on finding my voice

I've been reading "The Book of Form and Emptiness" by Ruth Ozeki and came across a passage last night that stuck with me.

Fish swim in water, unaware that it is water. Birds fly in the air, unaware that it is air. People live in stories, unaware that this is their water or air.

This idea felt exciting to me, like it was a view that I had not yet gotten to see of something very familiar and perhaps taken for granted. I think unknowingly this year for me has been about identifying my story and how I am part of it but also how it often is already written for me. Maybe this can be likened to fate or the idea of already being bound to something and the only chance we have to make choices come in the moment of how we perceive the experience we are having.

This makes me think of how often I am trying to find my voice in this life. How many voices am I adopting of other peoples or societies voice- how much of what runs through me is my truth- essentially... or is it just a repeat of a larger continuing story of humanity. This idea of the story being our unknown air or water we breathe and exist in.

Viewing from the drop amidst being in the vast sea...definitely an idea worth chewing chewing on.