Susanne is a Promise Participation Worker for Glasgow City Council, a law student, and her favourite job, a mum! Her passion lies in ensuring that the quietest voices in the room are always heard, regardless of what room they are in. As a care experienced individual and mother, she is committed to advocating for change and supporting others with similar experiences.
So, I guess what I’m saying is that voice is much more than just what we say. It’s how we use our experiences to relate and be compassionate to others.
In the simplest way, voice is more than just words. Being mum to a 7-month-old has taught me this in ways I couldn’t have fathomed before. While my son doesn’t quite understand the stories I tell him or the lullabies that soothe him to sleep, my actions and expressions are my way of communicating with him. He can sense my emotions though my tone of voice and body language, with no need to know the story behind my feelings. To him, that is my voice.
As someone who has often felt an obligation to share my experiences of trauma and hurt and disappointment, it is empowering to know and feel that I can influence another being without exposing my own vulnerabilities. I know that by opening up about my own struggles I can connect with and inspire others, but being a mum has also helped me to discover that I can use these experiences in another way. I can use my trauma to cultivate empathy and compassion towards others who are facing challenges, without damaging my own mental health by revisiting past experiences which are better alone. In my son’s eyes, I am more than just my care experience. Without knowing it, he has given me a fresh view of myself and the world. I know that I can create better experiences for him, based on the things I have seen and experienced myself without ever explaining any of it to him.
In a similar way, my son cannot tell me when he is happy or upset or tired or bored. He communicates his needs to me through body movements, sounds and gestures. He has forced me to recognise emotion in others, without them having to explicitly tell me how they are feeling. In turn this has helped me to be a more empathetic friend to those who need it and don’t want to ask for it. Voice is whatever means of communication a person can manage to express themselves.
So, I guess what I’m saying is that voice is much more than just what we say. It’s how we use our experiences to relate and be compassionate to others. It’s how they drive us to be better for ourselves, and our children and all of those around us. My voice IS my experience, but it is also so much more than that.