Society & CulturePersonal JournalsComedyStand-Up

Elsie, As Is

Elsie Escobar

Audio journal entries, life updates, experiments, and whatever else needs a place to land. It’s me, Elsie, as I am. At the moment.

Play

Open in

9 episodes
daily
Avg 11 min
English

Support the show

Goes straight to the publisher. podnod takes nothing.

Support the show!

Episodes 9

Newest Oldest Longest

All9 Unplayed9 In progress0 Played0

#9
Today · 11 min
Live Slow, Die Cozy - November 09, 2026
“Live slow, die cozy.” I heard that on a stationery podcast and immediately thought, yes. I used to rush from my desk to the kitchen like somebody was chasing me. Now I’m thinking about what it feels like to slow down, and how the things we keep around us can help. If you wanna spend some time with your own artifacts, come hang with me at My Kaigi this Saturday, November 14. Bring your pens, your papers, your phone, whatever helps you remember your year. And Danny Brown and I are doing Office Hours on Wednesday, November 11, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern to talk through some new things from Captivate (aff). I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, favorite stationery podcasts, and they were having a discussion about, it’s kaigi time, which is my favorite time of year. It’s the stationery community’s time when they all start to create content around what planner system they’re going to be using next year. And there’s a lot of reminiscing about what happened in the year and all the stuff. So they were having a conversation about it, and one of the cohosts said that she has a sticker, a bumper sticker on her car, that says, “Live slow, die cozy.” Oh my gosh. That is my life. Like, that’s such a great little saying. I immediately was like, yes. Live slow, die cozy. I wanna die cozy. Just cozy, cozy. I mean, it’s things like this that I’m living for right now, people. The delight in finding out some of this stuff. And then I was thinking, like, I want that sticker. I wanna have a sticker too that says “Live slow, die cozy.” And then I started to look at the stuff and I thought, I don’t like those designs. I would definitely have a T-shirt that says “Live slow, die cozy” on it, but not with those designs. It’s a little too, like… it’s just not my vibe. I might consider creating some kind of merch around that, you know? But then is there, like, a legality? Who said that? Can I just use it? Because how cute, right? Live slow, die cozy. And part of the reason that this was brought up is because everybody’s thinking back about their year and planning and what their intention is for that coming year. And this cohost was talking about how that is part of the vibe she wants to move forward into 2027 with. And it’s never about just coziness. And I think that’s a part that a lot of people miss about the planner community, especially the real… not hardcore, that’s not the word. The roots. The roots of the stationery community. The ones that are the salt of the earth. There is a level of wisdom from that community and the way that they use their artifacts, which is a word that I really started to use also for my things. They’re my artifacts. And there’s something incredibly transcendent about the way that we use our physical tools and the artifacts that we surround ourselves with that have a greater meaning. And they are a conduit, possibly even a container, for us to choose a life that best reflects who we are. And oh, that was the context in which this cohost was talking about it. She had been feeling a level of stress, as we all feel, right? Life is moving so fast. Things are moving so fast. Everything’s coming at us from every which way, and all of us are yearning for a more grounded experience of our lives, I feel. Maybe some of us. Maybe that’s not the language. That’s what she was looking for. And so the “live slow, die cozy” is everything about that. Take the time to do things. Don’t feel like you have to very quickly cram everything in. And death overall, I mean, I couldn’t think about anything more than just dying cozy, surrounded by warm, fuzzy things, clothing, and comfortable in my bed. It’s just… I don’t know. It’s just everything. And so I totally felt that so deeply. Last year… not last year. This year has been a year of this, of living slow. Because prior to being fired about a year ago, I was, I was doing everything I possibly could to live to work. Not consciously. I’m not sure if that’s even clear, but I was rushing through everything. Everything was rushing. Everything was eating fast. I forgot to eat, in fact, many different times. I was completely disconnected from my body. And anytime that I moved from, let’s say, my desk into the kitchen, I was rushing like somebody was chasing me. Anytime I had to walk anywhere, I was rushing. Everything had to be rushed. I had to go fast, fast, fast. It felt like if I slowed down… I can’t even put words to it. It’s like there wasn’t enough time. It was like I was being pressured. I think everything around me felt like pressure. And that pressure got me into not the best places in my health, in my actual physical body. I was burnt out. Like, legit burnt out. So when I see this type of a saying, a saying that moves forth from a place of living slowly and dying cozy, I think that I’m meant for that. Yeah, totally. And today I didn’t freak out too much. I was doing show notes for the In & Around Podcasting episode that’s dropping tomorrow, and I was doing my last listen, right? So I listen to the podcast episode, I put chapter marks in the file itself, and just give it a quality listen. And as I was listening, I started to hear a crackle, like a real subtle crackling sound in the back of the file itself. And I freaked out a little because I thought that something was wrong with the file. But after restarting my computer, I realized that there was something wrong with the actual audio whatever from my computer, which made me realize, okay, everything is all right. The file is fine. I get to listen to this episode and get the show notes ready. So it is a very, it’s a very good show. It’s a very good episode that comes out tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that. Link to In & Around Podcasting in the show notes. And also, hey, Danny Brown and I are doing our Office Hours this Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, and we are covering some lovely new things that Captivate (aff) has just released. You guys, come and hang out. Like, come and hang out and be amongst community and look at tools. And even if you don’t, like, participate, just put it on. Just hang out with us. It’s gonna be so fun. Again, link in the show notes. And lastly, My Kaigi is this Saturday. I would love to have y’all there, any of you who are interested in actually living slow and dying cozy. Come and hang with me. We’re gonna look at what happened in 2026. We’ll do a little bit of a ritual, looking back at all the things that are you. There’s plenty of time for you to sit with your artifacts. If you have your own special artifacts that you like, that make you feel cozy, pens and papers and notepads and fountain pens and digital systems, anything that makes you feel like you’re doing your thing, bring it. And also your phones, because there’s a lot inside of, I think, phones for me in terms of memory keeping, without me even knowing that those memories are there. And so bring the phones as well. And we’ll just look back, plan for the rest of the year, because it’s coming. It is so… it’s coming to an end. Like, it is going to be over sooner than you think. Already it’s gonna be Thanksgiving in a blink. So this is a really good time for you to do the work of planning prior to that rush at the end of the year where you’re gonna blink and it’s gonna be… all right. So we have how many more days? What is today? Five. Five more days. Five more days until your kaigi. Show notes. That is all, my friends, today. You can send me some feedback on SpeakPipe or email me at hello@elsieescobar.com. Big love to y’all. Links mentioned In & Around Podcasting Captivate Office Hours, Wednesday, November 11, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Captivate (aff) My Kaigi, Saturday, November 14, 2026 (use code NAPODPOMO for 50% off!) Leave me a voicemail on SpeakPipe Email me at hello@elsieescobar.com Recording notes Recorded on my iPhone 13 mini and processed with Auphonic. Sticker image credit Image from The Funkie Moon’s listing for the “Live Slow, Die Cozy” bumper sticker by Kaeraz.
