It's time for me to share something new with y'all and why it's important to me!
I have started a podcast! Yes, the link is through Anchor, but as of posting, I should be on all the major distributors (Spotify, Apple, and wherever fine podcasts are played).This is a bit different from what you might be expecting from me. Each week, I will read a favorite bedtime story. While, perhaps, this seems tangentially related to a lifestyle blog, you might still be scratching your head about how I ended up here and why I'm so stoked. Allow me to explain!
First, all credit for this particular theme belongs to some of my friends. I had a few who kindly watch my YouTube videos and found my voice soothing. They said they wished I read bedtime stories. At first I laughed it off (and honestly even forgot about the suggestion). But after Cassie and Cainan suggested it, the idea finally stuck with me, particularly since I'd already been thinking about starting a podcast, although with a different theme. Suddenly this was an idea I could no longer laugh off. If I made this series, I could get used to things like editing, finding out if I even like the process of creating a podcast, and work out any bugs.
But a big reason why this is a huge step for me is it has allowed me to face some longtime fears I've had. I've always been a bit nervous about public speaking. Sure, this isn't totally public speaking. After all, I'm reading a story word for word that has been written out. But it doesn't stop the tinge of nerves of putting myself out there. And this is all voice. There's no shiny happy craft project to distract from whatever I might be saying.
But that fear of public speaking came in a large part from my troubles with speech as a child. I was a stutterer with a lisp. Conversing was hard and tiring. And of course I was often mocked for it. So I just tended to not speak. I was lucky that my teachers paid attention. I was also lucky that the school I went to had a speech therapy program that I was enrolled in free of charge. Multiple times a week would find me in an office talking to the Speech Therapist about my day, my favorite subjects, books I was reading. I still remember the anxiety I would get when I would say a problematic letter or word and I would see her making a brief mark on her notepad. I also remember the overwhelming excitement of getting a sticker on my progress sheet at the end of the day's session. I wanted to go home each week with a sheet full of demonstrated progress. I'd be so happy when I could speak clearly. I would be devastated when the problems would come back. They still do sometimes when I'm very tired.
I'm sharing all this because it's my adult version of the ultimate progress sheet. And I also hope if you know someone with a stutter or a lisp and they're working on it, maybe you'll share my story and the podcast with them. It's hard work, but it's possible to work with and work through this. I wish I could have told little me that one day I wouldn't be afraid to talk, but it's enough to know it now!