Next week, on February 17th, my friend Grant will
be premiering his solo podcast—The Stranger Conversations. I thought I would
take the time to write up a post dedicated to this achievement. Grant has been
podcasting for years, mostly with his best friend Jason as part of The Last
Podcaster Standing and 7 Days A Geek (the latter of which is how I met the two
of them). But this will be Grant’s first podcast without his ginger crutch
(just kidding buddy), so it’s a big deal for him. This podcast is based on the
idea that you could find out so much about another person just by having a
conversation with them. Even people you may have known for years could still be
a stranger to you because it’s hard to know everything about someone. Grant
will spend time speaking with folks each episode getting to know them or more
about them, simply by just having a conversation—the premise for the podcast.
I was fortunate enough to get to hear the first few episodes,
among which-- the origin story. Grant talked with Neil C. from another great
podcast, Dark Angels & Pretty Freaks which Neil hosts with his wife
Annaleis. Being fellow podcasters and in some of the same podcast networks,
they had gotten to know each other through Twitter and formed a friendship.
This friendship furthered after a 4 hour conversation between the three of them
which was then posted as an episode of Dark Angels & Pretty Freaks. Due to
that conversation, it sparked an idea in Grant’s head about forming a show
around that very thing. It had been so easy to chat with Neil and Annaleis for
hours and through that interaction, he had gotten to know them both
better.
It’s these types of interactions that can truly enlighten a
person. Most of us, meaning people in general, can go along spending most of
their lives trapped within their own shells. It’s easy to be content with one’s
surroundings and routines—rarely straying from them. But then you end up
missing out on the remarkable things waiting just beyond your horizon.
In my youth, I was never what you would consider out going,
possessing a soft spoken and shy personality. The invisible wall flower content
with a life of work and school. Until I finally decided, I needed to make some
changes. In the last few years, I stepped out of my comfort zone: joined the military, left the
military (it didn’t work out), found an international scavenger hunt that
forces you to embrace the abnormal. These things amongst others forced me out
of my shell and gave me experiences that have impacted my life.
This is why I’m looking forward to Grant’s new show and have
made effort to promote it. I love the concept and I’m not just saying this because
I know the guy. When you move past that initial fear of trying something new…stepping
beyond the barrier you have created for yourself, you open up a wealth of
opportunities. Now I’m not saying, go jump off a mountain (interesting story,
Grant has, you can hear more about that in Episode Zero)—baby steps people.
Make the effort to get to know your neighbors, spend time with co-workers
outside the work place, have open and honest conversations as often as
possible. Then take what experiences and knowledge you’ve learned from these
conversations and apply them to your own life. The outcome will be interesting
to say the least.
But, how do I take that first step you ask? Well, I have one suggestion.
Go to TangentBoundNetwork.com
or TheStrangerConversations.com
on February 17th to download/listen to the first episodes of The
Stranger Conversations. Then drop a line to my friend Grant and let him know
what you think--TheStrangerConversations@gmail.com or @TheStrangerCons on Twitter. I will be on
the podcast (unless Grant changes his mind, haha) sooner or later. It will just
come down to when we can schedule something. So that right there is something
to look forward to, I know I am.
No comments:
Post a Comment