You are surrounded by strangers in a crowd by yourself in a foreign city.
Suddenly out of the hub bub of noise around you, you hear a voice you recognize.
You spin around to see who it is, with a feeling of excitement.
You know who it is. You recognize their voice.
Get these 3 amazing facts about sound and identity.
Certain sounds have significance and remind us of places and situations that meant a lot to us. When we hear those sounds again we are taken right back there. Through-out our lives we carve out our identity as we draw close to the sounds we love and withdraw from sounds we dislike.
I got sent to boarding school as a young child. In my bed at night missing my parents and my home I would listen to the sound of coconut tree branches rustle as I went to sleep. They comforted me. Even now, decades later, when ever I hear the sound of coconut tree branches, a feeling of comfort and of being nurtured comes over me.
Sound intelligence is a natural part of who you are. This is your born identity and sound plays a major role in forming your confidence. You can hear it in someone’s voice when they are confident. They sound confident.
Your voice is as unique as your fingerprints. People may sound similar, but no two voices are ever exactly alike. It is really special when we hear a loved one’s voice on the phone after a long separation, or we discover a singer whose voice resonates, or we listen to a baby speaking for the first time.
Your personal identity is uniquely formed through the sounds that you love, and that uniqueness has been developing since long before you were born.
Around the age of 2 our own unique sound identity is created. This is a vulnerable time of life. We are learning to speak – possibly more than one language, we are reliant on care from adults, and we are developing in many other areas. At this tender age our pattern of identity related to sound is formed, and this pattern stays with us for the rest of our life.
Influences on us at the time naturally have an impact. For example, how the adults around us communicated. The music they loved. The way they spoke. Whether they were sweet, endearing, kind, loving, humorous, curious. Or they were loud, shouting, abusive, critical, and mean. We may have no clear memories of that time in our life but the way we sound and our sense intelligence – the way we are wired for sound is born from those experiences.
What sounds do you connect to? What sounds attract you more than any other sounds? Children laughing? Birdsong? River rapids? Who has your favourite singing voice? Is there a style of music you prefer any time of day or night? A language you love to hear?
These choices tell you something important about your uniqueness. They connect you to your story – a unique story that no one else can tell. The sounds you love weave a tapestry of meaning that create the sound of your voice. The authenticity, confidence and authority that means you know who you are.
