Dr. Sujata Ives

Transcript

Imagine a room, a house filled with boxes up, down, side to side, making you feel like you're drowning in the sea. Each one labeled of a life gone by. Just when you feel at home, the phone rings and the voice says, "It's time to move again. Not at once, not twice, but 19 times. That's 19 homes, 19 jobs, 19 goodbyes. This is the life of a military, Navy wife, and a mom with a disability. My vocal cords don't close, so my brain activates this voice.

I don't sound like Taylor Swift, but I want to invite you to my vocal cord tour tonight as Tremor Swift I. He braved hundreds of dilemmas. But there's nothing that prepares you for this world with a voice that others mock. Saying hello is easy for you. For me, it can feel like chewing ice cold rocks. Some people imitated me in front of my face. Others whispered behind my back, "How would you feel?" I balanced two cultures, crossed three continents, and unpacked more boxes than Amazon ships out daily.

boxes of all sizes and shapes and and even the mystery ones that you swear you didn't pack. I can bubble wrap a blender blindfolded. But this move seemed like one that I wouldn't recover from. I he endured deployments, loneliness, and uncertainty. The odds were stacked as high as Niagara Falls. Who am I? Which box am I in? I suffered with doubt, despair, and discomfort. Then one faithful day, a spark of wisdom surfaced. If my husband could go out to sea and face his storms, surely I could do this.

After all, I could say his fourletter last name versus the 26letter long Indian one that I had. The spark said, "Don't give up the ship." You see, my voice wasn't broken. It was packaged differently. Resilience doesn't grow in perfect conditions. It grows in the mess, the motions, and the moments you choose to transform. Do you have storms of your own? Boxes still to unpack? Here's the wisdom. The boxes don't magically disappear. They vanish because you choose to rise against the odds.

You don't need a perfect box to make an impact in this world. You don't need a perfect voice box to be heard. If the odds are whispering, you're not enough. Speak anyway, move anyway, unpack anyway, and best of all, don't give up your ship. When you hear my voice call it tested travel triumphant after 19 global moves and countless storms these orange sound waves mine is the voice of valor. This is me Tremor Swift now proudly on my new Against All Odds tour.

Thank you.

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.