Evolution of Mandyland / by Mandy Wintink

This podcast was launched in September, 2017 with a pretty simple goal: record some of my interesting conversations and post them to a podcast platform. I had struggled for years with starting a podcast because I didn’t know if my focus should be on neuroscience, motherhood, life coaching, or something totally different. Then I realized that I could string them all together under the term I had already been stringing my life together: Mandyland. In my world — in Mandyland — all of these ideas do connect. I can see how neuroscience is related to meditation and how feminism is related to business and how neuroscience is related to business and feminism. All of these important elements of my life intersect and I end up in — what I deem as — interesting conversations, conversations that I think deserve attention. 

At the start of Season One, this is what I thought Mandyland was going to be about, according to the blurb on the homepage:

"In any given week I end up talking about neuroscience, motherhood, education, feminist and a variety of other social justice issues, gender and LGTBQ2S+, mental health and wellness, community, and yoga and mindfulness. I also think about death, feel like a terrible mom, and still wonder about some mysteries of the universe. I love Alanis Morissette, Margaret Atwood, and other women who can articulate human experiences the way they can. So any of this might show up in this podcast and often each conversation is an eclectic mix of many such topics.”

I got some of those right.

When I started the podcast, I wanted to make it easy for myself to produce, so I focused on the content itself rather than on the sound quality, editing, or a specific focus. So the first season is very raw, and I’m totally ok with that. It was a necessary part of the journey. Here is what we covered:

I talked with Dawn about her experiences with Depression and Anxiety:

 

I talked A LOT about Education and Parenting with Jenn, Greer, and Kandace:

 

I talked about Identity with Lindsey, Mike, Bronwyn:

 

I philosophized with Mike about Mindfulness, Meditation, and Enlightenment Stuff:

and made a little bird chirping mindfulness meditation 

 

I had some Neuroscience conversations with Greer and Coach Quinn

 

I discussed Privilege with Jenn and Lindsey, Bronwyn, and Mike:

 

I talked a lot about Career, Work, and Process stuff from a few different angles:

I talked about Death & Dying and am excited to deepen this conversation in Season Two

 

Mmmm…. Intuition etc.

 

Then in July, 2018, I realized I wanted to end Season One, get some closure, and reflect on what had happened in season one. So I ended it with this:

 

 

And the result of this reflecting is that I am proud of it all. No it isn’t perfect but my process isn’t about being perfect. My process is about doing and producing. My process is about planting seeds and seeing what gets nurtured, either by myself or by others listening and following.

Now, moving into Season Two, I’m happy to say that I will invest a bit more time (not a lot) into some minor editing and a greater focus on sound quality, while still keeping the spirit of real conversations alive with all the unexpectedness with it, which might include sounds at a coffee shop or my dog barking. It’s still going to be all real!

I expect this season to dive deeper into topics like Cancer, Death and Dying, Mental Health, Motherhood and Parenting, Education, Neuroscience, Meditation, MeToo, and Privilege. I also have some conversations lined up about Trauma, Co-Living, The Block Chain, and Business. 

We’ll see how it all pans out.

I'm still waiting for more voice memos. I got some but I would love to hear more of YOUR insights. We don't have to publish them but I do want to hear from you. So if you have something to say, share it with me as a voice memo. Find your voice memo app on your phone and just record away. Then his share and send to me. You can send it via email (awintink@canc.ca) or text (416.998.1104). 

Thanks for listening, reading, and thinking!

<3

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