As I sit at my tiny desk, at my bedroom window, in my apartment off Riverside in South East Austin, it’s anything but quiet. I hear the racket of my neighbors and their dogs squabbling. The high pitched conversations between my 7th grader and her classmates on her zoom call in the next room. My own little dog, barking at the mailman. The hum of the AC unit. Between the disruptions, I hear the quiet song of my windchime, hanging right outside my window. Always the same. Peaceful. Hopeful. Steady.
This is a season of in-betweens. Between pre-covid and the aftermath. Between the last 4 years, and the election. Between summer and fall. Between one normal and the next. I know most of us are wondering where our last plan went, or what the next one is.
As creators, we know the pivot well. We are accustomed to it. Time for a new framework, we realize it easily. Sometimes, if we look at it in just the right light, it can be invigorating. Even when we didn’t ask for it. Sometimes it feels more like the Upside Down in Stranger Things than anything else. Everything is covered in goo, and you can’t figure out how to get back.
One of my favorite things about my work at The Un.Inc, is the chance to bring inspiration to my fellow founders and creators, in the form of real raw stories. By the end of 2020 more than 80 mentors will have participated online this year in live sessions on Un.Inc Campus. Each of them bring their own unique take on the journey, and how they have made it through their own in-betweens.
This month we’ve started releasing sessions, recorded live and produced in house. I wanted to share a few snippets of some of our first recordings, done early this year, right as COVID was setting in. I hope they give you new perspective, new energy, and most of all, I hope they help you fall in love with the in-between. After all, that’s where the magic happens.
Un.Inc Life Podcast on Spotify
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite authors.
“Anxiety, heartbreak, and tenderness mark the in-between state. It’s the kind of place we usually want to avoid. The challenge is to stay in the middle rather than buy into struggle and complaint. The challenge is to let it soften us rather than make us more rigid and afraid.”
~ Pema Chödrön