Welcome to Season 2

Hey friends!

Welcome back! It's season two, and I'm so excited to be here with you! So if you're new, welcome, and if you're returning, it's so good to see you again, literally and figuratively. I am doing this now on video, which makes things more interesting and changes some things. So, this episode is very fluid. I will touch on a couple of things, but first, let me introduce myself. 

For those that may be new, I am Erica Smigielski, and I'm a Depth Hypnosis and Applied Shamanic Practitioner and your host of the Soulful Soundbites podcast. 

This podcast is meant to be short and crisp insights that nourish your soul in practical, relatable ways. And in this episode, we're celebrating the podcast's one-year birthday! So welcome to the birthday party you didn't know you were attending! 

I will approach this episode more fluidly than I have in the past. I'll start by reflecting on things I've learned over the previous season of the podcast. Then, I'll unearth some of the meaning and intention behind the podcast for those that may be new. And then, I will come around to what I'm excited about for season two and share that with you.

Reflections from Season One

So let's see. This podcast, what was the impetus? How did it come to be? I'll give you a little backstory. I started by sharing "energetic milk bottles" through social media posts. They were short invitations for you to reflect and go inward. I put them out there with the only intent of having them be there for whoever and whenever someone needed them. So like, many years ago, the posts were like milk bottles placed at your front door and available when you were ready or needed it.

So that was the intent of my social posts. As I created them, I found that I had more to say. And I thought that meant a book. And I went down this path of writing a book and realized that's not quite it. That wasn't the right vehicle or channel for my intention, at least not right now.

Instead, I came to this concept of having a podcast where I could talk through some of these ideas, engage others in conversations, and volley back and forth on what this means to them and me. And so that was really the impetus behind the podcast. 

And along the way, I met some incredible beings that I call my family now. They are amazing and have steered, inspired, and directed me in ways I never imagined when I started this journey. And so that's a reflection about the podcast. 

And now, let's look at some highlights from season one. After having time and space to look back, the biggest highlight was that each episode was a spark of energy or ray of light to help you move forward along your path. I realize now that this observation honors and supports my original intention. This is especially relevant because when I was in the thick of creating and editing the episodes, there were times this intention got lost on me. So this is a big highlight. 

Another highlight is that each episode offered me healing. And what I mean by that is the thought and intention in the words I chose and how I pieced them together was a reckoning for me. This architecting came through how I structured the message to hold the meaning and energy moving through me and encapsulate that in the episode. And going through that exercise was healing for me. Each episode was my inner exploration to access higher wisdom and organize it meaningfully for you. So those are some of the highlights for my season one that I'm sharing with you.

My biggest and most significant learning is to simplify. If you haven't sensed already, I'm a recovering perfectionist. So that means my desire to get the message right and to use the best words to deliver that message can be weighty and arduous. I would spend a lot of time putting things together, editing, and re-recording to get things right. But unfortunately, I found that it started to pull me away from the spirit of the podcast. So that was my biggest learning, and clearly, I've changed things up for season two because there's no script here! I want to return to having fun and being more creative in this podcast space. So those are my reflections. 

The Meaning and Intention Behind the Podcast

Before looking forward to season two, let's make a pit stop to unearth some of the meaning behind this podcast for those that are new.

So, this podcast nourishes your soul in practical and relatable ways. Each episode invites you to look inward, reflect, and pause a moment in your busy day to have space to explore what this means, or does it mean anything to me? And so it could be a new thought, idea, or curiosity to look around and see what might be beneath the everyday grind. These invitations lead to your pathways to re-remember and reconnect with your essence. And that's really the spirit of my podcast.

Another question I get is, what do I mean when I say episodes help you bridge your inner and outer worlds? So the outer world is how we show up in life, the clothes we wear, the personas we embody, and how we want to be perceived by others. And your inner world is your higher self. It's what you know to be true. It's that inner wisdom and source of knowing what your soul needs. So these episodes are meant to be invitations for you to bridge the two worlds. Sometimes I like to think of the outer world as their active mind and their inner world as the heart space, the heart center. I'm using a lot of words here to describe these worlds, and hopefully, there are some words here that land for you.

So now let's look at the meaning behind the name Soulful Soundbites. You can probably derive the meaning, but for clarity - "soulful" means that each episode has depth and purpose and invites you to connect with your soul. And the "Soundbites" reflects that each episode is a snippet of something much larger, perhaps an esoteric, mystical, or magical topic. The soundbite boils down a thought or idea into something that feels easy to process, digest, and absorb. And so that means that the episodes are short and sweet. The solo casts of me talking are 15-20 minutes long. And when I bring on guests and have conversations, they're under 30 minutes - because who has time to listen to an hour episode? I don't. So the episodes are shaped to make it easy for you to look inward. 

Excited for Season Two

And now, I'm going to switch it up to forward-looking and share what I'm really excited about for season two. So the flow of the episodes are fluid and casual, which means sometimes there will be messy episodes. I'm moving away from the script, which makes me feel a little naked, vulnerable, and uncomfortable, but it's time. 

It also means there will be more real-life conversations. This has always been an intention, but it didn't quite happen in season one. So I'm excited to bring on some beautiful beings and share insightful conversations in season two, which will be on video when possible. So you'll be able to see and hear us in your ear. And that also means you'll have more stories and experiences on topics I cover. So instead of feeling like you're being taught something, You'll be able to feel it, experience it, and relate to it in different ways through stories and experiences.

1. There still might be a little bit of that teaching flare. While that's not necessarily the intent, some topics might feel so new to you that it feels like a teaching or learning. So that's something to look forward to. 

I'm still keeping things tight, brief, and concise and keeping episodes between 15 and 30 minutes. However, I'm moving to biweekly episodes for my sanity, to preserve the fun I'm having with kicking off season two, and to avoid the burden of crafting perfect weekly episodes. So I'm switching it to every other week. That reminds me to invite you to my podcast page at podcast.sparkpathhealing.com so you can subscribe and not miss an episode. And while you're there, leave me a review or give me a rating. And if you're listening on Apple, do it there! Oh! And if you go to my page, you can send me a message and tell me your favorite episode or plant some seeds for future topics. 

And videos! I'm going to post the videos to my community. It's a free community, at least free right now, so join by visiting community.sparkpathhealing.com. And in addition to being with Kindred Spirits having meaningful conversations, and making meaningful connections - you'll see my podcast guests and me in a multi-dimensional way and not just hear us in your ears.

So with that, I welcome you to season two! I'm excited to have you here in the second season. And with that, I honor the divine in you.