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It's been almost a year since my last blog post. Here's what's been going on.
TRUE STORY: My last post here on the blog was a year ago this month. I didn't even know that until a few minutes ago, when I logged into the website to create this post. After almost a year of not blogging, I had actually lost track of which podcasts I had last shared with y'all.
It started with an intentional hiatus back in November. I thought I'd give myself a couple of weeks off. That turned into a couple of months, and I actually didn't feel all that guilty about it.
Then, as the months dragged on, I couldn't decide whether or not to return to this gig. Some days I'd have a ton of new ideas and a surge of motivation about picking it back up, and then the next day (literally), I was all "eh" again.
At some point—I think it was when I realized that I had seriously missed the window for posting about my favorite podcasts of 2020—I felt like there was no turning back.
What All Happened
In case you're curious, here's a list of what all has happened with me—and in the podcast industry—to put me on Pause and leave me in limbo:
At some point in 2020:
- I lost my taste for most true crime
- I started to feel like I was listening to and writing about podcasts for everyone else, and not to shows that I was actually interested in listening to
- Many of my fave podcasts and hosts went through major changes, and their shows either ended or just weren't as appealing to me anymore
- I heard so many ads for Better Help that I was starting to hear them in my sleep (I'm serious...this can't just be me...anyone else?)
THEN:
- The US election took place (need I say more?)
- A week later, I woke up to an alert that a large tropical storm had turned last-minute, and was about to make a direct hit on the region we live in (it ended up being fine, but still extremely stressful)
- I decided to take two weeks off to chill out
- The December holidays marked 1 years since I was able to see my family in Maine, and that hit me hard
- I started to escape into books, instead of podcasts, and my blogging hiatus sort of just continued
IN THE MEANTIME, the following things were happening in the podcast industry:
- More and more celebrities and politicians were launching podcasts
- More podcasts studios and networks were being announced, thanks to more corporate money and buyouts
- More corporate commercials were showing up in podcasts (ads for Bush’s Baked Beans are everywhere these days...and it's strange)
- I received more press releases about new podcasts every week, and I couldn't keep up with the onslaught
- More podcasts were hosting the same guests (like on a morning show circuit), so all those podcasts were just the same thing on repeat
- Way more podcasts than I expected moved to paid subscription models or networks
Do you see a pattern in that last list? There was just MORE of everything in the podcast industry. And it's taken me a long time to figure out how to save myself from getting swallowed up by it all.
AND FINALLY, in my personal life:
- My dermatologist identified some skin cancer on my leg, and I had it removed
- I got to go to Maine for the entire summer, to see my family on the regular for months on end
- I started working on a new project with my husband: editing a sci-fi book that he is translating from German to English. For more info/updates on this project, or for a chance at your own FREE copy of the book, click here to provide your contact info.
What I'm Going to Do Moving Forward
So what does all that mean for you, in terms of what I'll be writing and sharing from now on?
- I'm going to focus on the thing that made me start the blog in the first place: sharing my thoughts and recommendations about podcasts I've been listening to
- I'm NOT going to try to keep up with the podcast industry (it's a full-time job—one which some people are paid to do these days, but I'm not one of them)
- I'm also going to share recommendations for book and audiobooks
- I'm going to revive the Podcast Maniac Newsletter with updates about new things on the blog (frequency of the newsletter is still TBD)
I hope you'll stick around to see what I'll be sharing and to make your own recommendations!
What's been going on with YOU and your podcast listening? Leave a comment to catch us up!