#8
Sunday · 7 min
Three Trash Bags of Clean Laundry - November 08, 2026
Yesterday I spent three hours folding laundry. Three hours. October got away from me, the dryer makes a horrific sound, and somewhere in all of this I remembered how much I love hanging clothes outside. Also, I’m getting ready for My Kaigi on Saturday, November 14. And if you wanna come hang out and learn about Captivate (aff), I’m doing free Office Hours on Wednesday, November 11, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. ------------ Yesterday I spent about three hours folding laundry. Folding laundry. Three hours. Because we had about three trash bags full of clean laundry. And you would think that one could get through that easier, as in there’s always time to be doing things like this. But I gotta tell you, the month of October was incredibly jam-packed. It all actually started before my in-laws came to visit, which was amazing. It was such a great visit. And before they come, of course, you have to straighten things out and everything. I needed to get the kids to do their laundry, and I didn’t have enough time to be staying at home because we had other things going on before the grandparents came. And so there were a lot of clean clothes that weren’t folded, for both of the kids and for me, if I’m honest. And they just stayed in piles in different parts of my room and in the living room also, because… anyway, whatever. All that to say that there were weeks of having the kids just come in and look at the laundry baskets and throw clothes everywhere, and the clothes never really got folded. And it just kept escalating and escalating and escalating. This week I finally got them to organize their existing clothes, the ones that are put away, and let go of things that they’re no longer going to wear so that I could get some of that stuff out. And once that was done, the oldest one did fold the majority of her clothes and put those away. And then I still had three trash bags full of the youngest one’s clothes and my clothes that I needed to get through, and I needed to organize her stuff. And oh my gosh, it literally became just a lot. And the reason that things take so long also is because we don’t have a dryer. We don’t have a dryer. We actually, we physically have a dryer, which was replaced by the landlord fairly recently. But it turns out that it wasn’t the best dryer, and something wonky started to go with it. Now every time you put the dryer on, it starts to make a very high-pitched sound that is just a horrific experience. So we don’t put that on. So the way we do it is we wash the laundry and then we hang it outside, which is something that I really love to do. I love the hanging. I love the hanging outside. I love going outside and hanging the clothes. There’s something… I don’t know. I really enjoy it. Mind you, in the summertime it’s fine. In the summertime it’s not a problem. Once it starts to be a little bit on the winter side, you have to look at the weather and go, “Okay, this is a good day to hang clothes outside. This is not a good day to hang clothes outside.” We’ve been able to make it through, I think, one winter. And winters haven’t been so wintry that we can’t still do that. So that adds a level of not being able to do laundry and all of the things. So anyway, that is what I did yesterday. Not very exciting. But I think that I’m gonna, I think I’m gonna be able to push through this last bit of laundry today, because this week is going to be a lot for me. The whole week I’m gonna prepare for my planning experience next Saturday, My Kaigi. I already have the majority of the content for that, but I do have some ideas I wanna test out. And I have to test an app that I have that I really wanna work with. And first I have to find the app, so that’s part of my to-do list. And then do a lot of tech checks, do a lot of updating of things that I wanna say and whatnot when we move through the planning experience. I have to kinda do a little bit of work as it pertains to that, and that’s going to be taking up the majority of my week in addition to the day job, right? So this would be like the night job or the afternoon job. And I’m also doing Office Hours on Wednesday. I love to do Office Hours. Love to do Office Hours. They are the best, and I can’t wait to do those. That’s this upcoming Wednesday, and those are free, in case anybody wants to come and hang out and just learn about Captivate (aff) and using the tools and all the things. So, oh my gosh. Well, that is my catch-up for today because I gotta get going with the laundry. And by the way, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but for those of you who are following the show in your podcast app of choice, I try to put artwork that aligns with what the episodes are like, or something in there. So there’s gonna be a picture of the hanging clothes this time so you see what I’m talking about, and I hope you enjoy it. Also, if you wanna touch base with me, email me, Elsie at… no, no, no, that’s wrong. hello@elsieescobar.com. Or you can speak to me over at SpeakPipe. Shout-out, Cheryl. Thank you so much for your email to me. I still have to respond to the email, but it really made me feel very seen. I very much appreciate that. I hope you have a good day, everybody. Links mentioned My Kaigi, Saturday, November 14, 2026 Free Captivate Office Hours, Wednesday, November 11, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Captivate (aff) Email me at hello@elsieescobar.com Leave me a voicemail on SpeakPipe Recording notes Recorded on my iPhone 13 mini. Post-production in Auphonic.
#7
Saturday · 10 min
Red Cups and Coffee With My Dad - November 07, 2026
The little holiday red cups are back, and all of a sudden I’m thinking about getting coffee with my dad. I’m sitting in a grocery store parking lot in the North Carolina mountains, in an out-of-control amount of sunshine, and thinking about the little things I wish I’d kept. A quick invitation, too. My Kaigi is November 14. Come spend three hours with me looking back at your year and planting a few seeds for the next one. Use NAPODPOMO for 50% off. ----------------- I’m sitting in the car in the grocery store parking lot. It’s about 9 a.m. There is something so amazing about coming to this grocery store where I live, because it is nestled, literally, in the mountains of North Carolina. My husband always calls it the most beautiful grocery store in the world, because you really, you come in here and you’re just in awe. Not because the grocery store is any different, but because it is just surrounded by beauty. And the beauty that is here right now, with the trees and all the things. It’s a lovely day. So much sunshine. It’s out of control. Oh, so I came in this morning. I walk in, and of course there’s a Starbucks, like, right in the middle of—right when you open the doors, there’s a Starbucks. But y’all, the red cups are back. The little holiday red cups. And I know there’s all of the things, right? There’s all of the things that we know about Starbucks. And you have to understand that I’m a—I really do absolutely adore coffee, especially good coffee. I’m a little bit of a coffee, a little bit of a coffee snob. Although I’m also equally as excited to go get gas station coffee with the little creamer things with the flavors on it, because it’s so few and far between in my house—in my, you know, in my life—that it kind of brings back some memories. Not that I would have it all the time, but it’s like, “Oh yeah, I remember this,” right? It just hits different. But these red cups, it’s that also. And even though I will—especially living where I live, the area that I live is Asheville, North Carolina, and that is the place where local is king. Local is the majesty. Local is the thing you do. In fact, there is probably—I could count, at least I can think of two Starbucks in the city. I’m sure that there’s more, but they are not… It’s a different type of vibe in this town. There are many local, amazing coffee shops in Asheville, by the way. That said, I’m coming back to the red cups because they are extraordinarily meaningful to me. And not because of the coffee itself, but because of the memories of it all. I started to go to Starbucks, I think, or started to be a little bit more aware of going out to get coffee after I left home to go to college, to the university. Obviously, I was gone for the first time, away