Most of us have changed something about ourselves at some point in our lives, whether it was because someone made a cruel comment or because our inner people-pleasers thought that changing would make us more palatable to other people.
But all those changes really did was put distance between us and our true selves, not to mention the pressure to keep up the charade.
After thirty years, TikToker @timmaydgl revealed that the voice he'd used on his platform, which hosts nearly 55-thousand followers, was not actually his natural speaking voice.
Rather, he reflected in his car, pensively fidgeting with the ear pieces of his sunglasses, when he first started going through puberty, his mother accused him of "mumbling." According to him, she brought up his mumbling in every conversation, at every chance she could, for several years—until he decided to do something about it.
In response to her ridicule, the TikToker would "speak up," but not "up" like louder.
"So I would speak up. I would squeeze my voice, I would speak up here [in this] register."
About a year prior to this video, he said opened up to his partner about this, which prompted her to ask him what his voice actually sounded like.
His depiction in this video shocked some TikTokers.
"I did something that I had not done in my adult life, ever, about a year ago."
"Which was to relax my throat... and let noise come out of my face... the way that it wants to come out of my face."
"This is my unaffected, unsqueezed voice. This is what my voice sounds like."
By the time the TikToker was done introducing his real voice, he spoke more slowly, appeared more relaxed, and sounded something like Benedict Cumberbatch when portraying Doctor Strange.
What he said next was both freeing and heartbreaking.
"I realized I have been speaking in that high, squeezed register my entire life."
"Speaking, singing, acting, on the radio for several years, using that voice, and there's effort behind it."
"But it's such a reflex that doing this [using his natural voice] right now almost feels like faking it. I promise you, I'm not; this is just not squeezing my chest and my throat to make my voice that higher register."
You can watch the video here:
Some fellow TikTokers were shocked by @timmaydgl's transformation.
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Others hoped he would pursue more opportunities in his natural register.
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This had to be so incredibly liberating, not only being encouraged by his partner to share his real voice but then having his voice celebrated among his followers online.
We've likely all changed something about ourselves or "masked" when we're around certain people or in particular settings, and there's nothing quite like the freedom of living as our truest selves without being judged.
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