I honestly did not mean to leave you hanging the past couple of weeks. It’s just that none of the things I wanted to say felt right coming out. I was going to tell you about my book coming back from the editor and my budgetary constraints slowing the self-publishing process to a standstill, but I’ve been inspired otherwise.

As I was scrolling through Instagram the other day, I saw Roxane Gay’s face promoting a class. I had a split-second thought to watch the ad, but decided against it. Today, however, I decided to watch the ad and now I feel inspired.

If I’m honest, my first thought when the ad started playing was, I love the tone of her voice. Why do I so often feel the need to raise the pitch of my own? Completely unrelated to writing, but not completely unrelated to her points about writing for social change. You see, I’ve often felt the need to raise the pitch of my voice when speaking to people. I don’t remember ever being blatantly told that the lower pitch of my voice was unwelcoming, but I’ve always felt it. I raise the pitch of my voice to make other people feel more comfortable, especially in a professional setting, and only use the natural pitch of my voice when I’m comfortable and calm. This needs to change.

By watching the ad through, not only did I feel inspired to fork over the coins for the program, but I felt inspired to learn and to indulge in learning. I loved college, and I used to say that I would be a career student if somebody would pay me to stay in college. There were so many classes I wanted to take that I just didn’t have the time or finances to take (mostly in an effort to graduate and get a job that would pay bills and make me a legit adult). Watching the MasterClass ad made me realize that I miss lecture-style classes… but only the ones from interesting professors.

It’s so funny how things tend to come together. During my therapy session today I was given the homework of doing a 30-minute brain dump after I clock out of work to clear my head and then indulge in something that I used to enjoy but have been neglecting due to work stress and being mentally exhausted at the end of the day. Roxane Gay’s MasterClass ad was the first thing that popped up after my session. So now I’m inspired to indulge in her class on writing for social change.

And, in all honesty, the program isn’t terribly expensive, but they do charge for the full year up front so I have to adjust my budget before I can sign up for it. I’m really just looking forward to watching something other than fast fashion hauls on YouTube (smacks forehead in shame). But, really, I’m looking forward to indulging in a learning environment that I have been unknowingly depriving myself of, and indulging in Roxane Gay’s writing class. I also look forward to exploring the other classes the program offers. It’ll be nice to do something different.

I’ll be sure to share my experience with you once I’ve signed up for the program and started viewing the different classes. If you’ve signed up for MasterClass, even if not for a writing-related class, let me know if you enjoy it.

Until next time…

Happy Writing… Reading… Learning!

♥