thecreativeverse creativity is our human superpower.
Our podcast journey has officially begun, and wow – getting here was nothing like I planned. The path to Episode 1 came with some beautiful, messy lessons I never saw coming…
The first episode of our podcast can be found here: Building Self-Worth – Excavating Your Inner Gold
Life Happens …
When the going gets tough, put one foot in front of the other and just keep going. Don’t give up. ~ Author
Around early 2025, I felt a pull toward audio that excited me. I had already been sharing my writings slowly but surely since 2022, and suddenly I felt this enthusiasm for kicking off a podcast journey that caught me completely off guard.
I’ve always been fascinated by the unique, creative magic of both mediums. There’s something profound about writing – its depth, its lyricism, and the way you can spark the imagination that speaking alone can’t do.
But then there’s speaking – raw, immediate, alive. There’s an energetic current that flows through real-time, an authenticity and connection to the present moment that words alone on a page can’t capture.
So when I felt that unmistakable call to expand into speaking and audio, I was beyond excited for the new adventure. Then life hit hard. Unexpected losses, including the death of a beloved furry family member, completely derailed my timeline. And yet, with enough persistence and grit I managed to stick to my goals and 6 months later, I managed to complete my first episode and launch, albeit with a different timeline and concept than my original plan. But that’s ok, because here’s what I learned:
Lesson 1: Learning to Respect and Honor Your Timing. I was all set to start in early 2025 – recording research complete, concept and outline in the works – and then we lost our beloved furry puppy unexpectedly among other losses, and my momentum quickly flew out the window. Suddenly my writing and podcasting goals felt secondary, too big to handle and grief took a front seat.
But here’s the key thing I learned, instead of forcing myself to push through while I was still hurting or abandoning the project entirely because my timeline was now overcome by events, I learned to honor where I was and trust that the right time would come. Most importantly, I was reminded to honor my feelings. As a Soldier, we’re often taught (and expected) to “suck it up and drive on” which means no matter what push through – fear, pain, anguish, whatever. Certainly there are situations that require pushing through. The key is understanding when you don’t need to – when you have the capacity, the time and the space to pause and process instead.
So an important lesson/reminder here is that feelings matter, even if they go against important plans/goals – yours and others and they deserve to be honored. Follow your heart in determining whether you need to “push through” or stop and take the time to process. And if you need to pause and process, that’s ok. This is your story and there is no rush, take your time. What you want to create for yourself, will always be within reach or find its way back to you.
By the same token, don’t abandon what you want just because it doesn’t meet your timeline. Life happens – sometimes we need time to heal, sometimes we get swept away by events, delayed and/or distracted by life and our plans sometimes have to take a backseat as we resolve life. Don’t give up on what you want just because timing is off from what you expected. Learn to honor the moment, respect your timing and when you’re ready to start again, know that you can.
Oh and there is no limit to how many times you can “start again”! I’ve restarted countless things in life multiple times, and this podcast is no exception. I restarted this podcast more times than I can count before I could sustain the momentum to keep going. So know thyself, keep going until you can KEEP GOING!
Lesson 2: Learning to Honor your Unique Expression. When I finally felt ready to return to recording months later, I discovered that my original plan of trying to do one seamless, uninterrupted session like other podcasts wasn’t working for me. I tried but kept getting interrupted by overthinking (natural occurrence I think) and most surprisingly, I found that each recording session, I was gaining new insights and finding new angles which is why I couldn’t finish recording!
I knew that if I wanted this medium to work for me, I needed to change my approach. So instead of trying to fit into the standard, uninterrupted audio session format most podcasters use, I decided to honor my expression authentically and pivot completely. I found that when I broke my recordings into mini-sessions, I could process deeper and capture fresh insights as they emerged. Each session felt fresh and fun to me this way and the most authentic.
But it does offer a different experience. You’ll notice that my clothes, hair and energy change throughout the recording, that’s because I’m either processing and recording multiple times a day (including nights) or recording a different day! And you’ll notice that sometimes I stumble a bit over words and thoughts. I originally thought to edit those out (some I did), but it’s me genuinely gaining new insights and energized to approach the topic in a different way right as I’m speaking, and I just couldn’t find the heart to remove that, no matter how awkward it sometimes seemed to me!
Which is one of the most amazing things of the speaking arts, this ability to gain new insights on the spot and quickly turn them into words for others. No matter how imperfect it was, it’s the funnest and scariest part – why would I want to edit that out! Because at the end of the day, what matters most as I start out, is substance and authenticity over polish. It was more important for me to get started, to launch in my own way rather than to have everything look as if I had done this for years.
So an important lesson/reminder here is to honor your expression even if it differs from the typical, standard approach. We all have our own way of processing information and expressing it out into the world. So whatever approach works for you where you get to enjoy the process and be true to what you want to express, IS the right approach for you. Even if it evolves into another approach later as you continue honoring your authentic expression, it can never be wrong as long as it comes from YOU and what you genuinely desire to create and express. So no more delays, do it your way and GET GOING!
Lesson 3: Embracing a Learner’s Mindset and the Imperfect. So who knew just trying to launch a podcast would give me so much new insight and wisdom – but that’s exactly what happened! And I have so many more lessons I could share but I think I’ll stick with these (for now )
The last important thing to remember is that every forced pause, delay, setback, distraction can become a lesson and/or wisdom if you embrace a learner’s mindset. Life isn’t some clean, polished journey – it’s as messy, confusing, complex and awkward as it is beautiful, ordered, and elegant. In other words life is IMPERFECT naturally, and so you’re allowed to be imperfect in it. No human can ever be truly authentic seeking perfection. But every human can be perfectly authentic by seeking their truth, by learning and growing. And that’s what I had to understand.
I had to learn to release my desire to meet the perfect timeline, the perfect approach, the perfect material, the perfect final product. Had I sought to stick to perfection, I would have dishonored my heart, pushed through when I wasn’t ready and would still be fiddling with my first episode. So much so that maybe 6 more months down the line (if life cooperated) I could get the first episode out the door! Instead, I chose to respect my timing, my heart and my authenticity. And when I was in a good place to start again, no matter how imperfect things still seemed, I moved forward anyway. And you know what, that feels good. It feels real good to honor myself in that way.
Final Thoughts. So for the creators and leaders out there, as we embark on reignited or new endeavors, remember to honor yourself. More important than the work you produce, is the one producing it – YOU. So honor yourself first and foremost. Good luck to us all!
Stay tuned for Part II of Behind the Mic, as we dive deeper into the episode itself and share some additional insights gained throughout the recording and after.
As always, for questions, thoughts, insights: Feel free to leave a voice note, share your insights, or drop a comment about what resonated most. For deeper conversations you can reach me at carmen@thecrv.com.
