Authenticity
February 27, 2024
When we set out to create CroneCast, we had one non-negotiable value: authenticity. We were uninterested in creating a highly scripted podcast. We wanted the conversations to be authentic and organic. That meant committing to showing up as ourselves wherever we were at on recording day: energized, tired, overcaffeinated, optimistic or melancholy.
We do have a general idea of what we want to talk about in each episode, but it’s important to us to let the conversation go where it goes. Yes, sometimes that means dropping into a bit of a rabbit-hole. But it can also mean arriving somewhere wonderful and unexpected.
We also want to ensure the podcast is not over produced. Sure, we edit some things out and correct sound quality issues, but what you hear – the ‘ums’ and the stumbling over words – is us being in the moment, thinking on the fly, and inviting surprise. We don’t want to present a curated statement. Instead, we want to invite you into a conversation.
It will come as no surprise to you that authenticity, our non-negotiable, aligns perfectly with what it means to be a crone. As we age, we learn it is fruitless to try and over script life. If you’ve been paying attention, you reach an age/stage where you accept that life is largely improv. It has been all along. While we lull ourselves into thinking we have a script securely in hand, in truth it’s how well we riff on life’s relentless ‘prompts’ that determines our storylines.
Trying to “over produce” life is similarly futile and, in fact, corrosive. Every effort to smooth out, polish and magic erase parts of ourselves and our stories moves us farther away from authenticity. It takes wisdom, courage and, perhaps most importantly, time to show up as you really are. Life is profoundly messy and there is no way to reach cronedom without a few (or a lot) of stains on our shirts. Being a crone means embracing the mess. It means relishing that, to quote the great John Prine, “we are what we are and we ain’t what we ain’t.”
As you get older, what have become your non-negotiables?