Lesson 4: Create a Voice Timeline

What is a Voice Timeline?

A voice timeline is a powerful way to consider the journey your voice has been on from birth until now. These are significant moments in which your voice was impacted both positively and negatively.

When we go through and name these experiences, they no longer have the power over us they once did in their silence. When we reclaim them and write through them, we are giving our story a chance to speak when maybe it never had before.

I created the Voice Timeline years ago when I was healing my story through writing, art, and embodiment. I realized, I had a lot of blanks in my memory due to dissociation, but wanted to awaken my lost voice. I made a timeline for my voice so that I could understand more of its journey. The process was so powerful and gave me a ton of content for writing my book.

My hope for you with this Voice Timeline is that is helps you understand your voice's process, that you gain empathy for its journey, and that you will be inspired to write stories from the prompting of each time period of your voice.

How do you create your Voice Timeline?

I'm excited to break this down for you step by step. 

1: Create categories for your voice timeline that are broken up every ten years, beginning at age 0. Yes, age zero. You can write about whatever your voice story prompts in you pre or post birth. I personally like to do an intuitive word prompt for each age that arises for you (yes, this could take some time if your are in later years). 

2: Breathe into the category and asking what does my voice timeline want to show me? For example: Sitting with the first category (age 0-10) and reflecting on that question for five minutes before you begin writing. This will allow you to get clear and receptive to your voice. You will do this for each category.

3: After you sit with this stillness, begin to write down each age within the time period and a moment/ visual/ or memory associated.

For example:

Age 0- the orange womb.

Age 1- chocolate cake

Age 2: gappy teeth

Age 3: bloody diaper

Age 4: Caught in the tight space.... etc.

These do not need to be accurate and formulated, but rather intuitive for whatever arises from you.

4: These are short phrases or words. not entire narratives or stories, that will come later. Use these step to keep them short and sweet for when you expand later.

5: Once you finish each category. Go back through and highlight the age and short phrase that is really calling you. This will be what you write on. This could be one from each section or all of them. Listen to your gut.

6: Once you have finished highlighting the age and phrase standing out to you, begin writing in a separate place a story or poem for that specific age from the voice timeline.

When you finish, go back and read them aloud to yourself.  

Please note... this is not about memory. This is about your body's intuitive memory. It is about awakenign the lost voice for all your ages. Take your time with this.