I’m not really sure how much I believe what I say in the next few passages, but I’m just gonna toy with an idea:

Few people compliment others’ voices. It’s always clothes, accessories, and hair styles that we notice and can easily make statements about. But after thinking about the compliment I had just received and how it was in line with my personality (or at least how I think of myself), I realized how accurate of a judgment you can make of someone just by listening to their voice.

Actions depend on circumstance and setting, clothes depend on fashion sense, and posture sometimes depends on just how comfortable it is. But voice stays relatively consistent. At big social gatherings, I can very easily act crazy and be an attention whore, while in classrooms, I am often an obedient and reserved teacher’s pet. Obviously I would raise my voice at a party, but whether party or classroom, I think my voice pretty much stays the same. Other ways of judging me may be accurate every now and then, but judging me by voice gives you a picture of the core of my personality.

Think of some of your friends and what their voices say about them. Is the voice soft, loud, weak, powerful, energetic, lively, monotone, blah, fast, slow, rushed, calm, shrill, piercing, stuttered, overly formal?

Compliment them! Even if someone’s voice has a traditionally “negative” quality to it, it probably says something positive about the person’s character. A weak voice probably means a chill personality. A piercing voice probably means a fun personality. Point it out and your friend may be pleasantly surprised by something few people notice about them!

It’s so easy to blame a killer.
It’s so easy to say 32 died and not 33.
It’s so easy to say he has no soul.
It’s so easy to say he deserved to kill himself.
It’s so easy to hope he’ll rot in hell.

But what’s easy isn’t always what’s right.

By no means was he justified in what he did, but he still had reasons. And as awful as the event was, if all we do is skip the understanding and call the killer names, then not only will we never correct the problem, but we will also fuel the problem.

Instead, time can be better spent reaching out to those in current need: perhaps helping a troubled friend, perhaps listening, or perhaps just smiling at a lonely stranger.

I’m not defending a killer. I’m only defending the future.

- Nathan