from my house, and I would always come back for the holidays. And one of the rituals that I used to have was going to get coffee with my dad. Good Lord, I didn’t think I was gonna get so emotional about it. This is where I cried a little. It was my favorite thing. I got a chance to talk with him, and we would catch up. It was like he was talking to me like I was an adult for the very first time. Obviously, I’m always gonna be his little girl. But it was the first time we got to… I don’t know. There are no words to say how special it is for me to go get coffee with my dad. We always went to Starbucks because it was so close to the house where they live. And the red cups always brought that back. And even without red cups, even without red cups, we go to Starbucks and we sit down and we catch up. It’s the memory. It’s the story. It’s the life in those little things that just makes me so happy to remember. So y’all, the red cups are here. And there’s another thing I wish I would’ve done. I wish I’d kept either the red cups or the little hot thing that goes around the red cups. You know, the little whatever it is so that your hands don’t get burnt because the coffee’s so hot? I wish I would’ve kept those. And I know that’s literally trash, but it would’ve been so wonderful for me to look at all the years. They used to be a lot better, by the way. The designs of the red cups used to be everything. I was always floored. Whenever the holiday season stuff from Starbucks would come, I would say even like 20 years ago, between 20 and 25 years ago, their branding for the holidays was on point. It was top-notch in every single way. Even the quality of the cups was different. The way that everything was designed was different. There was a theme that was way bigger than “holiday season,” right? There was something else about those red cups that was so much more beautiful. So I wish I would’ve kept some of those, because some of the designs were just so beautiful. And it’s also a way to, like, there’s an element of proof of life. Which is—I’m actually bringing this back to my planning experience that I’m doing. Seven days, people! Seven days to go for you to join me, and we could do this. There is a planner that’s super hot right now. And of course I was a little early to the party, so I’m already over the hotness of this planner. But it’s called a Hobonichi, and I started using those in 2019. And I think 2021 or ’22—anyway, one of those years, I did this amazing thing where I would put every piece of literal trash in there. Receipts, you know, torn pieces of paper from the things that I used on that day. Obviously, not every day had that in there, but a lot of it did. And keeping those little pieces of “trash” in the journal makes it so special. Now when I look back at it, it has all these pieces in it, and I distinctly know exactly where they came from. It brings me right back to where I was then. It makes me remember that I’ve lived, that I’ve been places, that I’ve experienced things. And it takes the ordinary into this extraordinary, magical package that I now have. And it really has fueled, I think, my capacity to fill an entire year with the work that I do at the end of the year through My Kaigi. Kaigi means “meeting,” and your kaigi is a meeting with yourself. So you’re meeting yourself. You can look back at the year and start to plant the seeds for the next in a way that’s super grounded and organic to living your life. There’s a lot of that that goes into this that isn’t necessarily just strategic planning to be productive, because I hate that stuff. Anywho, thanks for coming along with me on the journey with the red cup, y’all. So again, remember there is a 50% off code for My Kaigi. Come spend three hours with me next Saturday, a week from today. And Danny and I from Captivate (aff) are doing Office Hours on Wednesday. We’re so excited to kind of talk about end-of-year stuff also, because there’s some tooling that I think is underused by a lot of people who happen to use podcasting, and I’m so excited to talk about it. All right, talk back. Email me at hello@elsieescobar.com or leave me a voicemail on SpeakPipe. Links mentioned My Kaigi — November 14, 2026. Use NAPODPOMO for 50% off. Hobonichi Techo Captivate Office Hours — Wednesday, November 11, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Captivate (aff) Email me at hello@elsieescobar.com Leave me a voicemail on SpeakPipe Recording notes Recorded in the car in the grocery store parking lot, around 9 a.m., on my iPhone 13 mini. Processed in Auphonic.
#6
Friday · 12 min
Permission to Do It Your Way - November 06, 2026
I woke up around 2:30 a.m. with that lovely feeling of panic—and I actually went back to sleep. That’s progress, my friends. Today I’m talking about feeling like I haven’t done enough, finding a mission that feels like me, and a voicemail from Jennifer Navarrete about falling in love with podcasting again. A quick invitation, too: My Kaigi is November 14. Come spend some time looking at what you want to do, what you want to let go of, and who you want to be next year. Use NAPODPOMO for 50% off, just for those of you here with the podcast. -------------- This morning—well, actually, maybe it wasn’t even this morning. It must have—well, I guess it was this morning. Probably around 2:30 a.m., something like that. I woke up with that lovely feeling of panic. You know, the one where you wake up and then something, unfinished something in life, crawls into your brain right as you’re supposed to just let go. I started to get a little bit anxious. Yeah, that wasn’t great. It’s because I have so much going on. But there’s just—I mean, it’s wonderful. I really love it. But I do feel like I have balls up in the air, and I just move from one thing to the next, and hopefully I’m gonna be able to push through and get all the stuff done. And then there was a feeling of it wasn’t enough. Like, “I wish I had done more” feeling. And for a moment there, I almost spiraled. Because what I have found out for myself is, if I allow even just one or two extra seconds of that to continue, I won’t be able to go back to sleep, and it will just totally wreck me. So I was able to stop that, take a moment, put my hands on my belly, lay directly on my back, and slowly exhale. And I was actually able to go back to sleep. Not by forgetting, but by putting a pin in it. I will be able to deal with it in the morning. And that is progress, my friends. That’s progress. A lot of progress. I had chosen before—just because I just felt I was always in a fighting space about a year ago. And it was this constant nagging feeling that I wasn’t doing enough, and things simply weren’t going to work out. And I had to continue to feel like I had to… Oh my gosh, it’s very hard to come up with words for this. To justify my value. I think that is it. I felt like I had to justify my value daily in a way that wasn’t healthy at all. And thankfully, I am not in that place anymore. So it was just a moment. I’m just sharing that because I think a lot of us have that. And it has taken a year for my nervous system to not go back to its comfortable route, which was to just get stressed out. Because that’s what it is, right? And I’m just thankful for that. So if you’re going through that, I feel you, and it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be all right. This week, for my mentorship experience—which I have not talked about, which is bizarro—I’m in, right now, week three. Next week is going to be—no, this is week four. Oh my gosh, this is week four. Is it? Yes. It’s week four, okay? We’re talking about mission, vision, and values. And the way that I like to work, about helping folks find that piece of themselves, or, like, find out what their mission statement is, or what their values are, and what their vision is for themselves, isn’t from an outward perspective. And I use this metaphor that just came to me when I was talking about it, because that’s how I feel. I feel this happens all the time when you do exercises to work on your mission statement and things like that: they tend to come from the outside in, where we’re looking for that lovely little statement that’s just going to encapsulate everything that we’re in. I sense, when I see those types of statements in either brands or companies, organizations, that in some cases it feels very—it feels like they’re wearing an outfit that doesn’t fit them. And I’m sure that you have heard this and that you’ve had this happen, where somebody who loves you, or a friend, or somebody who has your best interests at heart, will say something like, “Hey, this shirt would look great on you,” or “This pair of pants,” or “These shoes,” or whatever. And maybe it does. Maybe that piece of clothing really actually does look great on you. But you, wearing it, don’t feel like you. Even if it looks great. Even if you look great. You don’t feel great in it, and you don’t like the way that you look in it. And finding that balance between wearing the clothing that is both lovely on you, that looks great and fits great, and it’s slick and all the things that you like, as well as that you feel good in, you can move in, and you feel like yourself in—it takes a little bit of time. And it mostly takes you. It mostly takes you figuring out what that is. And I think that’s the way that I like to work through things. So I just was sharing that because it’s something that I have top of mind as we were working through some of those mission statements and things like that. And guess what? I got a win this week. Listen, we are—what is this, day six, right?