The Blank Page

As I sit here staring at the blank page I start to see it populate with words and symbols that reflect the thought that I am currently sharing. Every time I sit down to a blank page or my recorder I have this overwhelming feeling of infinite potential. You don’t know what I’m about to say and neither do I. And I love this space of creating on the leading edge because it’s completely unknown. 

I’ve been told over and over again through reading and exploring other podcasts that creators wish that they had created their content calendar several years before they did. And no doubt that having a plan of action is a great idea. As humans we like certainty and there is something so satisfying about getting somewhere rather than not knowing is something is worth your time in the first place. 

My sister brought this to my attention the other day when she was giving me feedback on some of my podcasts. She has been so supportive and if you’ve listened to the show you’ve heard her talk about a variety of topics with my past episodes. She told me that she wanted to know WHY she was listening to the podcast other then the fact that I’m her brother and she’s curious and interested in what I have to say.

This brought up a great point that I feel like a lot of us could benefit from exploring. What is it about the content we consume or the stories we hear from others that makes us feel invested? What is the promise of what we are offering? What is the reason that we find anything interesting. The theme that this podcast has held for over a year now is exploring the idea of What Drives Each of us to do what we do? What is it that gravitates us towards our passion and through exploring these ideas with people I’ve found that we are all driven by different things. 

So that takes me back to the questions What is the reason that we find anything interesting? 

Yesterday I mentioned a talk that I listened to with Charlie Kaufman and I’ll link it in the show notes of this episode if you want to have a listen HERE. It’s about 40 minutes long and goes into depth about the creative process and how really at the end of the day you can only create for yourself and what you enjoy. 

And really it’s so cool to be a part of a community of podcasters who are sharing their hearts in a public space. For example my friend Taylor Cramer who is the host of the Cold Shower Podcast just released a podcast that explores that documentary “At The Heart of Gold” which is a documentary on HBO which talks about the story of Larry Nassar who was charged with sexually abusing young athletes. I won't go into the details on this podcast but I watched the documentary a few months ago and was shocked by the fact that I went to school with some of the women who testified in court. I had no idea that things like this were happening in the community that I grew up in. And I never would unless the women who were affected were brave enough to share their stories and open the doorway for other women to do the same.

Before Taylor starts the episode off he mentions his past experiences and I was really touched by the fact that he was able and willing to share his personal stories through a medium like his podcasts. He says what you hear on his podcasts is the same person you would meet if you met him sitting around a campfire. 

I love the idea of using the tools that we have in todays day and age to bridge the gap between our ideas. I want who you meet on these podcasts to be the real me whatever that means. I am a living breathing changing being and my beliefs tend change given the fact that I opened my mind to a lot of different perspectives. I hope that through listening to this show you find creative ways to let your true self shine today and realize that be doing so you give permission to others to do the same.