I don't know what it is in 2023. It's like every year there's something, and I guess now, since COVID is no longer a pandemic, it's like, hey, let's, let's sign this, let's let allergies run wild. I don't know, but my allergies went haywire at the end of April And, whereas I grew up in the south, so, and I grew up in a spot where things are always blooming, so it's like one of the worst places in the country to develop allergy issues. So I usually don't have any issues anywhere else, because you can't get much more terrible than where I grew up. My daughter and I. We start our preventative maintenance for allergies as it's starting to get warm, but before things started blooming we start back taking allergy pills, and I try to do things holistically. So use that local honey which helps with your allergies. Just make sure it can't just be any honey. It has to be honey that's local to your environment So at least in like that region of where you live. So if you're in Atlanta the honey here from Charlotte is not going to help you a whole lot. So we start doing all of that in preparation for allergy season And you know, usually it's just kind of like, you know, of course, little sneeze here and there. You know, gabbo, you know, is a little bit here and there and then that's the end of it, not this year. First my daughter lost her voice and we giggled about it because the first day she was actually she found it very comical because she could speak. It took her down about two octaves, so she was enjoying playing with the range, although she was, you know, annoyed with how scratchy it felt. So she lost her voice and we giggled about it and she got better. She was just annoyed but otherwise she was fine. About a week later is my turn and I lost my voice and I started having all kind of sinus issues where I was extremely congested and had a headache and, you know, nothing was coming out and I was just miserable. This goes on for four weeks. There's the loss of voice, there's the coughs, there's the congestion and then there's the runny, and every stretch of the imagination of how sinuses can go is was the experience for four weeks. I'll go ahead and tell you now it's four weeks in county, because if you've listened to the show for a while you know that my voice is a little off. I'm kind of having to push through and but I know I sound nasally still. But we're four weeks in counting and that's been my life of just miserable, feeling miserable from my sinuses. We still don't quite know what's going on with it. I'm hoping I can get to an ENT here soon because I'm tired of being miserable. But my allergy issues is not the point of this conversation. I use it as a teachable moment because what I realized is about week two and a half. I was ready to get back in the studio. I had podcasts to record. I had podcast sessions to record with my, with my other co-host for Let Me High, let You. I had an interview schedule for the Lies and Garbage show. I had episodes and the new open and close your cleanup schedule to do and all of these things that I wanted to do using my voice, and I had none. I didn't have my voice And I because I sat and I was reflecting and it was quiet, and you know, there were many days that I was so miserable I did absolutely nothing but laying around, which, if you know me, is extremely difficult to do and very depressing. Giving that much time to slow down made me reflect on a lot of things. So then I had a lot of things to say. You know it was so many. Hmm, well, that's a thought. Well, hmm, that's a thought. Oh, i'm going to record an episode about this. Oh, that's going to be a great episode, but I had no voice. So now I've got all of these amazing things I need to do and I can't do them because my voice is gone. And I'll tell you, for the first time in a very long time, i was very miserable because I feel like something got taken from me. It reminded me of when I left the Marine Corps as a musician and I no longer for me at the time, my voice was my flute, so I can no longer use that as a career, which makes it interesting as a hobby, because, let's be real, no one's going to pay me to play the flute for a living at least comparable to what I was getting in the Marine Corps. In my mind at that time it took my voice away And I remember being so angry. I was angry, i was sad, i was frustrated, i was confused, i was at every range of emotion, but happy because something that I've been passionate about my entire life, i can no longer talk about it. What that taught me in that moment was to value experiences and passions. As it goes that I can compare those feelings to how I felt in the last three weeks when I've wanted to record and I've had no voice to do so. Now, where am I going with this? What if someone took your voice away? But what if you took your own voice away? What do I mean by that? When I was dealing with all of my sinus issues and just kind of out of pocket, it gave me a lot of reflection time about the things that I haven't been doing and the things that I've been too scared to do So I hadn't been doing them to my full capacity just because I was scared. I was scared, i felt inadequate, i felt I overthought it all. So it was just like we can just do the bare minimum, and just well, because this is comfortable right here. But once it starts getting uncomfortable, i don't want to do this anymore. You know what happens when you think like that You take your own voice away. So that thing that you love to do, that thing that you talk about, you could talk about for hours, that thing that you can stand on a hill and you can tell everybody about, you can talk to a perfectly good stranger about that thing that you feel with every fiber of your being and it fires you up and it makes you feel warm, that thing that you love to talk about, that thing that you're passionate about, that thing that moves you, what if you stop your ability to talk about it? Use your own fear. I'ma tell you, friend, at some time or the other doesn't matter how feelers you are you've done it And you're probably doing it now. How? Because there's something deep inside you that you know you have to do