—on 30 days of podcast episodes. Starting this as my audio newsletter, as my—I hope that this is my fulcrum in a lot of different ways, even past November. But I kept saying, listen, if you have something to talk back at me, you can leave me a voicemail. If you head over to SpeakPipe, you can leave me a note. Or you can email me at hello@elsieescobar.com. And guess what? I got a voicemail. So I’m gonna play it for you guys right now. Jennifer Navarrete: Elsie, this is Jennifer Navarrete, and I have to say that listening to your NaPodPoMo podcast is a real joy, because I feel like you’re my spirit animal in the first episode where you were sharing your thoughts and feelings and experience around video. Yep, I feel it. And then when you talked about not hitting record, been there, done that. And I think the one that really kind of touched me the most was the one where you were in the rain, or outside listening to the rain. Of course, we could hear the rain on our side as well. Because the thing that makes NaPodPoMo special to me is that I can podcast just for the pure joy of podcasting. Just for my own pleasure. Just to satisfy my own curiosity. Every November, I fall in love with podcasting again. Truly, I do, just for that. Because, as you know, as someone who works in this industry, it can be a bit much. The whole reason we got into podcasting was for that pure joy, to share our mission and message with the world. So thank you for being part of NaPodPoMo 2026. Yeah, and I’m looking forward to even more grand audio adventures with you. Elsie: I mean, thank you, Jennifer. Jennifer Navarrete, she is the founder, the creator of this incredible 30 days—what is it? National Podcast Post Month, where every day we post an episode. And she is on her 18th year—is it 18th? I hope I’m saying it correct—of doing this. Thank you so much for listening to the show. Thank you so much for all of the things. I mean, I also feel you. [Laughs.] There’s very few of us out here who kind of remember the back-in-the-days of it all, where it really was people picking up a mic and talking. And it was like we were talking to each other through podcasts. There is a lot of really good stuff that’s happening in this space. There’s a lot of creativity and a lot of amazing shows out there that do so many different things for, my gosh, thought leadership and business and entertainment and audio, video, all the things. But what I feel is missing is that just-for-its-own-sake piece of it all, and the power of RSS, and just getting behind the mic and talking without a need to have it be more than it is. There was something so great about that. And I just, I want to get some of that back. So thank you so much, Jennifer, for this, because literally I am feeling way more pumped about going back to my root, what I feel makes me feel great and powerful, and that I can do that. I can do that just by doing it the way that I want to. So permission granted for everybody else who wants to participate. Head over to napodpomo.org for that, okay? Those are my little messages of the day for today. And we have eight more days—ready?—for My Kaigi, which is my planning experience. So if you want to join me for that, I do ask a lot of questions where you get a lot of time to be a little bit introspective about the things that you want to do, the things that you want to let go of, the things that really are the fulcrum of who you want to be for next year. As well as lots of really fun things that are going to trigger lots of lovely memories inside of your brain, which is always very amazing. And thank you, Jennifer, because I did see that she bought a ticket, and I’m super stoked. If you want to use the 50% off ticket, it is NAPODPOMO. The link is in the description. You’re welcome to sign up for that. We are getting ready for that. So, yay, and I hope to hear from more of you today. Links mentioned My Kaigi — November 14, 2026: use NAPODPOMO for 50% off, just for this podcast’s audience. NaPodPoMo — National Podcast Post Month Leave me a voicemail on SpeakPipe Email me: hello@elsieescobar.com Recording notes My audio was recorded with the iPhone 13 mini internal microphone and processed in Auphonic. Jennifer’s voicemail came through SpeakPipe and was also processed in Auphonic.
#5
Thursday · 10 min
Give Me Three Hours - November 05, 2026
What makes you stop listening to a podcast you used to love? I have three questions for people who listen to podcasts but don’t make them. Your answers will help me put together Your 2027 Podcast Plan, a free private podcast coming Thanksgiving week. And a quick invitation: My Kaigi is November 14. Give me three hours to look back at your year and make room for what you want next. NAPODPOMO gets you 50% off, just for those of you here with the podcast. Also, I managed to do the very thing every podcaster dreads: I didn’t record. 🙈 ----------------- Guess what just happened? Guess what just happened? Because this is, like, the thing. This is the thing that most podcasters—it’s like people’s worst nightmare, for those of us who record, not for a living necessarily, but as part of our life in some way, shape, or form. Can you hear me? Can you hear me screaming internally? I forgot to press record. Or I pressed record and it didn’t press, or it didn’t tap through. You know, I think we have all been there. I just did that. I just did that. Oh my gosh. I’m just glad that these little episodes are short-ish, and so I don’t have to worry too much about going to figure it out and continuing talking and losing my mind. Here we go. Guess what, y’all? We only have nine more days until my planning experience, My Kaigi, and I would adore for you to attend. And because you are a consumer of this podcast, you get a 50% off coupon code that’s in the show notes. The code itself is NAPODPOMO. Okay? It is NAPODPOMO, and that gets you 50% off. And it’s only available for those of you who are consuming this content, by the way. And I get it, y’all. Listen, you are spending three hours with me. Okay? Three hours with me. And I know that that’s a long time. I totally get it. But I promise you, grabbing three hours for you to finish the year in a way that feels good for you, and knowing that you can begin 2027 from a place of, “This is good. I’m in a good space.” Not necessarily because everything is good and everything is perfect, but because you’ve spent time diving into your stuff, looking at all the things. And this is open for everybody. So this isn’t, like, for podcasters or for creators. This is for all the people, whatever it is. People who have job jobs. People who don’t have job jobs. People who happen to be staying at home with their kiddies—or kiddies as in, like, actual humans. Or this is for people who are just starting out and, you know, getting a job for the very first time and living alone for the very first time, as in, like, a young adult or something like that. So it’s like, this is a great time for you to kind of sit back and look at what’s going on with you. And I promise you, it’ll be great. And the reason I started all of this is because every year I felt that life was getting away from me. I always ended up with a sense of