One thing I have appreciated with the digital age is the freedom of choice of what I listen to; commercial radio is a thing of the past for me. As an avid learner I find listening to podcasts my go-to when driving; where I live a trip of 3 miles can take forty-five minutes depending on the time of day, so I make sure my favorites are downloaded daily!
I use Stitcher for my podcasts; it was recommended to me, it’s free and it’s super easy to use. Podcasts are awesome because you can find topics you love, topics you don’t know a lot about, ones focused on humor, or storytelling like old-time serial radio shows when television didn’t exist (which pre-dates me, by the way) I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorite podcasts with you on Saturdays; I’d love to have some recommendations from you as well!
My list is long; thankfully they don’t all update daily, otherwise I’d be woefully behind. I have favorite podcasts for leadership development, life as a creative entrepreneur, faith-focused podcasts, parenting, being a woman in this era and more.
My go to podcast lately is Typology by Ian Cron.
Ian interviews friends, who are also famous people, discussing life through the lens of the Enneagram. Have you heard much about the Enneagram? If not this is a great intro to the tool.
I became certified as an Enneagram coach this year so I am happy to be listening to interviews of different people sharing how knowing their Ennea core type has benefitted their work, relationships, and faith. Ian’s interviews aren’t always what I consider other-focused but he is an Ennea 4, so it makes sense.
I’ve mentioned I’m an Enneagram 7; I’ll unpack the amazing tool it has been for my emotional and spiritual well-being in another post, but suffice it to say, learning more about the Enneagram through listening to Typology podcast has been a lot of fun.
What podcast is keeping you smiling, thinking or thriving?
More “Sound Advice” I want to share is from one of my playlists on Spotify.
If you’re not using Spotify that’s ok, we can still be friends! If you are, did you know you can share playlists with your friends? I created one that I call Arena Anthems . It was actually an assignment when I was working through a semester of Daring Greatly with Brene Brown. The songs I have put on the playlist are ones that remind me to get back up when hard things have been thrown at me when I’ve been in the arena, daring greatly.
Do you know that reference? It comes from a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt, at the Sorbonne, Paris, France in 1910. For your edification, here is the quoted portion from his speech.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Reading this again reminds me that my everyday work may include facing the hard things of life, getting out into ‘the arena’, which for me is offering my words to ‘the worthy cause’ of encouragement and trusting that I will be understood and accepted by a few. But those few who do hear and understand are the ones for whom my offering is intended.
Very esoteric I realize. Every once in a while I like to wax philosophical. The songs on my playlist are not all philosophical or faith-based, but all encourage me to continue, remind me to keep showing up no matter the outcome.
Life is hard sometimes; we can feel overwhelmed and under supported. Music has a way of helping bridge the gap that hurt inflicts; music can give support to be courageous in the face of hard things.
What music do you like to listen to when you need to get back up and help you
