Alice Greczyn Instagram – When I moved to LA at 17, my acting coach said I needed voice lessons ASAP. Not for singing—just for speaking. I couldn’t perform anger. I couldn’t raise my voice. It pip-squeaked and locked in my throat, ballooning in my choked vocal cords with every other unacceptable emotion I’d become an expert at suppressing. Anger curdled alongside fear, doubt, and the ringing conviction of truth. These reverberated through me as suicidal depression, manifesting in my body with excruciating neck and jaw issues that had me on a liquid diet for days at a time. My body wouldn’t even let me pretend to be angry, so afraid was she of opening a door to disobedience.
“Your chakras are all blocked,” my New Agey voice coach told me. “Especially your root and throat chakras.” Of course, she speaking demonic. She was possessed by the devil luring me away from chastity and agency—my deliberately locked base chakra, red like sin; and my silenced throat chakra, blue like truth.
My voice coach could not be trusted. Yet God had called me to acting and the acting teacher he’d led me to referred me to this woman who wore crystals around her bosom and spoke in the evil language of Satantic Hinduism. Was my tutelage with her a test from God to see if I’d let Satan sway me into swaying my hips or using my voice? Or were my lessons a beckoning to know God’s different expressions in another culture?
I now look back with gratitude for my voice coach, Rowena Balos, who unwittingly acted as a stepping stone toward my freedom. She not only helped my acting—she helped me save my life. My throat swells with emotion right now to think of it. I let out a breath that sounds like a whimper of relief and grief at the same time.
Today, @tialevingswriter posted an article on her Substack, #TheAntiFundamentalist, called “Why Kelly Johnson Sounds Like Michelle Duggar: Understanding the Childlike Voices of Fundamentalist Women.” Like most things Tia writes, I resonate with. If you’re curious as to why many women in the Christian Right speak in small, breathy, nasally tones, it’s because we were trained to.
👉🏼 Link @tialevingswriter’s bio to learn more. #christianwives #purityculture | Posted on 15/Dec/2023 22:42:06