unfinishedness. Unfinished—is that even a word? Where I had plans in my head. Nothing ever happened. It was just a dream inside of my head, because then life got in the way. Things got in the way. I couldn’t actually do them. And then the new year started, and before I knew it, I blinked and it was March. And I don’t wanna live in that world. I don’t wanna live in a world where I don’t have an opportunity to look back at my life and see that I’m alive, and that I have done things, and that I have impact, and that I have the agency to be able to steer myself in the direction that I want. That is what My Kaigi is all about. So if you have—give me three. Give me three hours. November 14. Give me three hours. Let’s spend some time together, and let’s do it. I mean, come. That’ll be so great. Do that. That would be awesome. Anyway, all links are in the show notes. And the code, NAPODPOMO, 50% off just for you all who are here. I’m also in the process of getting another project together. Maybe, maybe you don’t wanna do that—although I am telling you that I really want you to attend—but I’m working on another project, and it’s called Your 2027 Podcast Plan. Now, yes, this is for people who have a podcast, so that is a little bit more specific. And my goal is to be able to have information in that podcast that is both helpful to people who are just starting a podcast and also for people who have been podcasting for a while. Because, again, I feel that whenever, you know, the podcasting thing starts to happen, you get onto some momentum, you get into your production, you keep doing things, and you lose track of what your goals were in the first place. You don’t know if what you’re doing is enough. You think that there’s maybe another solution to the problem that you have, or maybe that you are the only one that’s going through the problem that you’re putting out there. And I’ve broken it down into five different episodes in there, where I hope to get some really great, insightful things that you can work through on your own at the end of the year. And what’s really great is that these podcast episodes are meant to go live on the week of Thanksgiving. And they’re not something that you’re gonna have to be showing up for. They’re something you have in your ears and that you’re able to listen to wherever you are. And it’s in that sort of asynchronous processing of this that I’m hoping that you’ll get a lot of benefit from it. So even if it’s by just—I don’t even know if this is the right word—by osmosis, I guess? Just by hanging out with the words that are being spoken to you in your ears, you’d get a lot of benefit. And again, the links for that will be in the show notes. That is free, by the way. But I am looking for feedback. I am looking for feedback from people who are podcast consumers but aren’t podcasters. So they are not producing their own stuff. I want people who listen to podcasts only. Maybe there’s one of you who is consuming this piece of content right now, where you’re literally just listening to my voice and you’re not a podcaster. Which, hey, I’m just thinking through this, but I do have a few questions for you, and I’m gonna share them with you in case you are here listening. So these are the questions that I’d love for you to answer, either one of them or all three: What made you stop listening to a show you used to enjoy? When a show changes its host, format, or release schedule, what helps you stick around? What do you wish podcast creators understood about why you listen or why you consume their content? And it is so easy. You can write me an email, literally, at hello@elsieescobar.com, or you can head over to SpeakPipe, and you can leave me up to 90 seconds of your voice telling me—answering one of these questions, or more of them if you want to record all three. But you probably have to do one at a time. I would love that. And if I want to feature your voice in one of the podcast episodes, I will, of course, ask for consent. And, of course, you’re able to say, like, “Oh, no, thank you.” My hope is to be able to share the insights just anonymously overall. You know, “podcast listeners,” that kind of a thing, right? So that—because this podcast that I’m sharing, the private podcast that I’m creating, is aimed at podcasters—this is sort of like a way for us to get some information from the audience over to podcasters. Because a lot of the time, that is probably one of the biggest pain points that a lot of us that create content online, especially podcasts, sometimes don’t get, is feedback. Direct feedback on what we’re doing. Because it’s so asynchronous. It’s such an embedded part of somebody’s life, and a lot of the time the audience is living their life and not sitting in front of a computer sending emails and things, right? So it would be really great if, for whatever reason, you decided to. All links are gonna be in the show notes as well. So thank you so much, and I would love to hear from you. And I’m headed back to putting my head down and thinking through more things. Chat with you tomorrow. Links mentioned My Kaigi — November 14, 2026: three-hour planning experience, open to everyone. NAPODPOMO gets you 50% off, just for this podcast’s audience. Your 2027 Podcast Plan: free private podcast; five episodes planned for Thanksgiving week. Leave Elsie a voice message on SpeakPipe: answer one or more of the three listener questions above. Email Elsie: hello@elsieescobar.com Recording notes The first recording attempt didn’t capture: I either forgot to press record or the tap didn’t register. Recorded using the iPhone 13 internal microphone and Just Press Record; processed through Auphonic.
#4
Wednesday · 9 min
Recording in the Rain Because I Want To - November 04, 2026
Making a choice, making a choice, making a choice to record outside today. And it’s raining. I’m just looking at all of the things outside, and I decided to come outside and record because I just wanted to. I wanted to record somewhere that wasn’t inside and use the energy that I have, right? To share outside. I’ve been feeling an extraordinary amount of delight about recording. Mind you, in this challenge I’m doing right now, which is called NaPodPoMo—National Podcast Post Month—you’re supposed to post something a day, every day, right? For many years before, I’ve known about it, and I just simply haven’t had the capacity to do it, I guess. I wasn’t willing to commit. And plus, I was in the middle of doing a bunch of other things. Now, looking back, some pretty big things happened last year in November to uproot my world, which maybe we’ll get into, because it did all happen. It all went down in November. During that time—October primarily, October and November last year—those were probably the worst times I’ve had in a long time. It was almost as bad—well, I can’t say almost as bad. This was actually worse. That’s what I wanted to say. This was worse than when I was in L.A. and I broke up with acting, and then I also broke up with my ex at that time. That was pretty traumatic, but that was a different type of thing. Anyway, I always say that about a year ago, I really didn’t know if I wanted to be in podcasting. I didn’t know if the podcasting industry was where I wanted to be. I felt caged. Literally caged and muffled. I felt like I could not. Now, looking back, this is what it really was about: I wasn’t being me. I wasn’t being myself. I felt like I was wearing all kinds of clothes that didn’t fit me and presenting something that I wasn’t every day. Not necessarily how I participated within the podcasting industry. My work, front-facing for the podcasting industry, has always remained very much the same. But my everyday existence, my waking up in the morning, my going into my job at the time, my spending my time and attention at that job, was slowly killing me. Literally. Yeah, it kind of really sucked. I really didn’t feel like I wanted to continue podcasting or be in the industry at all. I was so jaded, frustrated, depressed. What is the word when you look around and you can roll your eyes at everything? Like, it was not even real. I know there’s a word. It’s not quite jaded, but it’s around that, right? It’s kind of the same type of vibe. And a year later, I’m sitting out here in the rain because I wanted to record. I wanted to use my voice. I wanted to tell a story. I wanted to send it out via RSS feed. I wanted to. I want to. I