Burning Beneath

Imagine for a moment that you have no voice. Not just the inability to speak, but no sound at all. You try to say something, but the air remains silent. You feel anger swelling inside you, but when you scream, no sound emerges. You see a child darting toward the street, and you desperately yell to warn their parents—but the silence swallows your words before they even form.

How would you live like this? How would you navigate a life where every thought, every scream, every plea is contained and imprisoned within your mind? No one can hear you. No one can understand you. Only you.

Our voice is so much more than the words we choose to say. It’s in the sound—the rise and fall of our tone, the way we stress certain words, the melody when we sing, the raw emotion when we scream. A voice carries feelings in ways words alone never could. A soft whisper can soothe. A sharp yell can alarm. A joyful laugh can heal. It’s the sound of our voice that shapes its meaning.

But our voice is also a choice. It’s a power we cast out into the world, shaping our reality and the lives of others. It allows us to express love, assert our beliefs, share our ideas, and fight for what matters.

So, what happens when that choice is taken away? Would the silence redefine who you are? Would the absence of sound make you less of yourself? Or would you find another way to cast your voice—a new way to shape your life?

The power of the human voice is often overlooked until it’s gone. But maybe, just maybe, the silence could teach us something: that our voices, whether loud or quiet, are among the most defining aspects of what it means to live.