Empower Your Voice: Embracing Self-Expression and Embracing Your Worth

Tina Roberts
12 minutes ago
3 min read

Finding Your Voice (Even When It’s Quiet)

When I pressed record for my podcast, I had no idea what I was going to talk about.

I sat there, hovering in the space between silence and sound, until my guide offered me just one word: voice.

What followed wasn’t a polished plan or a perfectly structured message. It was a conversation — with myself, with my body, with my energy — about what it truly means to express who we are.

Because our voice isn’t only spoken words.It lives in our hands, our bodies, our creativity, our presence.It shows up in how we move, how we hold ourselves, how we create, and sometimes… how we stay quiet.

And even if no one else heard that recording, it still mattered. Because I voiced myself. I listened inwardly to what needed to be released and what wanted to be welcomed in.

Growing Up Quiet

As a child, I was very quiet. In many ways, I still am.

I was late-diagnosed as autistic, and that understanding brought a deep sense of clarity. I realised that for much of my life, I had been trying to hide myself. Silence felt safer. If I didn’t speak, I didn’t have to work out the “right” response. I didn’t have to navigate expectations that felt confusing or overwhelming.

This was especially true in my teenage years. As I grew older, I became very skilled at masking — blending in, performing what felt acceptable, softening my edges.

Even now, there are moments where I say the “wrong” thing, respond in a way that doesn’t land, or allow people to see that I’m a little… different.

I was told I was “weird” many times growing up.

And honestly? I’ve made peace with that. I’m happy to be weird.

Not Enough… or Too Much

There’s a tender place many of us hold when it comes to self-expression.

How do we voice ourselves without feeling like we’re not enough — or that we’re too much?

Some people express outwardly and expansively. I have many friends with ADHD, and there can be a beautiful, chaotic element of sharing openly, quickly, passionately. I do this too at times. Often, it comes from a deep desire to connect, to relate, to say: I see you, I understand.

Whether we hold back or overflow, both come from the same place — wanting to be understood, wanting to belong.

Where the Unspoken Lives in the Body

What happens when our voice has nowhere to go?

It doesn’t disappear. It settles.

It can lodge in the throat when words go unsaid.In the chest when feelings are swallowed.In the shoulders when we carry the weight of being “acceptable”.In the gut when intuition is ignored.

When expression is blocked, our energy tightens. The nervous system stays alert. The body remembers what the mind tries to move past.

This is why voicing ourselves doesn’t always have to mean speaking. Sometimes it means moving, creating, resting, breathing, or allowing ourselves to be witnessed — even if only by ourselves.

Your voice matters. Even when it’s quiet.Even when it shakes. Even when it’s only heard within you.

You are not too much. You are enough. You are allowed to take up the space that feels right for you.