Lighting the Fire

On Mother's Day I posted a radio production about my "Midlife Web Diary." My intention was to get it published on national radio but after the target program rejected my pitch, I let it sit without action.

I talked to a consultant who wasn't encouraging. National radio programs run on their own logic -- hearing one person's voice on the air for 6-1/2 minutes is bo-o-o-ring. Bleh.

I can be such a weenie. A whiff of discouragement and I dash farther into my cave.

But if a big national radio program has its snooty requirements, little indie stations often don't. (Didn't you learn that in Toronto, Susan???) I needed to post the piece on the Public Radio Exchange -- get myself out there. Woody Allen said, "Eighty percent of success is showing up."

But here's the thing. On PRX, members -- who include all the big names in public radio -- can post reviews of one another's work. They are not always kind. And my work is not the typical interview format. It's just... me. Me, in all my Planet Susan glory -- stoically independent but not crazy enough to be an Outsider.

Anyway, I've been working on the chakra project (videos and drawings) with Joanne and trying to be more aware of my energy centers. The energy center located at the solar plexus is all about power and will and about fighting the tendency to be ashamed.

"The fire within me burns through all blocks and fears."

Some days you really have to put your money where your blah-blah-blah is, know what I'm sayin'? So yesterday I took a deep breath, rubbed my tummy, and uploaded the radio piece to PRX. What's the worst that could happen? Some asshole trashes it -- if they are right, I can quietly take the piece down and start on version 2.0.

Some days it takes these goddamn conversations with yourself to get the puniest thing done.

But when I checked my email last night I got a notice that my piece had already been licensed for broadcast. I was dumbfounded. No one had even reviewed it yet. How cool is that??? It was picked up by KFAI "Radio Without Boundaries," which operates 2 stations in Minneapolis-St Paul. Made my day.

7.12.06

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