want to create this. It’s because I’m finding, again, the magic that is creating audio and distributing via RSS feeds. Just putting it out for its own sake. Not for any strategy. Not because I want to be an expert in the space. Not because I want to create a marketing funnel. Not because of any of those things. It’s because the act of doing this is bringing me joy, and it’s making me happy. The frustration I’m feeling with the creator space overall is based on the fact that we don’t really have agency over our mode of distribution, right? If I want to distribute content or say something random, like I’m saying right now—because this is just random—and I want to put it out into a social media feed, basically any of the social media platforms out there, things have changed. It used to be me putting something out, someone else reading what I say or just randomly finding it, following me wherever or subscribing to my thing, and then wanting to continue following the person and paying attention to what they’re saying. Then developing a relationship. You comment on my stuff. I comment on your stuff. I get to see what you’re working on. You get to see what I’m working on. That is not really there anymore. It has been hijacked by what other people think you are interested in doing. And no. I’m going back to the mode of distribution via RSS feed. Via the simple way of taking my thoughts and sharing them with you, the handful of people who may ever listen to this. It just feels like such a much richer expression. Even if nobody consumes the content, the joy I’m having being able to create randomly and not have to think about anything else… I’m outside, and it’s raining. I hope that it sounds like it’s raining, and I hope that it sounds like there are cars outside. It’s just giving me a lot of joy. That’s really it. You can touch base with me, if you would like, by emailing hello@elsieescobar.com. And if you want to hang out with me next week, on Wednesday, November 11, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, I’m going to be doing Office Hours for the Captivate (aff) hosting platform. We’re going to be chatting about new things in there, and we’re getting all kinds of questions again about how to start podcasting, which is—yeah. Oh my! The cutest little lizard was just on top of a cement block, and he’s getting all wet. Why is he there? I hope he’s alive. Oh, yes. Recording notes Recorded directly into the iPhone 13 mini using the Just Press Record app No post-production on the audio One tiny edit to remove a cough Links mentioned Captivate Office Hours — Wednesday, November 11, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Captivate (aff) NaPodPoMo — National Podcast Post Month Email Elsie: hello@elsieescobar.com
#3
November 3 · 17 min
You Can Talk Back, You Know - November 03, 2026
You know what I just realized? I haven’t shared how you can talk back at me. All right, so if you have anything to say, if you have any feedback, if you have a comment, if you just want to talk back at something I said, or whatever—questions—you can email hello@elsieescobar.com. And if you want to leave me voice feedback, you can use SpeakPipe. I’m not sure how many of y’all know about SpeakPipe. You can leave voicemails, basically, online. There are little widgets you can put on your website and all that stuff. A little while ago, it was really one of the only ways you could get voice feedback back to podcasts. I started using this tool, goodness gracious, a long time ago, and it’s still there. You can pay for Pro, but there’s a free version. Actually, I’m going to have y’all check this out. Head over to speakpipe.com/elsie. So, E-L-S-I-E. I’m not going to update anything on that page right now, because that’s the point here, y’all. You are going to see a little avatar of an image I took—I cannot even remember how long ago. It must have been like 2010? Gosh. I really liked this microphone from Blue Microphones, the maker of the Blue Yeti, okay? They made this microphone called the Nessie, like the Loch Ness Monster. I bought that microphone strictly because of the way it looked. That literally was it. It had a really cool design. It’s one of those mics that, if you saw it, you immediately would think, “What in the heck? What is this?” It was so cool. The design of the thing is so cool. I love things that are different, and I tend to gravitate toward using things that really stand out or are unusual for a variety of different reasons. So I bought this microphone because of what it looked like, and it really was not very good at all. At all. It was a desk microphone that had a little thing underneath it—I’m saying felt, but I don’t think it was felt. It had a base and then a big long stem, and the actual microphone capsule on the top was round. Very reminiscent of round microphones from the 1950s and things like that. It was very cool. Anyway, it had a really cool shape. If you had it on a desk, it looked great, but it wasn’t so good when you were trying to record in a noisy environment. I believe it might have been a—no, it wasn’t a dynamic microphone. I’d have to do some research. But anyway, it was so cool. I really loved that mic. The image on my SpeakPipe page is this old-school image of mine that I made. I had these hashtags on there: #iPodcast, with an “i” at the front, and #PodcastLover. Then it’s got my old @—I guess, I don’t know what you call it, moniker? Right now, I’ve been going with @theelsieescobar for such a long time, but this was @yogeek. And my biography, or my little intro thing there, says: “New media strategist, dynamic living specialist, podcaster, yoga mentor, Mac girl, full-time mama. Creating brilliant media solutions for remarkable people.” Oh man, I love her. She was so sparkly. What happened? No, anyway, that’s how you can contact me. You can leave me a message. And hey, listen, if I start to get super fancy, I might just put together an episode and have voice feedback in it as well. That’s it. I’m trying to keep it low-key. I’m trying to keep it super simple. Although I do feel I’m going to be doing some post-production on this one because I forgot that my washer is in the background, and it’s making noise. I think ambient noise when you’re outside and you hear cars and wind and things—I think that’s additive. But when you have random laundry in the background, it doesn’t sound so good. So yeah. But it has been a day. It has been a very exhausting day. I had a very full weekend. I had a doctor’s appointment for my kid yesterday, early, and I just needed to get her done with that. Obviously, that takes up a lot of time. Came home and had to finish some things, and I feel that I’m now just feeling incredibly exhausted. There is so much. I have so much going on that I don’t even know. How did we arrive? How did we arrive at this particular part? And my deep and ongoing frustration with the fact that social media and marketing channels are just—I have no words. Maybe that’s going to be a conversation for another day. I would like to share with y’all what I’m doing this week, so that in case you’re interested in hanging out in any and all of these different ways, you’re welcome. You’re welcome to do it. The first thing I’m going to share is that I am recording In & Around Podcasting tomorrow morning, so I’m preparing for that. I have to get our show notes together so that we have, obviously, a run of show of some kind. I’m getting that together, and that episode is going to go live next week. Let’s see, what is the date? November 10. Yeah. So take a look at that feed. Also, next week I am doing Office Hours for Captivate, and we have just released the coolest way to run dynamic audio campaigns. I’m trying to change my language and not call it dynamic ad insertion technology, or DAI, but dynamic audio insertion. What’s the coolest thing about running the campaigns—at least, I really don’t know how DAI works in a lot of other podcast hosting platforms to this depth—is that you can basically run your own promotions and use it for dynamic content updates to your content. Which is so cool. We just had these updates for being able to geotarget messaging in your files. Let’s say we’re having a meetup in a very specific part of the world—in the United States, because at this time it is U.S. only. Literally down to a city. You can run an ad just for the people who are listening from that specific