I find that a lot of what I’ve been after has been instrumental in discovering and developing what I see as the True/Creative voice. But for a long time, I didn’t know what it was. I actually thought it was a comedic version of myself for a while, even wondering if it was a “persona” for a while (spoilers, it isn’t). Whenever I’d think about it, I’d tell myself that it isn’t something I “put on.” It’s not like when someone might pretend to be another person. It’s something that goes wherever I go, and is something I feel very close to. It has helped me make sense of things and express it.

It’s a creative voice, an expressive voice, and authentic self, and anything else you might call it. Either way, it is the most authentic self you bring to any moment/circumstance that allows you to channel it in fun, creative, and fulfilling ways that can do anything.

With regards to the comedy elements behind it, I found that it just so happens to be closely tied to comedy. And as I got deeper into acting, I found that it’s also closely tied to that. This is worth mentioning because when I read the book A Practical Handbook for the Actor, I was drawn to its definition of acting as, “Living truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” The idea behind is called “Practical Aesthetics,” which focuses on action and moment.

Add to that, the famous quote, “It’s funny because it’s true,” and it’s clear that this and the core behind acting is where the core of everything in writing and expression as a whole is. Simply put, it is authenticity. Truth.

What It Is

In the pursuit of understanding and honing the truthful/comedic voice, I found it’s important to think of it as a broad and crucial part of yourself. After that, treating any comedic aspects of it as a byproduct of sorts will feel more like a natural extension of one’s personality. This way, you’re getting to the raw essence of your own natural thoughts. And while humor principles are important and have many tricks & methods in developing one’s comedic voice, I’ve also learned that writing and channeling comedy isn’t always so much about “finding the funny” as it is about finding & sharing connections and observations in an interesting way that just so happens to be funny. Truth comes first, method is secondary, and comedy is how others will interpret the end result.

Likewise, with the Practical Aesthetics behind acting, truth of the moment and self comes first, method (in this case, action) comes second, and what others perceive as “character” comes as a byproduct of becoming this truthful/genuine version of yourself in the moment/circumstance.

Call it truth, call it authenticity, call it your core, it doesn’t matter how you want to refer to it (personally, I like to call it the True Self). What matters is getting to that core and just channeling it. Becoming it. Making others laugh is definitely fun, but doing something that feels like you and just so happens to be funny is fulfilling. Fun too, of course. And this process should be natural. And unfortunately, that can be tricky for others to really hone in on when they’re distracted by other things.

Why This, and Why Now?

When I think about this now, and what I’ve written here, it makes sense why I’ve been so set on understanding everything behind not only my preferred means of writing (which is stream-of-consciousness influenced), but why that is my preferred method. And it makes sense why.

It’s raw, unfiltered, loose, free-flowing, conversational, and yes, even random. That is one’s most natural way of tapping into their voice/true self. Letting loose like this is what’s fulfilling. Anything else is more of a focused approach, whether it’s a topic-focused thought piece, essay, monologue, opinion piece, etc. But the raw stream-of-consciousness (S.O.C) approach? That’s where magic happens. Without it, this blog would either be either very different, or not here at all. Had I not started by tapping into the raw/loose freeform writings, I wouldn’t have arrived at the focused entries in a natural way.

Tapping into my S.O.C has been so crucial, that I even started taking apart my thought process for fun. And after having talked about this in previous Expression-related blog posts, I feel like I’m at a point where I’m ready to teach a lot of what I’ve learned. I’ve even developed exercises that can free up the creativity and help people break through whatever mental barriers that might be holding them back.

I feel that right now, it’s more important than ever for anyone wanting to create (be it for comedy, content creation, writing, or another creative field) to start with this raw You-centered approach. It makes sense why, as it allows you to tap into natural thoughts and the way you express yourself. From there, you can easily find ideas and thoughts from which you can “spin-off” into more focused writings.

Wrapping Up

Overall, it starts from the natural, authentic, raw voice. It’s truthful. It’s not only funny because it’s true, it’s also uniquely expressive. It’s you channeling that authentic self in circumstances, whether it’s for comedy, acting, writing/creating something else, or even livening up a fun conversation. That is why more people should tap into this approach, and that is why I spent a lot of time taking it all apart, honing it, and putting it back together.

Breathing more life into this process of channeling & being a more fulfilling, expressive version of myself gives me a better sense of what I’m passionate about. That itself has helped me during crazy times, and if sharing it helps others do the same thing, all the more reason to talk about it here.

This was meant to be a shorter entry, but I hope people will enjoy what I have in store that will help them tap into their natural expressive self.

Stay tuned!