Unfinished

Welcome to the season 1 finale of Swan Dive.  On this episode we hit Ron's virtual going away party and we recognize that we're all unfinished.  This  may be the end of season 1, but we're just getting warming up ... with new episodes featuring special guests every Tuesday from next Tuesday until forever.  

Share your Swan Dive at www.swandive.us

Transcript

spk_0:   0:00
Welcome to the season one finale of Swan Dive. You're invited to my virtual going away party will also connect with cousins, fly away with monarch butterflies and talk about the notion of being unfinished. So click play on your virtual zoom link and join us for swan dive finale from the Peacock in Park Studios in Jacksonville, Florida and from Costa Rica and a thatched hut with my dear friend of life stew Sheldon. This is another edition of Swan Dive. Hello again, Haste to

spk_1:   0:36
Ron. What a delight. As always today, it's important to note that Ah, we're only 10 days into this project and we got our 5/100 downloads so little milestone. And, uh, it's all about the small victories, right?

spk_0:   0:51
It's been fantastic, man. This has been, Ah, an incredible projects. Do you set? A couple of days ago, it was like a piece of art, and it has coalesced together. We're going to talk about what's happened since now keep in mind we're in the middle of a pandemic, and the pandemic has changed everything. But it didn't change One thing I pivoted, I dove, and it's even more thrilling and exciting now because there's gonna be problems to solve and needs to fill on the other side of this. And still, you said to me a few times on this and I had to Ying and Yang nous and really follow through with this thought process. You said to me, your timing is so dead on perfect for this. And in between freaking out and embracing the that, that is the truth. I think I'm embracing it even more now than I was a few days ago.

spk_1:   1:41
Yes. I mean, the entire world just swan dived. They just pivoted. We pivoted to a pause, everyone voluntarily or involuntarily, everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean over seven billion people just pivoted to a different way of being in their day to day life. And for many of us, I think that pivot will invoke Ah, life change. Um, that is going to be, ah, more fulfilling. We'll see. And for ah great. Many of us as well. I think the ideas that we were entertaining deep down about what we really wanted to be with our lives and what we wanted to be when we grew up Ah, there might be Ah bit of ah, hitting of the throttle on those things as well, so it's a very ripe moment to have this conversation. It's a thrilling, thrilling thing to live through, to bear witness to, to talk about and to share the stories of the people who, hopefully who will reach out to us with their pivot stories. Get him on the air, let them tell us. And you know, we all learn together. So yeah, it's amazing.

spk_0:   3:05
It's thrilling and it's scary. And and and I guess the control part of it is that you can make it whatever it is. There were so many interesting things that happened on as this world paused the first week of it. Ah, we had monarch butterflies that actually came out and launched in our garden, and I was able to slow down and watch that release, and it was funny because my niece was here and she's coming back. She goes to the University of Florida, but she came here to spend a few days. That pause was brilliant for her, for my kids, for my family, because she was here and the kids were on the back porch with their sketch pads and they're making art and they're drawing things and they're playing with the dog and they're listening to music and they're interacting with each other. And they never had that opportunity before. As cousins, you know, we were always on the go. We would go to a vacation. We would do something. We would do something. This was the most brilliant visit I've ever had from a house guest because we were absolutely OK doing absolutely nothing and yes, feeling.

spk_1:   4:15
I heard the term recently radical self acceptance and, ah, you know, basically what I take that to mean is, whatever you're doing, it's all right. Everybody get to get out of jail free card and everybody gets to sort of be lazy or be crazy. Everybody gets to sort of be who they are, and it's OK and let your kids watch TV and just don't sweat the small stuff. There's much bigger stuff to sweat right now, and I think there's a lot to learn from that, and I'm definitely trying to internalize it. My wife and I both, um and and I do believe that our family of four, um, is getting better. My kids, who tend to fight a lot and have a, you know, rather complicated relationship there. 10 and 12 are getting on much better, more harmony in our home. There's more of a sort of acknowledgement that we're all in this together. We all have jobs to do. We all are, you know, need to pitch in. Um, there's less entitlement sensibilities. Um, so I you know, I I like many people that I've been speaking to feel that there's a a lot of good stuff happening, a lot of evolution, And, ah, you know what? The other side, I think, is gonna be a better

