By Jennifer Hallmark

Welcome to 2021, a year that will have to be an improvement over the last one. I did get a lot of writing done while in quarantine and then recovering from ankle surgery. I’m trying to look at the positive side. 🙂

Last August, I totally reworked my website and blog. I kept the Friday Fiction segment since it was well-received and I love working with Cammi and A.S. as we share books we enjoy. I’m adding a Tuesday segment which will start by chronicling my newest adventure in the writing world. A little on that below. Make sure and check out the blog in 2021 on Tuesdays and Fridays…

Absolutely terrified. When I woke that morning, my feelings had not changed. Still stuck in the same fearful crevasse I’d fallen into weeks ago. What happened to me? I uttered the words, “I’m going to do it. I’m going to start my own podcast.”

Cue the horror movie music.

Ever since I said podcast aloud, I’d been stuck. Oh, I still made plans in my mind. Called it “Determined to Dance,” a podcast for women like me. The world tells us to march to its tune of chaos, bad news, and fightings within and without. God invites us to a dance. Sounded good in my head.

But when I tried to move forward, my declaration turned into a whimper. And a whiny prayer.

“God, I feel like this is what You want me to do and I want to listen but:

1. I’m not qualified.
2. I’m not techy enough.
3. I just can’t learn anything else new.
4. I have a really soft, Southern voice.”

Then came the questions:

• What if I mess up?
• What if I can’t learn?
• What if I steer someone wrong?
• What if I fail? Again? Like I have in the past?

Then, in the deepest part of me, God reminded me of what I’ve done already. How I’ve become a writer over the last fourteen years. Learned to write. Learned to blog. Learned to build my own website. The list goes on and on.

He reminded me I’ve been here before and each time, He walked with me. I was never alone. He also sent people to help and lit each step as I approached it.

Led me through.

So, here I go again. Embarking on a different path, once again learning something new. But this time, I’d like to take you, the reader/listener with me. You might not be starting a podcast but you might wake up with the same, heavy feeling of fear weighing on your chest.

Over a job. A relationship. Sickness. Grief. Discouragement. Life in general. I mean, really, we just left 2020 behind in the rearview mirror. And I’m determined to dance.

Dance on the fear and anxiety and procrastination I’m struggling with as I move toward my first podcast. Would you come alongside and cheer me on? Maybe even allow my journey to encourage your own? We need each other now more than ever.

Then, meet me here each Tuesday, on Posts From Off the Beaten Track, and we’ll travel together. Next week, I’m going to share how I took my very first step toward podcasting and faced down the fear. It’s one of the hardest things in my writing life that I’ve ever done.

Ready? Let’s go. I’ll talk to you on Tuesday…

Podcast coming soon. The tentative start date is March 2nd. (or sooner if I can)

Click to tweet: The journey to a podcast. Embarking on a different path, once again learning something new. But this time, I’d like to take you, the reader/listener with me. You might not be starting a #podcast but you might wake up with the same, heavy feeling of fear. #faith