E.20 Living Intentionally

The importance of living intentionally has led me to change the way I do the podcast. Going forward I will be producing new podcast episodes in series. Subscribe on your podcast app, at hatchingcuriosity.com or on Instagram @hatchigncuriosity to learn when new podcasts series are released. 
In this episode, we also look at opportunity costs and serving the new to homeschool families this fall.

Transcript of Episode 20 Living Intentionally:

How you spend your time is everything. Because it is all that we really have. And we do not know how much we get.

A few years ago, I had a near-death experience that taught me how I view life. I keep trying to find a way to tell the story that doesn’t diminish the weight of the experience and is appropriate for a nonspiritual podcast but as homeschoolers, we know that the lines are blurred and somethings you just can’t separate subjects into disciplines so out of respect for my experience just trust me when I say that life is short and how you feel when it’s over tells you everything about the way you lived when you had the chance.

18 short years. That is what we get with our little ones. I know that for many of us we constantly feel the pull of time, but the point is not to live in anxiety or regret. It is to live fully here in this moment.

Today I am announcing a change in the way I do this podcast because I value time. I value the time you take to listen when I produce new episodes and I value the time I take to make them.

In this season of my life with moving into a new house,  a new school year starting, CoOp classes to plan, orders to ship, products to release, a garden to harvest, and 3 little boys to love and enjoy, I have not been able to put the research, energy, or focus on the podcast in the way that it deserves.

I LOVE podcasting and know I have many more insights to share and amazing people to interview but balancing all I want and need to do is an age-old struggle for all mothers. And I am certainly one of them.

There are worse problems to have than choosing between two good things, but the fact of the matter is you need to choose or by not choosing the choice has been made for you. I actually have been working on an episode all about discipline that dives deeper into this concept of opportunity cost. The gist of it for today though is this: Let’s say you have 1 hour. You can either homeschool your kids or go on a walk or work on your business or hobby but the moment you choose one of those activities you are choosing not to do the others. You gave up those other things for the activity you chose. You may choose to do those other things another time, but you never get to go back and relive THIS hour. THIS hour is spent. Every day we are making choices. Even if in that moment you get paralyzed in indecision, or do not even realize you are making a choice and do none of those things and look on Pinterest the whole time- not choosing was your choice. You do not avoid the consequence of time passing just because you did not choose what you wanted to do with it. When it is gone. It is gone.

It is so easy to go through life half asleep. Getting into habits and routines we do not even know we built. All these daily choices with how to spend our time just slip into default mode and your default will always be the easiest way. Whatever habits you have built for yourself, whatever the path of least resistance is. The question then is where is that path leading? Is it where you want to go? Is the life you are living RIGHT NOW leading towards or away from the life you envision for yourself?

I have a clear vision for my future, and I am running towards it. The problem I’ve run into is my over-ambition. I feel like I should be able to fit more into a day than I actually can. (And I KNOW I’m not the only one who feels this way!) So, I have to choose. Do I create new products or organize my office? Do I cook a meal from scratch or throw a pizza in the oven and get these orders out? Do I cuddle up and read a book to my kids or produce a podcast? Something has to give. I could try to do it all and end up throwing away a file I need, printing a product with mistakes, burning the rice, rushing my kids, and offering halfhearted content on the podcast but that serves no one. I need to organize and prioritize my time. First, take care of my family (feed them well, love on them often, and teach my kids), Next serve my customers (if they are going to support my small business I want the orders to go out correctly, on time, and with share-worthy quality) , and finally fulfill my commitments to friends and CoOp (If you don’t have integrity you don’t have anything).

So, What I am going to do is produce podcast episodes in series. It won’t be on a set schedule, but I will continue to produce quality episodes when inspiration arises, and time allows for me to research and produce them well. This way I respect your time as a listener and my time as a producer.

How will you know when a new episode is released then? Well, you can subscribe to your favorite podcast apps like iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify that way when a new episode comes out it will pop up in your notifications. You can sign up for updates at hatchingcuriosty.com/subscribe and hear about new episodes in my newsletter that goes out every month or so along with coupons to the shop or free printables. Or you can follow me on Instagram @hatchingcuriosity where I will announce each new series.

Speaking of which, while this podcast is typically for homeschoolers with a year or two under their belt looking to dive deeper into homeschooling concepts or for inspiration the next series I will release will be specifically for New homeschoolers.  

You serve when you can. One thing I have is some knowledge and experience with is getting started with homeschooling. It’s also the one thing I am seeing on every homeschooling board, from neighbors, family, friends, and honestly even a friendly woman I met in the park the other day that my 8-year-old joyfully announced we homeschool to is wanting to know where to get started. COVID is doing a number on this country and there is a surge in interest in homeschooling because the other educational options are just less appealing at this point. With the interest peaked I want to be able to help as many people as I can and having the platform to do it, I will. So, feel free to share the next several episodes in the “Getting Started with Homeschooling Series” and then tune back into the hatching curiosity podcast for yourself in the series after that.

Until next time, stay curious.