S2 #35 What's The Word? w/ Erika Palmer

Welcome to the final podcast of 2022. We had originally intended this episode to be an upbeat look ahead, talking about the One Word “resolution” you can use that might help in planning and inspiring you, our dear listeners.

It still is, but we’re also going to share true confessions and deep thoughts on a year of podcasting for Michele. Some people make it look easy. For some people, it is easy. Sometimes tech works smoothly. Sometimes tech fails disastrously. Sometimes equipment fails. Sometimes equipment breaks. Some glitches can be edited out. Sometimes no amount of (amateur) editing will take out the distracting noises. Sometimes you don’t realise - until editing - how much wind there is until you find it has drowned out the conversation.

It really helps to have wonderful people in your life, both as guests, and as support people, to assist when stuff happens. Google is a big help in figuring out workarounds.

This final episode of the year has been a case in point. Zoom failed us 3 different times. Tried some workarounds, but couldn’t get it to work. Our lovely guest, Erica Palmer, patiently waited each time, and then kindly agreed to meet in person to record.Great!

We picked our outdoor location, but when we walked over to where the “best” spot was, a group of boys were playing basketball. No problem. We moved to Plan B and the second-best spot, but then Erika pointed out the passing traffic. Our super-awesome mics are also super-sensitive, and tend to pick up all those noises, so we moved to Plan C. We sat down and got set up. Then it started to rain. Ever-flexible, we went and stood in a covered area that seemed to be mostly out of the wind (spoiler alert: listening afterwards proved otherwise). As we were micing up, Erika’s mic clip broke. We improvised a repair, and started recording. We finished recording, and as she picked up the equipment, Michele found that one end of an audio connector had broken off, and the other end was barely hanging on. That is likely why Michele’s audio is so low, and combined with the improvised repair on Erika’s mic not being perfect, we’ve got a great podcast episode, with sub-par audio. On the positive side, it must have been a good, focused conversation, as at the time, we didn’t realise that there was a dog barking loudly at one point! lol However, the wind also blew in at the same time, so that part of our conversation was completely unintelligible and later had to be edited out.

However, as we packed up and were leaving, a rainbow appeared in the sky to the north, and as we watched, a second rainbow appeared! Even when technology and equipment fail us, Mother Nature comes through for us, showing some love.

So with our rose-coloured glasses firmly in place, and despite the technical challenges, we hope you’ll listen as Erika explains the fun of choosing a word to guide you for the coming year. Since she is the one who first inspired Michele to try it, it seemed only fitting that we have her on to talk about it! And she shares how she puts her chosen word into practice each year. It’s a process that can be as fun or serious as you choose. For Erika, she gives a lot of thought into how she will use her One Word, and how she can apply it across most facets of her life. For Michele, it’s a contemplative and reflective process. The One Word idea is to find the word that will give you motivation for 365 days, or, since there are no rules, it can be whatever you need it to be. Let Erika guide you, as she drops some ideas to get started.

As for the One Word for this podcast for the coming year, we still don’t know what it will be. Perhaps it should be perseverance?!  LOL  Stay tuned!

Finally, all our best from the Amazing Places Podcast team for an absolutely amazing year ahead for all of you. Thank you for listening.