We All Bring Our Shit Along

Explicit content warning

05/24/22 • 7 min

When I packed my bags and left for Antarctica in 2018, for an entire month, to go away to the absolute farthest place I could go, I was terrified. But I buried that, that fear, waaaay deep down...so far down I was SURE no one else would be able to see it.

Down in that dark place, it turns out there were many layers...I had fears about irrational things that I had no control over: like the boat sinking, like my equipment breaking down, like running out of batteries in the middle of something important... or whether or not I would get sea sick.

And then I had some entirely rationale fears too. I had never left my kids for longer than a couple of days at a time...and they’re not exactly independent humans. And now, I was going to be gone for more than a month...to a place where I couldn’t even talk to them. And, according to my irrational fears, I could die doing this.

But when I’m honest with myself, the fear I was really dealing with, was the feeling of being an imposter.

I worried everyone would see my fear, smell my fear, and that my fear would get in the way of doing my job - which was, you know, to listen and record everyone and everything.

Now don’t get me wrong. I was prepared. I do have the skills. And I was there because I was the right person for that job, at that time. And I brought everything I would need, and more. But that message wasn’t getting through, to me in this very dark, very scared place.

I kept repeating this to myself: You are brave. You are strong enough for this. You are ready. But that message didn’t get through, at least at first. Because I felt dread, and confusion, and exhaustion.

And this self-doubt continued, until I realized something: We all show up with our shit. We carry it whatever we go. And no matter how far away we go, it comes with us.

And so the better approach is to just realize this. To call it out. To name it. And get on with your day.

This story originally appeared in my newsletter, Audio Love. That’s my email newsletter that I’ve been sending every other week, for over a year, to a small, but committed audience.

Did you know that email marketing is the number one channel for creators to connect with their audience? And it’s huge. ConvertKit, which the email platform that I use, which is only one of the ones available, report that last year over 16 billion emails sent.

And according to the Data and Marketing Association, who did a survey in 2021, 92% of consumers, and 72% of marketers, said that Email is their favourite way to connect with customers.

So here’s why I’m telling you all of this. When I sat down to map out an email strategy last year, I realized, that despite the fact that I’ve been using email since it started, I actually didn’t know how to do it for this post-modern era. So, I went a found a course to take...and this month, I’ve decided to join forces with this woman, whose name is Tarzan, unforgettable, and help her to sell her flagship program, Email Stars, as an affiliate.

If you’re curious to learn more about how to up your game on email, Tarzan is starting 3 free workshops this month. And if you want to grab a spot for the first one that’s happening this Thursday, the 26th of May, just go to the shownotes for this episode, and I’ll post the link at the top of the notes where you can grab your spot.

Ok, lots of chatting. Time to listen to this short episode now: We all Bring Our Shit Along...

Thanks for listening.

But when I’m honest with myself, the fear I was really dealing with, was the feeling of being an imposter.

I worried everyone would see my fear, smell my fear, and that my fear would get in the way of doing my job - which was, you know, to listen and record everyone and everything.

And this self-doubt continued, until I realized something: We all show up with our shit. We carry it whatever we go. And no matter how far away we go, it comes with us.

And so the better approach is to just realize this. To call it out. To name it. And get on with your day.

This story originally appeared in my newsletter, Audio Love. That’s my email newsletter that I’ve been sending every other week, for over a year, to a small, but committed audience.

And according to the Data and Marketing Association, who did a survey in 2021, 92% of consumers, and 72% of marketers, said that Email is their favourite way to connect with customers.

Ok, lots of chatting. Time to listen to this short episode now: We all Bring Our Shit Along...

Thanks for listening.

Previous Episode

Assisted Evolution with Dr Adriana Humanes

Dr. Adriana Humanes is a coral reef scientist from Venezuela. She completed her Ph.D. in Australia, and now is pursuing a postdoc with the @Coralassist_Lab through Newcastle University in the UK....I met her on the ship to Antarctica in 2018.