And it scares you a lot. But guess what If it doesn't scare you and it's not challenging you. It's not changing you. What is it worth? Do it, because I guarantee you it'll take some time, but when you look back at it you'll be like dang. You know, i don't know how I did that. I don't know how I pushed past my fear because I was so terrified. But look what happened. How many times have you stopped your own voice? How many times have you closed your lips, put your hands over your mouth and put tape over it because you were too afraid to move? How many times? What were those things that were burning in your heart to do that you didn't do at that time. Really, lean into that and think about that, because those are the things that you need to do. Those are the things that are life changing. Those are the things that are given to you for a reason. Those are part of your purpose and if you're not living your purpose, you're not really alive. I'm going to leave you with your thoughts, but I want to give you two quotes from two songs that, while I was sick and running around with my kid if you're listening, i'm so proud of you Two songs that I was listening to that really hit home to me as I was listening to them. It may come as a surprise, depending on if you know me personally or not, but I love my hip hop. But I love a certain type of hip hop. I love a conscientious hip hop is what I call it. I don't know what it's technically called, but that's the way I see it. Anyway, there's two songs that really hit home as I've been trying to figure certain things out and stuck quiet and then use my voice. There's a song called Prove It by Big Crit, uncle the Cousin Crit, featuring J Cole. J Cole's from North Carolina, big Crit's from Mississippi. No surprise here that I love this song. J Cole has a verse that came on, and as many times as I've heard this song, i never caught what he says. Now I'm not going to read it verbatim, because one I don't want to get in trouble too. There's some profanity in here, but I will let you figure out and read between the lines. In the song he says that he didn't want to become something that nobody wanted to hear, but he recognized that is a blankety, blank fear. Why does he even care? Because then he's not revered, no one cares. And then, if he's not revered, then why is he there? Then he goes on to say something. That is what made me press the stop button and hit rewind. He says what if these songs you refuse to share, all due to the fact that you're insecure, could have helped somebody out there like you? See the world more clear. Wait what? So let's put that in practical terms for people who are not musicians What if that thing that you've been you're so passionate about, you've been working on, you were, you know you're, you're all fired up about it. It just it moves your soul and that thing you know you're supposed to be doing, what if someone is waiting on you to change their life But because you're scared, you're not helping them? I got one more for you. This one is this song is called Roland is by the Dungeon Family. Most of you probably know, like C Lou Green from the Dungeon Family. This is actually his verse that I want to talk about. He says something that I again I've heard this song a gazillion times never caught this part. Okay, i don't even really know what the song is all the way about. I don't. I have the feeling that the song and this part of the lyrics actually don't really coincide, but I'm a strong belief that whatever you need in that moment, you can receive if you're looking for it. And I needed this at this moment because I heard these two songs and these two parts within the same day. Again, no, both of these songs very well. C Lou says until you're really, until you're truly ready to say, blank your fear, you are not alive. You don't have to settle and be stuck right here. Now, the first part that caught me, really the only part that caught me, was how he said until you really say blank your fear, you're not alive. Really, lean into that, because what could you do if you had no fear? What things would you accomplish if your fear wasn't there? How loud would your voice be if you didn't have fear and you used your voice for that thing that makes you move, that thing that makes you feel alive and warm, and that thing, whatever that thing is, don't let your fear close your mouth and lose your own voice. You're worth more, you deserve more, You can be more, you can have more, but until you're truly ready to say, if your fear, you're not alive, because that thing, whatever it is, someone is waiting on it. They're waiting on you, but you're not showing up, but you're not showing up, and that's a punk fear. So what are you gonna do, friend? What are you gonna do? Are you gonna grab the mic and embrace it, Or are you gonna close your mouth, zip it tight, put your hands and some tape over it and keep your mouth closed, dim your light and not truly be alive? We all have choices. The hardest ones, a lot of times, are always the best ones, and, as scary as that thing is, do it. Do it, bring out that greatness in you, because you have it, believe it and you got it. Well, friends, i'm not gonna keep you another minute. I hope that this episode resonated with you. If it did, please feel free to contact me. You can DM me on any of the socials or go to the website and hit that. Contact us And let me know your thoughts. I'd love to know what your thing is, and if you've been closing your own voice, i'd love to know. I'm sure I'm not alone, and so I hope this helps remind you that you're not alone Also. So please, then please, do share it, because sharing is caring, and I'm sure there's someone who will find this episode amazing and it will resonate with them, just like it did you. I appreciate you. I appreciate you for listening. I appreciate your support over the years. We just hit another anniversary, so, whether this is your first episode or you've listened to every single one, i appreciate you and thank you. There will be no teetop with Ty without you. This is your host, Ty Wonder. Until next time, friends, be blessed, be well and use your voice. Bye-bye.