And for me, the initial purpose of the podcast, a creative outlet, passion project, consistent hobby that was pandemic friendly, was exactly what I needed at a time when the world was heavy. Wonderful conversations that felt like coffee with a friend who give purpose to my day and energy to my soul. I learned so much from each guest and their stories that helped lift me out of the meh of give me a sense of motion. Like reading a good book, each interview gave me a feeling of personal growth via their lessons learned. I am forever thankful for each of you.

Back to it being my birthday… 

My husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday. We are still unpacking, renovating our fixer upper, creating a new home and balancing kids with all of it. What do I want for my birthday… TIME.

From my husband, I asked that he take the lead with the kids so I can have some guilt-free free time to get a haircut, go shopping and maybe stop by a café. All by myself with no fixed agenda. Doesn’t that sound lovely. 

But the gift of time got me thinking. Thinking about something that has been on my mind for months. Especially with the end of my maternity leave coming and a return to full time work in August. Not just that, and here is where I tie it back to podcasting through a pandemic, life is full again. We have kid’s birthdays, friends visiting, travel plans, swim lessons; commitments and commutes are back. Not only that, naps are gone (gasp). The value of time is changing – supply and demand don’t ya know. 

And so, here’s where it all comes together…

For my birthday, I’m giving myself time by taking a break from the podcast.

I have been producing this podcast, 100% on my own for over 2 years. Interviews, editing, graphics, website, recruiting, communication, etc. All Me. And as Laura Tremaine said in our interview about the end of her very successful podcast (episode 70), podcasting is always on my mind – it’s so much more than the hours I sit at my laptop. Enter long tangent about the pain of social media.

So, by taking a break, I can open up my calendar and my mind to other things for a while. And to be clear, this is not to say the show is ending or that I am leaving podcasting. I just need a long break with an undefined return and I need this episode to acknowledge that a return to Balancing Stories will likely look different than the weekly interviews you’ve heard for the last 2 years.

I want to leave in a way that makes it easy for me to return because I do love podcasting. I just need some time, time to simply be and focus on other things in life, time to build things into my everyday life that I’ve taken from my guests’ stories, and time to consider what this space can be in the future.