Speaking the Unspeakable

April 11th, 2014

I spent last week at an awesome event, the Conference on World Affairs, which happens every April here in Boulder. For a week, a bunch of smart people get together and talk about cool things. And it’s free. I love it.

There are hundreds of panels to choose from, so I’ve found the best way to do it is to pick one person I’m interested in and go to every panel he or she is on. This year my person was Tina Packer, Founder of Shakespeare and Co, who I have also had the privilege of studying with.

Every time she opened her mouth I wanted to bow down and weep–in gratitude for her wisdom and her truth-speaking.

She spoke from and with her whole body, and deeply connected to her audience through her voice and her strong physical presence.

In a panel about creativity, she said that the thing that will heal our planet is all of us getting in touch with our creativity.

She’s a Shakespeare scholar and expert, and talked about how Shakespeare, especially in his later plays, kept on saying:

Tell your story.

The function of theater, she says, is to speak those things that are unspeakable. Not just privately but collectively. You have to say it in the presence of others, so no one can deny it’s been spoken.

After the panel, I went to teach a session of my Fearless Solos class, where I am working with eight brave women on doing just that:

Speaking the unspeakable
in the presence of other people.

In other words, healing ourselves while healing the planet.

I’m honored to do this work with them, and endlessly amazed by the power of truth-speaking.

Speaking the unspeakable doesn’t necessarily mean telling your deep dark secrets. It can be as simple as letting the part that’s afraid to speak SPEAK. It can be speaking up for yourself in a difficult conversation. It can be sharing an unpopular view. It can be taking a stand for someone else.

However it shows up, when we “speak the unspeakable” we put a little knick in the armor that has historically kept us silent and alone.

And we end all wars and heal the planet.

Each voice counts. Each story counts.

That includes yours.