I've always had trouble with #shutyourmouth and #keepquiet ... or the colorful Cuban saying, "Los ñiños hablan cuando las gallinas mean.” the equivalent of 'Children should be seen and not heard."⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ There were times when I couldn't speak or I'd have to #suffertheconsequences. Today those consequences are different. If I don't speak I'm one of the legion of women who've been cowed into submission by fear and feeling less than. I know from the innermost places of my being that is NOT true.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Even though I've experienced violence and repression - and what woman hasn't - I will not turn a blind eye to it. I will not succumb to a less than version of my Life. This is the one I'm called to live. I must be true to what I know. The heartbeat of truth lives in me. Love lives as me.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ That doesn't mean that I forego loving myself for others. This is not love. This is not true.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ I am one voice but I am my voice. If I will not speak for me who will? So ... there's risk in being YOU, in speaking true. #Lifeisarisk!! It's true, but what's the alternative, darlings? Would you rather live as a wisp of who you are? Do you want to dampen your light and your joy and exist as a mere shadow of yourself? ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ NO ... you really don't. That won't stir your soul, it won't pull your heart. This IS it, loves! This is the moment to let go of what you've been told about yourself and to discover and embody the luminescence that lives within.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ It's scary to be true, to be you. It's also exciting. You can feel what's true in your body. It wants to be free. It wants to be known. ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ I've been listening to #thestillsmallvoice for some time now. It's responsible for the growth in my world and the truth that pours through my writing.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ I'm sharing how I came to own my voice on my friend @shannvanderleek's #goddesstalksessions. Plus there are 15 more tantalizing tales on how to #ownyourvoice. Join us if you feel the pull...⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ http://adelarubio.com/goddesstalks⠀⠀ Link also in profile...