place, which is so cool. The geotargeting has just been released, and there are all kinds of other really fun things. We’re going to talk about that kind of stuff, as well as monetization things that people always want to know about, and other really fun things in preparation for 2027. I was thinking about how to help podcasters know how to run their own end-of-year promotional campaigns, as well as beginning-of-the-year promotional campaigns, so that you can use this technology. It’s going to make things so much easier. As well as dynamic show notes. Those are my favorite. Anyway, I don’t want to keep talking about that because I’m going to get so excited. I have those two things I’m preparing for, and I’m also creating episodes for yet another podcast for Captivate (aff). This one is called Your 2027 Podcast Plan. I am developing these five episodes right now. I’m in the development phase, people. It’s going to come sooner than I’m ready for, and I’m going to be scrambling. I don’t want that to happen, so I’ve got to get that done. But other things are getting in the way. It’s a private podcast. The reason I wanted a private podcast is because I want to get to know the people who are consuming this content. I feel higher-touch relationships with people are just vital nowadays because we are living in a sea of ongoing stuff. Maintaining relationships and maintaining those touchpoints in a way that’s meaningful—I’m just so focused on that right now. Let me tell you a story. I just published this private podcast with a trailer attached, right? It’s very simple. It’s a super teeny-tiny little trailer. There haven’t been very many people who have subscribed. Mind you, I haven’t been promoting it almost at all. There’s a handful-ish. I think now we have more than 10 people who have subscribed to get this podcast. In the trailer, I say, “Email me,” and then I give out an email address for feedback. And I had somebody do that! I mean, isn’t that the coolest thing? I had somebody email me already. If you think about percentage rates or conversion rates for a podcast, let’s say one out of every 10 people takes action on a private podcast. I think those are some pretty good odds right there. Anyway, shout-out, John, for sending this email. It was so cool. He created a private Vimeo video giving the Captivate team some feedback on some transcription stuff. He was so great and so sweet and so kind and so focused on why he would want to do it this way. He had screenshots and everything. I just love that. I love that so much. So I sent him a very excited, excited email. Then he asked me if I’m going to be talking about some best practices for sponsorship and stuff like that. Very interesting. I love it. Any kind of communication like that, I think, is so vital for all of us. I’ve already—goodness gracious, I’ve been talking so much. Oh, and I’ll give you a really quick update. I did get the video that I was complaining about in the last episode on YouTube. I know I was very frustrated by the whole thing. I spent the majority of the evening yesterday working on videos and publishing the video everywhere, and it’s exhausting. Let me tell you what that got me. In fact, you know what? Because we’re here, let me disclose. I used a very specific link because I wanted to make sure I could see the results. I spent the entire day—or not the entire day. The entire afternoon getting this stuff in there, right? For this link that I shared, as of yesterday, I got 18 click-throughs. I shared it on YouTube, Threads, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Five places that I shared all of that, and I got 18 clicks, which wasn’t very much. I do not believe I got any conversions off of it, which was really to promote Your Kaigi, my planning opportunity. So I just wanted to share the results of that. Mind you, it is a long video because I am not going to sit here and start editing and being all fancy and cute with all the harsh editing and stuff like that. Let’s get back to just being chill about stuff, you know? Like, down to earth. That’s what I want. Down to earth. Real. The end. Recording notes Recorded with the iPhone 13 mini’s built-in microphone using the Just Press Record app Processed using Auphonic No editing outside of that. Live to tape and published! For the real ones 💛 Use code NAPODPOMO for 50% off Your Kaigi. This code is only available here in the show notes. If you’re signing up with it, I know you’re a REAL ONE. Links mentioned Email Elsie: hello@elsieescobar.com Leave Elsie a voice message on SpeakPipe SpeakPipe Blue Nessie microphone — photos and original announcement via Sweetwater In & Around Podcasting Captivate Office Hours: November Captivate (aff) Your Kaigi — November 14 planning session
#2
November 2 · 11 min
All This Just to Record a Video - November 02, 2026
Truly, doing video is such a pain in my behind. So here you have me sitting outside, right? I was like, “I need to make a little promotional video.” I have this event, My Kaigi. It’s my signature planning event that I do at the end of every year, and I am very behind on promoting this thing. In fact, it’s actually one of the reasons I’m doing this NaPodPoMo situation here: just to get my butt promoting actively and to make sure I’m getting the word out about the stuff I’m doing. Because I suck at it. Especially with social being what it is. It used to be one of the key channels I used because people used to actually see what I posted. But alas, that’s not happening anymore, so you have to be a little bit more tactical about what you do. All that to say: okay, I’m going to make a video. I kind of wanted to do a little bit longer video. I wasn’t going to craft a script and script out a 60-second short. I wanted to just record the whole thing. I don’t even know how long it ended up being. But alas, you’ve got me trying to figure out where the heck I’m going to sit. Where am I going to frame this video? I didn’t want to do just a talking head. I wanted to sit. I wanted to frame a shot. Okay, but I don’t even know how to frame the shot because I can’t see. The little tripod stand situation where I put the phone covers the majority of the screen, so I can’t actually see the frame of the shot. That’s step one. Thing one. Then I don’t know if you can actually see me because I’m not sitting in the chair I wanted to sit in. I can’t see what I look like, so I had my kid come and sit in the chair for me because she’s about my size. I’m like, “Okay, I got the frame. All right, great. Let’s go ahead and record.” I start to take my first microphone out, a little sort of lavalier mic that I have. I forgot to charge it, so it was discharged. I’m trying to plug it into the phone, and it wasn’t working, and blah, blah, blah, blah. Then I got really frustrated because it was supposed to be just really quickly coming out here, like I’m recording right now. You know how easy it was for me to start recording this thing with the mic? It was so easy. So easy. Just press record. That’s literally what I’m doing. Anyway, I attempted to just press record. Didn’t work. The microphone was uncharged, so I had to go plug that sucker in. Then I had to go find another mic, which is the one I’m using right now. It’s a really lovely little mic. I think it’s the MV… I’m using the MoveMic? The 88? It doesn’t have a plus on it. I’m not quite sure exactly what the thing is, but anyway, I will have a link so you can see what I’m using. Microphone clarification: it’s the Shure MoveMic 88+. So I sat down. My kid, I framed it, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. While I’m trying to figure out the microphone of it all, I had to take the phone off the tripod thing. I took it off to plug the new microphone in, as well as make sure I could actually tap the button to start recording. Because I couldn’t see it. The backing of the little tripod thing I’m using is really thick, so I couldn’t see the actual record button. It was covered. Again, let me be clear. Actually, I don’t think I was clear. I don’t think you guys know this, but I only have an iPhone 13 mini, okay? The screen of this thing is very small, so the little tripod holder thing covered basically over a third of the screen. If you move it right to the middle, it squishes the volume button and the power button on the sides. So you have to scoot it to the side. And then, when you scoot it to the side, that covers the big