October 8, 2021

My dearest,

I learned recently that the way we hear ourselves is different from the way others hear us.

The latter happens when vibrating sound waves hit someone’s ear drums. This is how we hear other people’s voices.

The tragedy is when we listen to ourselves as we speak, unaware that we are deceiving ourselves. Our vocal chords vibrate and these vibrations travel up to our own ear drums.

Because the vibrations spread out across the bone of our skulls, they have a lower pitch. We sound deeper, more manly, or so we think.

And then we hear a recording of our own voices and it’s like listening to a chipmunk.

This is why when I hear a recording of myself speaking, I can’t help but cringe in embarrassment. I loathe the sound of my own voice.

At least now I no longer have to beat myself up over it; we all hate the sound of our own voices, apparently.

You might detest the sound of your own voice too, my dear. But all of this is simply to say, it doesn’t matter. I love the sound of your voice.

You will always find the sound of your voice lacking, as we all do, but I will always be drawn by it; it’s the sound of comfort and safety and a happy life together. What’s not to like?

Yours, ever and always.