For the last four years Adriana, and her colleagues have conducted field work in Palau, which is an archipelago of more than 300 islands situated in the Pacific Ocean between Indonesia and the Philippines.

As Adriana explains, coral reefs are facing and unprecedented decline due to marine heatwaves, and also because of mass coral bleaching events. In the last decade, there have been five large scale coral bleaching and mortality events which have affected hundreds of reefs around the world.

During the last massive bleaching event, on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, almost half of the coral cover lost. Over the last 30 years, worldwide, coral cover has decreased by an alarming 20 per cent.

The research at the Coralassist lab (as well as Adriana's) focuses on testing the feasibility of assisting evolution by identifying coral colonies that have a high tolerance to heat stress, and then, sexually breeding them. The goal is to create next generation corals that have inherited heat tolerance from their parents.

Adriana first went to Palau in 2018, which was not long after I met her, in Antarctica. Although the pandemic has restricted her ability to travel there to continue her onw field research, by coincidence, one lone Ph.D student working with the Coralassist lab flew to Palau on March 7, 2020 ... which turned out to be a long stay for her, 18 months, to be exact, where she became the lone student there tasked with keeping the Lab research project going.

Adriana and her colleagues hope to returned this year, for their final leg of field research...after being away for years. And good news! They found corals spawning!

Hopefully this is one more step towards the goal to use these sexually produced corals to help increase their future resilience, and hopefully even restore some vreefs that have been damaged or degraded from heat waves. Who knows, maybe they could even restore some reefs that have endured massive bleaching events, which are predicted to be more frequent in future climate change scenarios.

Only science will tell.

This episode was brought to you by the newsletter Audio Love, where I share unforgettable stories, with sound and word. To subscribe, go here:

https://bit.ly/Audio-love

Next Episode

The Sylvia Method

Recall these two feelings...even if they seem like a distant thought right now. First thought: You desperately need to get away, go on vacation, get a change of scenery. Anywhere but here.

And then the second thought: Wow, that felt great. I really needed that. I now have a fresh perspective on all kinds of things. And, I’m ready to come back home.

With fresh eyes. New outlook. Here we go.

But then, you get back, and it doesn’t take long before all those calming, uplifting thoughts from your time away, disappear. And then you slide back back into old habits, the same old the ways of seeing and doing things that you had specifically told yourself you would change. Or overcome. Or grow out of.

I guess I had some of these thoughts on my mind as I was looking through some old audio files, when I came across an audio diary recorded by Dr. Sylvia Struck.

Sylvia lives and works in Vancouver, Canada, as a public health professional with the First Nations Health Authority. Sylvie leads projects to create, develop and sustain safe water policies, services and systems to over 360 First Nations communities, for long-term sustainable access to safe drinking water.

I bet you’ve had these thoughts too. Let’s call them vacation thoughts. Downtime mindset. So now it’s early June, and as we prepare for summer time, whether it’s time away, or downtime, or time away from the usual routine, let’s try what Sylvia method.
Sylvia made a pledge to herself....specifically about how to move on from a big experience in a way that you take some of it with you. If you listen, you’ll hear what her pledge was, and then see if something like this fits you in your life. Could it help make a difference? Would it help to carry these good-vibe relaxed times back into your daily life?

This story originally appeared in my newsletter, Audio Love. That’s my email newsletter that I’ve been sending every other week, for over a year, to a small, but committed audience.

And according to the Data and Marketing Association, who did a survey in 2021, 92% of consumers, and 72% of marketers, said that Email is their favourite way to connect with customers.

If you’re curious to learn more about how to up your game on email, Tarzan is hosting some SUPER AWESOME free workshops this month. To find out more, go to

www.ThisisOurtimepodcastc.com/email

And follow the links there.

Ok, Time to do some listening

Set Your Mind To Follow Through.

Thanks for listening.