giant recording button. Anyway, this is now taking way, way too long, and it’s frustrating me more and more and more. I’m just getting angry with video now. Okay, finally, I put the thing in. I see that the microphone is chosen. I go ahead and press record for the video. I thought I had it framed, and it recorded all right, but it cut off the bottom part of the screen. So the frame is just pitiful. It’s so annoying. You know when you go into a Zoom call or a Google Meet, whatever, one of those remote calls, and you see somebody and they can’t frame themselves? You always go, “All you have to do is move the camera a little bit lower so you’re framed better.” We’ve all—I’m sure especially all of you listening—at some point gone, “Come on, person. All you have to do is bring that thing down a little bit. It can’t be that hard. You cannot be looking at this going, ‘Oh, that looks great.’” No. No. Okay, that’s how I feel. All I needed to do was bring it down just a little bit. But guess what? I am not going to re-record. I am not. I’m not going to re-record because I already recorded, and it was spontaneous. It was improvised, or organic, I guess, instead of following a script. So yeah, I’m just frustrated. I’m frustrated. Any noises you hear in the background: I am sitting underneath a metal canopy for the car, like a carport, outside. There are some occasional booms and things you might hear in this recording. That is due to the heat hitting the top of the metal situation. There are also car sounds you might hear coming in and out, and there might be an airplane. There’s an airplane. Again, more than likely, this will not be edited. I am here to record and press go and publish, I guess. What am I going to do? I don’t even know where I’m going to upload this video, in all honesty. Now I’m thinking about what the promotion for this is going to be. Do I upload it on every single platform that’s out there? Put it up on YouTube and Instagram, right, and LinkedIn, and just make it a video? Because this is literally a promotion for an event that’s happening, I believe, not this weekend but the weekend after that. Which I couldn’t even mention in the video because I completely forgot the date of my own event. It’s the 14th. November 14. Oh my God. Again, there will be a link in the show notes if you just look down. If you’re interested in coming to do a planning session with me at My Kaigi, it’s really great, you guys. It really, really, really, really, really is. And I’ve been really bad at promoting this. If you’re interested in that, there will also be links for where to buy this because it is a paid situation, y’all. Mama’s gonna… Mama is… I need to make money, okay? I do not work for free. I’ve done that, and right now my family needs cash. We need money in the bank. So yeah, y’all, this is a, “Hey, listen, if you don’t even attend, it doesn’t matter. Just buy the thing.” I need to be better at promoting, so I’m promoting right now, after my complaining about how annoying it is to do these video things. I just get so frustrated. I really get frustrated. It’s not fun, and it takes so much longer than if I could just put the microphone into the thing and just press record, which is the best thing ever. So here we go, loves. Chat with y’all later. For the real ones 💛 Use code NAPODPOMO for 50% off My Kaigi. This code is only available here in the show notes. If you’re signing up with it, I know you’re a REAL ONE, cause, you're reading all the way down here! Links mentioned My Kaigi — planning session on November 14 Shure MoveMic 88+ microphone NaPodPoMo — National Podcast Post Month
#1
November 1 · 10 min
A Little Walk, a Little Lightness - November 01, 2026
It’s November 1, 2026, and I am currently taking a little walk outside. I believe this place is called Biltmore Village. Unedited Recorded with the iPhone 13 mini’s internal microphone Recorded in the Just Press Record app My husband and I just spent the night at a hotel because our kids—well, we all went trick-or-treating last night. Yesterday was Halloween, and they went trick-or-treating with their friends. We got together with lovely families, lovely families, and had a fabulous time. And then, God bless them, one of the kids’ parents had them over to spend the night at their house. We live a little bit far away from in town, Asheville, North Carolina. We couldn’t just leave the kids and drive all the way home, which is around an hour, so we decided to stay at a hotel while the kids were there. Which was amazing. Mind you, our children at this time are 15 and 18, and their little friends—their friends are right around the same age. They’re just so cute and so lovely, and we felt very comfortable doing something like that. After we went to pick up the kids, we came to work out at the Y. I say “we” because Daddy is the one who really wanted to get a workout in. Both my kids are currently at the YMCA doing steps, walking on the inside track. I came outside because it is just stunning. Like, absolutely stunning out here right now. It is about 55 degrees. The trees have already changed colors, and they’re already losing so many of their leaves. I would say probably by the end of this week, we’ll have naked trees everywhere. It’s still that beautiful vibe. It’s cloudy, and it’s rained. It’s not raining, but it’s rained. Oh my goodness, it is just absolutely delightful, and I am thrilled. My child is requesting access to an app. That’s going to have to wait until I’m done recording. A pause here, just because I wanted to make sure that I was actually recording. So, it’s absolutely gorgeous. I love it, and I’m feeling very grateful. I decided to participate in—I believe it’s called NaPodPoMo. I always get the name wrong, so I’m going to do my very best to get the name right and get behind my voice every day for the month of November. Because I miss the power of simply recording and putting something out. I miss the power of sharing everyday moments. I miss the community. Around 20 years ago, there were a lot of storytellers. And when I say “storytellers,” how would I say it? I don’t even know how to describe it. There were a lot of people just turning on a mic and sharing what was going on. It was like an audio blog, I guess, but everybody was sharing audio blogs. That is an airplane above me. I’m just using the internal microphone for my iPhone 13 mini. I’m not using any external microphones outside of the one that’s built into the phone, so you can probably hear noises around me. Anyway, I miss that. I want to participate in this way: to tell stories, to share my life, my thoughts, things that are going on, and possibly even occasionally add other work that I’m doing at the same time. I will be talking a little bit more about NaPodPoMo and Jennifer Navarrete, who is the person who started doing this way back. Way back, y’all. I don’t think I’ve ever participated in this specific experience for this month. I did participate in this experience for video around 2008, 2009, and I think 2010. I did a little snippet of video, like a minute-ish of video a day, in the month of November for those three years. It was such a lovely experience, but I’ve never done a full 30 days with audio. So this is what I’m doing, and I’ll be sharing. I hope that you guys will listen. If not, that’s okay, because I’m also doing this for myself, so that I can go back to just the basics, right? To capturing that audio and letting you know where I am. By the way, I’m outside walking, and going back to the feeling of gratefulness—holy crap. I have that feeling of lightness again that has been missing for such a long time. Really tuning back into just being in my body, being present. I guess it really is a feeling of thankfulness, of being so grateful to be alive and to have the blessings that I’ve had and the privilege. As much as the world and my life are, for sure, financially difficult and unstable and, yeah, absolutely stressful in so many different ways, there is a level of internal freedom. The wealth within, of love and support and people I love, and seeing beautiful relationships and wise human beings and actions, is vibrant and alive, even within the darkness and the chaos. I just want to take every moment to be thankful for that. So I hope you come back and hear what’s going on, and we’ll see what kind of stories we get into in the month of November 2026.

Showing 1–9 of 9 episodes