This episode of The Unobstructed Podcast is about rediscovering joy.

It's a topic that friend of the pod, Caleb Walker, brought up recently. Specifically, he’s seeing an uptick in a trend called “kidulting,” where people are returning to hobbies they loved and found joy in as kids, but that they’ve left behind in adulthood.

We both come from a background in marketing where, by day, we’re forced to be very digitally integrated. Likely as a result of that, we’ve been trying to find ways of distancing ourselves from an “always on” vibe when not working. Frankly, it’s hard. It’s also become impossible to ignore the growing connectivity-fatigue that’s showing up, online of all places. So, at least we know we’re not the only ones wrestling with it?

The part of our conversation I loved most was talking about how social media skews self-worth. It took a very different turn from the somewhat normally discussed side-effects of comparison culture. Instead, we dug deeper into what we’re seeing this pattern do to the ways we look for affirmation (online and in real life).

Caleb surprised me with a few of the ways he’s making space for analog and low-tech joy. Music and mountain biking, I’d expected; but some of the other things he’s getting into got my own wheels turning on how I can tap back into joy beyond digital.

We talk about all of this and more in the episode.

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The Unobstructed Podcast: Listen in on big thoughts and small steps for navigating agency, grief, and creativity in daily life. New episodes every month.

About the hosts:

Derek MacDonald — Editorial leader sharing the small, but meaningful, moments of daily life. Started Unobstructed after a 15+ year journey in marketing, outdoor education, and leadership development.

Rachael Sink — owner and business consultant at Rachael's Ink, LLC, a HubSpot Gold Solutions Partner agency.

Visit Derek’s website: derekmacdonald.com

Visit Rachael’s website: rachaelsink.com

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