{"id":361458,"date":"2025-12-12T18:11:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T02:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/?p=361458"},"modified":"2025-12-15T16:34:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T00:34:03","slug":"voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/?p=361458","title":{"rendered":"Voice."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"kgvid_kgvid_0_wrapper\" class=\"kgvid_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div id=\"video_kgvid_0_div\" class=\"fitvidsignore kgvid_videodiv\" data-id=\"kgvid_0\" data-kgvid_video_vars=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;kgvid_0&quot;,&quot;attachment_id&quot;:0,&quot;player_type&quot;:&quot;Video.js v8&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;435&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:&quot;435&quot;,&quot;fullwidth&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;fixed_aspect&quot;:&quot;vertical&quot;,&quot;countable&quot;:false,&quot;count_views&quot;:&quot;start_complete&quot;,&quot;start&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;pauseothervideos&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;set_volume&quot;:1,&quot;muted&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;meta&quot;:false,&quot;endofvideooverlay&quot;:false,&quot;resize&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;auto_res&quot;:&quot;automatic&quot;,&quot;pixel_ratio&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;right_click&quot;:&quot;on&quot;,&quot;playback_rate&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;alexsampson_testing-voice.mp4&quot;,&quot;skip_buttons&quot;:[],&quot;nativecontrolsfortouch&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en&quot;,&quot;enable_resolutions_plugin&quot;:false}\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/alexsampson_testing-voice.jpg\"><meta itemprop=\"embedUrl\" content=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/alexsampson_testing-voice.mp4\"><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/alexsampson_testing-voice.mp4\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"alexsampson_testing-voice.mp4\"><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"Video\"><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2025-12-12T18:11:00-08:00\">\n\t\t\t\t<video id=\"video_kgvid_0\" playsinline controls preload=\"metadata\" poster=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/alexsampson_testing-voice.jpg\" width=\"435\" height=\"435\" class=\"fitvidsignore video-js kg-video-js-skin\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<source src=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/alexsampson_testing-voice.mp4?id=0\" type=\"video\/mp4\" data-res=\"Full\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/video>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>(via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DLsonDjy5tb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@alexsampson<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>The stroke altered my speech. I used to see a speech therapist, but it wasn&#8217;t covered by insurance, and the weekly sessions were costing me hundreds of dollars, so I only went for a few months.<\/p>\n<p>Even though my team worked from home after the pandemic when I lived in LA, my work bestie still had to go into the office every day. She drove all the way from OC, and the office was just a couple miles from my apartment, so I&#8217;d have lunch with her almost daily. It gave me a reason to get out of my house everyday, and was also good for my speech development bc it helped to have conversations. She would ask me all the time, &#8216;Did you do your tongue exercises today?&#8217; bc I obviously wasn&#8217;t doing them (apparently, my aversion to exercise extends to the speech kind as well LOL).<\/p>\n<p>Now that I&#8217;m back in SD and still working from home, there are spans of days that I don&#8217;t speak. Of course I chat with my coworkers over Slack on the daily, but I mean talk out loud. I don&#8217;t ever have meetings or anything. I&#8217;ve noticed that when I do talk to people now, whether I&#8217;m in the elevator with neighbors when picking up a package from the parcel locker in the lobby, or trying to tell a story to friends or family that I&#8217;m visiting over the weekend, that my speech is regressing a little.<\/p>\n<p>Before the stroke, I remember being at a John Mayer concert (by myself, of course LOL), and there was this beautiful moment during <em>Stop This Train <\/em>where the crowd sang a part of the song in perfect harmony.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2UiX4dUUjWc?si=2-2cagLF-9qQtiqR\" width=\"435\" height=\"245\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Stop this train<br \/>\nI wanna get off and go home again<br \/>\nI can&#8217;t take the speed it&#8217;s movin in<br \/>\nI know I can&#8217;t, &#8217;cause now I see<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll never stop this train<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I had bought a single ticket, and I remember the guy standing next to me who had also bought a single ticket looking at me afterwards with eyes as big as saucers like, \u2018Did that just happen?