If you know anything about me, you know that I have felt awkward for most of my life. I still do to be honest. For so long I felt like I was born without life’s operating instructions, like I was missing the manual or something. 

But as I grew up, I realized that, you know what, most people felt like me, too, at least at some point in their life, maybe not now. But when I was younger, oh my goodness, I thought I was the only one.

I think that’s why I’ve always loved to hear other people’s stories. The people, the experiences, the books, the art, the teachings that made them who they are today. 

How did they become who they are? 

Step into the living room with me as I navigate life and continue to learn all I can about being human.

Into the Living: Behind-the-Scenes of a Lifelong Learner is an accumulation of it all and I am so excited to share this journey with you all.

I initially started this audio project 11 years ago. At that time, it was called, The Firebelly Chronicles. It was a video podcast where I interviewed people like author Julia Cameron (The Artist's Way) and owner and founder, Dave Dahl (Dave's Killer Bread). I had always admired people (and still do) who had a fire in their belly and the courage to bring that fire to life. 🔥

After my son was born, The Firebelly Chronicles evolved into Winging It. And as I reflect on the creative decision to evolve the project into Winging It it makes sense.

When Winging It launched, I was a new mom, working full-time, and interested in exploring my own life and ability to create within my new reality, in a whole new way.

Winging It became an audio diary podcast and gained a following very quickly, which I was excited about. I loved producing Winging It because it allowed me the opportunity to dig deeper into who I was, where I was, and who I was becoming.

So, it makes sense that now, Winging It, is evolving into its next stage—a stage where I explore everything I have learned and continue to learn, as I step into living life in a whole new way once again. 

Into the Living Room: Behind-the-Scenes of a Lifelong Learner is an up-close and personal look at my life—what I've discovered along the way and what I am still learning. 

I enlist the support of experts out in the field, as well as those personally close to me in my life, and like Winging It, I include an audio diary of my own life.

I explore my questions and issues, and the questions and issues of others, but most of all, I search for the core of it all, the bottom of the barrel, the secrets of life, that I have been obsessed with for so long.

Looking back on all the projects I have created, I recognize that I have never stopped searching.

Into the Living: Behind-the-Scenes of a Lifelong Learner is an accumulation of it all. At its very core, my intention is for this to be something you can turn on when you need to be inspired, energized, and reminded of who you are.

Welcome to Into the Living Room: Behind-the-Scenes of a Lifelong Learner!

Ready or not, here I am. In part two of our Winging It: Midlife series, I dive into learning to be okay with putting myself and my new projects out into the world. 

When I started Winging It back in 2015, my son Blaze was just two years old. At that time, I wanted to document becoming a parent while working full-time, all while attempting to do all the things. Since launching the podcast almost five years ago, a lot has happened, and I’ve figured some things out. 

Today, I’m excited to share a new 5-part series I’ve created within my podcast. This new series is called: Winging It | Midlife.

Follow along with me as I explore life after leaving my full-time job and starting a business of my own. 

In the second part of our deep dive into dream-making, I sit down with Dan Pilver who is one of the founders and owners of Magic Number. If you’re not familiar with Dan’s company, Magic Number creates craft-brewed, cannabis-infused beverages—which are all handmade in Bend, Oregon. Dan is someone who started his company while at the same time working a full-time job. I'm continually inspired by individuals like Dan because people like Dan are examples of creators and business owners who ultimately find the way, the time, and the drive to turn their dream into their reality. 

I believe we all have dreams within us that wish to be birthed. Dreams that are tapping their feet annoyed, exclaiming, “I’m waiting. What’s the hold-up? Hey you, do you not see me over here?” Sometimes we use excuses like, “I don’t have enough time” or “I’m too busy” or “I don’t have the financial resources to make it happen” — excuses that only postpone our dreams from becoming our reality.

Shannon, founder of Shannon Lee Strategy, and my guest on this podcast episode, knows firsthand how to turn a dream into a reality. After years of doing marketing for other businesses, Shannon started her own company. “YOU DO YOU,” Shannon says, and the rest is history.

In this first part of our look at turning our dreams into our reality, Shannon kicks us off with how she made the leap from her nine to five, what ultimately inspired her, and how she keeps her mindset in check (It’s so good!).

In this episode, we re-visit what exactly Winging It means. Winging It is about preparing your heart-out and putting your full self out there. Then, it’s about surrendering it all. It’s about giving your all, and then, letting it all go. It’s about working your hardest, and then leaving the rest up to the universe, to God, to the cosmos, to nature—to whatever you may believe in.

Winging It is about living your life full-out even when you don’t have all the answers, or know exactly what you are doing. It means having faith—that whatever happens after you work extremely hard—is what is suppose to happen to bring you to the next evolution of who you truly are.

Beneath all the labels and stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, is where I believe, we will find who we truly really are—and this is where we will find true happiness.

To me, a straitjacket is a great metaphor that represents human beings living beneath (and absorbed in) their labels, stories, and the accompanying pressures, expectations, and beliefs that are associated with the labels and stories we attach ourselves to throughout our lives.

Since discovering this metaphor, I find myself constantly challenging myself with how I define myself—what labels and stories I use when I show up with each day. 

Throughout my life, I've realized that my biggest teacher and companion in life has been death. It's when I ponder my own mortality, that I am most able to gain perspective, wisdom, and inspiration to live more open, more fully, and more alive. I reflect on death, and ask Johnny about death as well, in this latest Winging It episode.