A Book, A Song & The Decision to Launch
This Is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick was a key inspiration behind my decision to launch this podcast.
This Is Where You Belong: Finding Home Wherever You Are by Melody Warnick is a wonderful book. I bought it almost four years ago after yet another move to a new state — this time Arizona — and I was feeling a little lost.
At the time I was finishing what I thought would be my final three years of service to corporate America in the dusty desert city of Tucson. It’s a beautiful place — think mountains, cacti, sunny weather — and I was determined to make it my “home”, at least for a while. Eagerly, I began devouring the book’s initial chapters: The Lost Art of Staying Put, Buy Local, and Say Hi to Your Neighbors. The stories were interesting, the advice practical. I couldn’t wait to try out some of the suggestions.
Then something neither unexpected or unusual happened; I took on additional responsibilities and team members at work. In the blink of a restless eye my nighttime reading changed from non-fiction novels to non-ending emails. An overstuffed bookcase soon became home to This Is Where You Belong, which was quickly forgotten.
Fast forward a couple years: I embraced early retirement earlier than expected and returned to Tennessee. I did manage to pick a new city — Chattanooga this go round instead of Nashville — and a new type of living space — a tri-level single family home instead of a one-level, two-bedroom townhome. Immediately, I was smitten with my new hometown, but a pesky pandemic prevented me from getting fully acquainted. COVID was in its heyday, leaving me with a restlessness composed of equal parts boredom and Netflix overload. I had to find something to do.
Joining a gym and getting trained as a volunteer crisis counselor seemed like a good place to start. Both involved pain, but one helped me and the second helped others. Both turned out to be good decisions, but they didn’t exactly fill up my calendar. Then I remembered another of my previous preoccupations. Even before leaving Arizona, I had toyed with the idea of starting my own podcast, a format I fell in love with largely due to my addiction to true crime. Several weeks worth of online learning about how to get started was already downloaded on my computer. So, what the heck, I decided to give it a whirl.
An audio learner who loves storytelling and interviewing people, I took to it right away. As I saw it, I only had one major obstacle: what would my podcast be about? Dozens of popular true crime programs were already available. I didn’t see anything new I could bring to that table. A travelogue, perhaps? Nah. I like to relax and play on vacations, not write about them. Then one afternoon I was looking through titles on my still overstuffed bookshelf when it hit me. This Is Where You Belong. It was staring at me — inticing me with unread chapters like Do Something Fun, Eat Local Food, and Create Something. I finished it in one reading and was so inspired I ordered the audiobook so I could listen to it, too. (Remember, I’m an audio learner!)
The idea of “home” has always been a struggle for me, not because I didn’t have one or was mistreated by family members. I simply didn’t feel comfortable with myself no matter where I was, even at home. (If you want to know more about that, listen to Episode 00 - Introducing Home Where You Belong). Why couldn’t I produce a podcast designed to inspire listeners to feel more at home in their living spaces, more connected in their communities, and more engaged in their relationships? Isn’t everyone looking for that?
Later that evening I was going down another YouTube rabbit hole when I clicked on a link to a performance on Norway’s version of The Voice. (Hey, I said it was a rabbit hole.) The contestant, a blonde-haired hipster named Jørgen Dahl Moe, was delivering a mesmerizing, angelic version of “Feels Like Home” by Randy Newman. The final lines of the song? “Feels like home to me. Feels like home to me. Feels like I’m all the way back where I belong.”
The next morning I left for a trip to Nashville to visit friends. As I drove toward Music City, a familiar tune played on my satellite radio station. You got it. Feels Like Home by Randy Newman. I try not to look for “signs” when making decisions, but come on. A Randy Newman song two days in a row?
A few weeks later I emailed Melody Warnick to see if she’d consider being the first guest on my new podcast, Home Where You Belong. She said yes. Episode 1 goes live November 1.
Stay tuned.