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>I still go to concerts, but I don\u2019t sing out loud anymore post-stroke. You guys, I used to have a beautiful voice. I was in show choir in high school before it was cool (just kidding &#8211; it was always cool! \ud83e\udd2a). I have the nude character shoes and sequined costumes to prove it. And I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a VHS tape floating around somewhere of me singing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b9zWIY7X2fI&amp;t=1s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Edwin McCain\u2019s <em>I\u2019ll Be<\/em><\/a> in my high school gym.<\/p>\n<p>After the stroke, my singing voice sounds something more akin to this:<\/p>\n<div id=\"kgvid_kgvid_1_wrapper\" class=\"kgvid_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div id=\"video_kgvid_1_div\" class=\"fitvidsignore kgvid_videodiv\" data-id=\"kgvid_1\" data-kgvid_video_vars=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;kgvid_1&quot;,&quot;attachment_id&quot;:0,&quot;player_type&quot;:&quot;Video.js v8&quot;,&quot;width&quot;:&quot;435&quot;,&quot;height&quot;:&quot;435&quot;,&quot;fullwidth&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;fixed_aspect&quot;:&quot;vertical&quot;,&quot;countable&quot;:false,&quot;count_views&quot;:&quot;start_complete&quot;,&quot;start&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;pauseothervideos&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;set_volume&quot;:1,&quot;muted&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;meta&quot;:false,&quot;endofvideooverlay&quot;:false,&quot;resize&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;auto_res&quot;:&quot;automatic&quot;,&quot;pixel_ratio&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;right_click&quot;:&quot;on&quot;,&quot;playback_rate&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;strongarmtara_ordinary.mp4&quot;,&quot;skip_buttons&quot;:[],&quot;nativecontrolsfortouch&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;locale&quot;:&quot;en&quot;,&quot;enable_resolutions_plugin&quot;:false}\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/strongarmtara_ordinary.jpg\"><meta itemprop=\"embedUrl\" content=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/strongarmtara_ordinary.mp4\"><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/strongarmtara_ordinary.mp4\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"strongarmtara_ordinary.mp4\"><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"Video\"><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2025-12-12T18:11:00-08:00\">\n\t\t\t\t<video id=\"video_kgvid_1\" playsinline controls preload=\"metadata\" poster=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/strongarmtara_ordinary.jpg\" width=\"435\" height=\"435\" class=\"fitvidsignore video-js kg-video-js-skin\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<source src=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/strongarmtara_ordinary.mp4?id=1\" type=\"video\/mp4\" data-res=\"Full\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/video>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>(via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DRkwhNdEqV_\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@strongarmtara<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Just kidding (I sound much worse).<\/p>\n<p>All that to say, after the stroke, I just accepted that this is what I sound like now. But I&#8217;ve seen incredible videos of deaf people who speak as if they&#8217;re not deaf bc they practiced sounding &#8216;normal&#8217;. So that is my new goal &#8211; Keep practicing until I sound closer to how I used to. I find myself biting my tongue a lot, even when I have an anecdote to share, bc I&#8217;m embarrassed about how my voice sounds.<\/p>\n<p>I was recently telling Shi that I remember being on a long drive with my ex and I was talking the entire time. By the end of the ride, I noticed I was the only one talking, and I was like, &#8216;How come you haven&#8217;t said anything?&#8217; and he replied, &#8216;Well, I couldn&#8217;t get a word in.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mayanrocks.com\/blog\/shocked2.gif\" width=\"70%\"><\/p>\n<p>My bad for being so engaging and such a fucking delight to be around!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(via @alexsampson) The stroke altered my speech. I used to see a speech therapist, but it wasn&#8217;t covered by insurance, and the weekly sessions were costing me hundreds of dollars, so I only went for a few months. Even though my team worked from home after the pandemic when I lived in LA, my work [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[258,227],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-361458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-john-mayer","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=361458"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361555,"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361458\/revisions\/361555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=361458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=361458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayanrocks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=361458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}