Hello hello, welcome to Episode 25 of Life On the Brink, and the one-year mark of this podcast!
That’s right, on May 22nd this podcast will officially be one year old. Wow!
When I started the podcast last year, I really had no way of knowing what it would become, or even if anyone would listen to it. It was created during a very tumultuous time in all our lives, a time when it was hard to look beyond the day-to-day.
Sometimes the name “Life On the Brink” is a little confusing to some, but the point of this podcast, this community, is to embrace the everyday, your everyday life, whatever it looks like. We all have dreams and we have plans for the future, or moments of transition, but even on the brink of those big milestones, why not celebrate today?
Everydays are so underrated, and while this podcast came out of a season where we really needed a little bit of celebration for the “simple” or “mundane” or even “trivial” things in our lives, I think we’ve all realized that they’re way more significant to our lives than we gave them credit.
Josh likes to tell me: “Don’t be afraid to enjoy your life,” and that has been very impactful for me during this past year, so now as things are starting to finally, MAYBE get back to normal, let’s continue to celebrate the little things and truly enjoy our lives, one day at a time.
And in the spirit of enjoying, and in celebration of one year, today we’re having a Little Joy Extravaganza. Normally I will share a Little Joy at the end of each episode, something small that has brightened up my day-to-day, something to be enjoyed. But today is special, so I’m sharing TEN LITTLE JOYS. Some are easily accessible, some are personal experiences to me, but hopefully by the end of this episode you’ll be inspired and have lots of things to check out and try.
Plus, stick around to hear about the plans for the podcast during the upcoming summer season, and for an absolute bop of a playlist.
What’s in my teacup? Today I'm drinking some of this Fairytale Tea, a beautiful blend of chamomile, spearmint, hibiscus, strawberry, and apple, but I also mixed in some Bourbon Street Vanilla loose-leaf into the infuser. The result is SO delightful.
SO MANY LITTLE JOYS
1. The new website! If you're reading this, you've already discovered this one. Finally, Life On the Brink has a home of it's own, and I'm so excited to show you around!
-Under the "Listen" tab, you can listen to every episode, and even download it from this site.
-In this "Blog" section, you'll find podcast show notes, as well as some special extra blog posts here and there.
-At the bottom of each page you'll find a banner that says "Want More Inspiration?" There you can sign up for the NEW newsletter, which will arrive in your inbox the first Friday of each month. Be on the lookout, because I'll also be sending out a poll soon to see what kinds of episodes you enjoy.
-You can also scroll to the bottom of each blog page to comment your thoughts, joys, and ideas!
2. This turmeric cake. I went to a surprise birthday picnic a few weeks ago for my friend Jeanette. Her sister Lizzie had made this golden milk-inspired cake, but instead of coconut frosting had made it a matcha frosting. The outside was a deep green, but once you cut into it you saw the intense golden orange color. So gorgeous and delicious! She used the recipe linked here, but also sent me her adaptations to it. You've got to try it, seriously.
Lizzie’s adaptations:
-she used a total of 4 tbsp turmeric.
-she doubled all the other spices.
-For the frosting: a basic vanilla buttercream, just adding matcha and honey until it reached a consistency she liked.
3. Iced green tea. I've been doing this thing where every week I make a huge pot, like 6 cups worth, of a honey lemon green tea and keeping it in the fridge, pre-sweetened. Now every time I'd like a little pick-me-up I have refreshing, delicious tea at all times, basically. It's lovely and I'm probably going to keep it up all through summer.
(I keep it in a resealable carafe that looks like this. I found mine super cheap at Home Goods I think.)
4. A quote from creator Morgan Long. I mentioned her on the last podcast because her Youtube channel was my Little Joy, and this phrase that she says quite often has been sticking with me:
"You are more than worthy of your own time"
Just let that sink in, it's really inspired me.
5. This recording of "Baba Yetu" by the Angel City Chorus. This piece has recently come back into my life and I was reminded of just how spectacular it is. This recording in particular might be my favorite. Enjoy!
6. This creative video on making Starbucks pink drinks at home. I love Dzung and her interesting recipes. Her channel and cookbook called "Honeysuckle" are favorites of mine, and this video has me thinking of all the delicious iced tea drinks I'm going to make.
7. Wandavision. After hearing lots and lots of praise for this show, I gave it a try and I am HOOKED. I've seen all the MCU movies, but had never ventured into the shows, and if you're on the fence like I was, just go ahead and watch. Not since The Good Place has a show flipped the script on me so completely.
8. A few Saturdays ago on the way back from the farmer's market, I stopped to pick some wildflowers from an abundant forest drive. I brought them home, arranged them in water, and had a lovely bouquet for a week or so. They just brightened up the dining room table so much, and made me smile whenever I passed them.
9. There was a Friday night recently when the weather was surprisingly cold. I happened to have made chili in my crock pot (I was kind of winging it but it was the best chili I'd ever made), and that evening my sister and her husband came over. We made margaritas, ate the chili with all the fix-ins (greek yogurt, cheddar, avocado, tortilla chips), and I finally learned how to play Settlers Of Catan. It's definitely a learning curve but I didn't do half bad. It was just a really fun and comforting night at home.
10. As of this recording, I have finished 8 books since the start of 2021! My goal is to read 15 by the end of the year, and I'm well on track. Plus, I've developed some nice reading habits that I truly enjoy.
So there you go, ten joyful moments to get you inspired, or perhaps to jump start your summer! And speaking of which, we need to talk scheduling:
Life On the Brink has been on a bi-weekly schedule for most of its existence, though you may recall that during the month of December I released a new episode each week. Well, lucky for you, I’m going to do it again! Through the whole of the summer you can expect a new podcast episode each Thursday, yay!
The reason that I’m only committing through the summer is because in addition to my current job teaching music at a preschool, I have accepted another part-time position teaching high school chorus. It’s all very exciting but I don’t know if the workload will be overwhelming with such an active podcast routine, so I’m taking the summer to get on a roll and find out. Then I’ll come back and speak about scheduling again as we enter the fall.
And just like that, season one is over! I’m so looking forward to this next year; we’ll have more guests, more joys, plus the conclusion of our seasonal movie night series. There’s lots on the horizon, and I’d love you to join me!
What I’m Listening To: I've called this playlist Absolute Bangers. Basically every single one of these tunes makes me sing, dance, all of the above. These are songs that every time they come on the radio I have to listen to it. I've compiled all of them into one playlist and, I must say, it's pretty fire. Have fun!
Thank you so much for listening, friends.
Feel free to leave a comment below with your Little Joys of late, and I'll be back next week!
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