spk_0:   5:32
place. Yeah, I think the next time we have house guests were going to say, Hey, guess what we're doing this week? Nothing. And it's gonna be great any anyway, So So I guess it to put the chapter two that on this whole thing. You know, my my parting of the company was very interesting because we were all home office for two weeks, you know, for my last two weeks of work, so I couldn't, you know, hug out, hug it out with some of my dear friends at work. But before we left my boss called me in and she said, What kind of a going away party do you want? And I said, It's gonna be after work and we're gonna have the nice Kadre of people that we like the cool cats or whatever you wanna call it and we'll stay late and she says, That's great. Whatever you want, let's do it. Let's get it on the counter. Let's go. We'll fast forward through the pandemic. And the going away party, as as grand as it might have been, was a virtual zoom. Going away party and zoom is is really an interesting thing because it's been connective tissue for so many people. My wife gets on zoom with her friends. It's really important that social aspect of it, and it does fulfill a purpose for that, as we as we quarantine and and and stay with ourselves. So we did. We have a virtual going away party, and I keep thinking about you know, Ron, your timing is perfect on this. It's the greatest going away that's ever happened. You know, Listen, don't come to my party. Just join the zoom lint link and have your own drink. It's genius so set back to that same thing I said earlier. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going everywhere. Um, now, not now. Go listen to my podcast. And then I started promoting it. But anyway, so you know, we go around the zoom and I had a lovely bottle of champagne that one of my neighbors actually have brought me and a lot of people were You don't do that. There's a lot out there that people can make fun of for me. So, um, there were a lot of stories that were being told in a lot of laughs. And then, you know, the VP from our area. She was on the call, really a very accomplished woman. I hadn't known her very well. We've we've crossed paths a few times. I really wanted to get her to know her better, But when she started, she had one of those events. You know, one of those networking events for all the folks that worked for her in our region, you know, in a kind of a get to know, you think you've probably participated in those kind of one of those classic ice breakers and the and she's telling this story. She said, Hey, I you know, I got something to tell You know about that when we all got together. She's telling this story about the ice breaker, and the ice breaker was use one word to describe yourself. So as you could imagine, with the new boss standing in front of the room, people were throwing around words like organized, empathetic, listener competitive. You know, that kind of stuff, right? You would. You just kind of think about those strong, aggressive business speak words. And she asked me if I remember what word I used and I did, and that a memory just kind of tumbled back to me as she was telling the story. And she said

spk_1:   8:37
the word you used was unfinished. And then there you go.

spk_0:   8:43
And I was like, thinking about that. And I thought that word is more powerful now because I'm not sure that will ever be finished.

spk_1:   8:56
Yeah, that that is an incredible, incredible word. An incredible story, Small as it may have seemed at the moment, it really encapsulates this entire that the tire raison de tre of this podcast, which is that we're all unfinished. Um, And what are we gonna do about it? And whether we finished, we will ever be finished or not. We can beam or finished than we are now, and ah, and that's our job is to finish ourselves, if you will. And so I think that Ah, I think that's a beautiful, beautiful moment in a beautiful way for us all to take a moment and think about that. Am I finished? If I'm not finished, what is there to be done? When and how can I do it? And ah, what's stopping me? Yeah, And you know, that's why that's why we're here on the mikes, man.

spk_0:   9:56
And that's the vulnerability and authenticity man that I hope that you know we can get to is Yeah, I make no pretense is about where we are. This has been an interesting weeks. Do you know we had Passover this week? Ah, lot of people pivoted with Passover. I think that was an interesting thing, as I was sharing with with friends around the country, in the globe, that was a successful pivot and an important way. It's obviously important for folks of the Jewish faith to tell the story of Passover and tow, have it in a pivoted kind of environment. I saw a lot of parallels to that. How people adapted and thrived in the in this in this new paradigm,

spk_1:   10:41
Well, you know, we had a a Passover Seder on Zoom last night, which I actually lead, and there was about 40 of us spread out across the United States. And me, of course, in Central America with my family. Um, and it really was I was expecting. In fact, I I was sending out emails, you know? And I literally said, expect this to be a shit show. I mean, just, you know, and I expected frozen screens. And where's the mute button? And just all kinds of and and quite the contrary. It was moved. It was, Ah, it was somewhat elegant. It was very well organized in terms of my dad did a lovely job, and everyone sort of played by the rules. Um, and really, what happened was that I got to see a lot of people that I just don't see and talk to cousins that I love that air in various parts of United States, um, aunts and uncles, my own family, my own brother and sister and brothers and sisters. And, um and it was a very, very delightful surprise to be quote unquote be with everyone in a way where we actually connected. We actually there was a lot of love in the room, if you will. And so you know who to thunk it, man, It just I I just thought from both from a micro kind of technology standpoint that I was sort of loathing the idea of the whole thing. And then, Macro, I thought it was just gonna be a big, frustrating thing. But it was It was a lovely, delightful, warm, fuzzy evening

spk_0:   12:21
the pandemic, Pim. It made it warmer in so many respects, you know,

spk_1:   12:26
You know, and I do think just one final thought. I think that you know both whether you're Jewish with Passover, your Christian with Easter coming up, you know, um, whatever your religious bent, this is Ah, the springtime is the renewal time. It's a time. It's a time when the flowers come, come out from their winter hiding places. It's a time when you put your best face forward and beauty re emerges. And I think that idea of being unfinished. That idea of pivoting think that idea of sort of unmasking the true inner beauty that is there is very much what spring is about. And so again in terms of what are you waiting for? Its spring time? It's go time.

