Whisper Your Words: A Challenge to Find Your Courage
Sometimes, our words are but a whisper.
In the six-minute song “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails, Reznor sings the heartwrenching lyrics in a whisper. Sometimes, it’s barely a whisper. It’s not until nearly four minutes in that his voice crescendos and blares into your soul. Yet, you feel his pain when he whispers, “You could have it all / My empire of dirt / I won’t let you down / I will make you hurt.” (Note: The Johnny Cash version is gorgeous and powerful too.)
The first time I heard this song, I was in my living room and found myself crying. I didn’t even fully understand the meaning behind the song, but for some otherworldly reason, I was touched. Though I’ve heard the song many times since, I still cry. It came on the radio today, and before I knew what was happening, tears skidded down my cheeks while I drove home. It’s hard to believe that a song — whose singer whispers the words — can have that kind of an effect on me.
As I sit here typing at 12:30 in the morning on an uneventful Wednesday, I feel those salty tears touch my lips.
Because I whisper too.
I whisper about my abusive sister when I should roar.
I whisper about the upbringing I had in a church that left me scarred when I should shout.
I whisper about being diagnosed with PTSD when I should cry out. (In fact, it’s the first time I’ve written those words.)
I whisper and I whisper and I whisper when I should scream at the top of my lungs.
And yet . . .
Without Reznor’s whispers for those four minutes, his crescendo wouldn’t have hit the way it did. Would I have felt the impact? Would I have been completely submerged without his whispers?
And so . . .
Without my whispers, my shouts wouldn’t have reached as far and wide as they do today.
Without your whispers, your shouts will not resonate the way they deserve. Your whispers are your courage.
So whisper. My God, my God, whisper. Whisper every day. Whisper until you have the strength to shout. Whisper until your words cry out, until they make a change. Whisper when that’s all you can possibly muster.
Whisper until you can write in a shout.
Do not ever discount the importance of a whisper. For in the whispers, we find our voice.
A self-publishing mentor, best-selling author, and public speaker, Shayla Raquel works one-on-one with writers every day. A lifelong lover of books, she has been in the publishing industry for twelve years and teaches on author branding, indie publishing, book marketing, and the craft of writing.
Her award-winning blog teaches new and established authors how to write, publish, and market their books.
She is the author of the Pre-Publishing Checklist, “The Rotting” (in Shivers in the Night), The Suicide Tree, The 10 Commandments of Author Branding, All the Things I Should’ve Told You, and “Savage Indulgence.” In her not-so-free time, she studies all things true crime and obsesses over squirrels. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three fur babies.
