Hello, friends, how are you?

I wanted to check in and say hi. Things are about to change for all of us, in ways I’m not sure we’ve really yet fully imagined, and I wanted to just connect and say thank you. 

Thank you for joining me on this curiosity journey. Thank you for showing up for life and work in curious and attentive ways. Thank you for taking care of yourself and everyone around you right now. Thank you for being you!

My dear buddy Mo, my conscience from afar, wrote to me the other night, “Curious to learn in what ways you’ll be reaching out to your listeners. We postponed the local service jam.”

The truth is, I’ve been so consumed with concerns about Arlington Independent Media‘s fate in the throes of all that is going on, that I haven’t been thinking much about my own show. I’ve come racing up against production deadlines, hastily typing blog posts, forgoing much of what is delightful in the craft, and just moving on.

But we’re not moving around much any more, most of us. Nor will we be.

So here’s what I can say for now:

I’m going to keep looking for these curiosity conversations and sharing them with you. You may notice some shifts in audio quality. I’m trying to find the best ways to deliver good content and sound from my basement, but it’s not going to compare with what I was able to produce at AIM. Bear with me!

Our new normal is both an obstacle and an opportunity. The obstacles are obvious; it’s the opportunities that interest me. What new habits can we cultivate that bring us closer, even as we maintain safe distances? How can we meaningfully enlarge our world, even as it temporarily shrinks? Time for that classic curiosity refrain: How might we….?

“I’m in the mood to try stuff!” is how one of my intrepid AIM partners has approached our challenges there. I’m inclined to adopt that spirit as well. Here’s some of the stuff I want to try….

1. 1. 1. Breakfast with Friends: I’m going to miss meeting friends for breakfast, so I’m going to try to do that virtually. A friend who has a communications firm in Baltimore joins his staff each morning for virtual coffee. I don’t like coffee, but I love the idea. (Also: I sent a gift card for “our” breakfast spot to one friend, a promissory note to pick up where we’ve left off and a small way to support local businesses.)
      2. Curiosity Walks: Time to rediscover what’s within my four walls, to stroll the floorboards with as much attention to the textures, shadows and hidden delights as I would along the boulevards and byways of any other destination. I began in my kitchen some time ago. It was a lot of fun.
      3. Read Harder: Inspired by Dani Bassett’s “inter-book quotation network”  and Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge, I’ll read outside the familiar, let my curiosity take me to unexpected places and to mingle with a whole new crowd. Might even go shopping on my shelves. Pretty sure there are some books there I haven’t yet read….

Each week, when a new episode airs, D. and I assemble in the living room to listen. No matter how many times I’ve heard them, the shows just sound different on the radio — which never ceases to amaze me. But what I really love is that we have this date to listen together. He’s a gracious audience and a good #analogy sport. I invite you to join our virtual living room via wera.fm Wednesday mornings at 10am Eastern time.

Come, choose to be curious — and #ListenTogether.

So, I’m curious: what stuff are you trying? What opportunities are you finding? Let me know — and stay well.

p.s. The photo of me actually predates the “no hands on your face” guidance. <sigh> SO many changes. I love you.