spk_0:   13:14
Hey, can I ask you a question? What? What? What was your favorite plague?

spk_1:   13:19
Ah, my favorite. Play his Ah, vermin.

spk_0:   13:23
Yeah, I'm a fan of vermin to That was an interesting one. You know. You know, you talk about Easter and Passover. I'm took looking at this from a totally different point of view. I feel like our Jewish folks haven't marketed Passover as well as our Christian brothers and sisters. You know what? The Easter Bunny. So I came up with a story last year of the Passover possum. I don't know if you've ever heard of it. It's the story of the ring. I

spk_1:   13:47
fear I'm about to.

spk_0:   13:49
It's the story of the rancid marsupial that if you're lucky enough he comes to your house on Passover, even knocks over your trash can Struse it all over your yard. And if you leave it out there for seven days, you will have a year of blessings. So it's very touching, very touching. It's interesting. I were waiting to be blessed with the Passover possum, so that's OK, kind of cool. Good luck with that. Hey Ah, and we are going to do an Easter thing with my wife's family this weekend to this Sunday on UN's Zoom. So Well, I'll let you know how that goes. But beautiful. You know, we've We put a bow on this part of this conversation and, you know, again, the dive for me was about a change in gears for the career. But what we're talking about is that there are so many dives that are being made constantly pivots that are taking place of the heart of the mind of the soul of the body of faith. And this conversation is open for all of them. I don't want to feel like we're pivoted or pigeonholed into a career based conversation, because this conversation this is the concept of this pivot is, is so huge, and it comes to us in so many different directions. And so as we go forward and invite people into the conversation, that's what we're striving to do is to make those connections with people who have had those left turns and those right turns and the stories that go along with them. Those are the connective tissues that make us all human beings.

spk_1:   15:24
Absolutely. And I think that bears repeating. I mean, we are, um We started this conversation because you were changing jobs and I changed jobs a long time ago, not just jobs of a career direction, and that was a compelling connected point for the two of us. And, ah, something that a lot of folks are thinking about. But people have responded. Some of the folks who have been listening to this podcast and who have sent us feedback, Um, a few really smart people, people who have made significant changes in their careers. People who have succeeded quite quite enhancing early in their careers, said, You know, it's really important that you don't just limit this to a This isn't an HR podcast. You know, this isn't a how to how to career job career advice, podcast. And I think while that those stories are extremely important and one of the pillars of what we will be doing here, um, I also want to officially and been formally invite anyone out there who has a profound pivot moment, either in their past or in their future one that they're that they're considering one that they've made and whether you succeeded in that endeavor or not. It's just a important that we talk about the triumphs and the failures, and I invite you to reach out to us. Um, and you can find our emails will give those to you in a minute. But tell us your story, man. Let's get you on the mikes. Let's get you on the air. This first season is ending the set up who we are, Why we're doing it. What are stories are the rial time walk through Ron's consideration of leaving work, telling his boss and then actually walking out the door, the virtual going away party. You know, right up to this moment, Um, it's time to kind of open up the doors to you guys out there in the real world and ah, and let's hear your stories. And frankly, I'm really excited to stop talking on and start listening, um, to what everyone? What everyone else has to say because that's that will be really beautiful. or interesting and and it would be a lot of wisdom to gain,

spk_0:   17:50
and that's when it gets interesting. The other line that we wanted to make sure that we were not crossing with sounding condescending about following your heart and jumping, and I feel like I got some good feedback about that. There's we know that there's a lot that goes into it, and we know right now with this weird, crazy world, there's fear Israel and and safety is a place that we all need to stay close to. But I hope that we we've straddled that well and have been respectful of that piece of the puzzle. So do you have a story to tell? Hit up Stew Stewart at Stewart sheldon dot com or me Ron Rothberg at Ron rothberg dot Ron Rosberg at Comcast dot net Still your website. You want to give it a plug? Fancy nasty dot Us nice and my check out the name of my website. You. You won't believe this. It's really hard to remember. It's Ron rothberg dot com Solid branding. It's gotta ring to it. Thanks, man. So we just put a bow on Season one of Swan diving were welcoming you into season two. This has been a great journey for us. I've just enjoyed every minute of it, and still I It's been a pleasure to be a cohort and a co collaborator with you building this piece of art. I feel like the painting is still unfinished. There you go. I'm gonna try to work that in there. Well done. Indeed, sir. Just getting started. Can't wait. Gonna be, You know, I'm expecting this to go for years. I hope so. That's what I'm putting out the world. So let's do it, my friend.