Into the Living Room: Behind-the-Scenes of a Lifelong Learner Shelly May Roby

I initially started this audio project 11 years ago. At that time, it was called, The Firebelly Chronicles. It was a video podcast where I interviewed people like author Julia Cameron (The Artist's Way) and owner and founder, Dave Dahl (Dave's Killer Bread). I had always admired people (and still do) who had a fire in their belly and the courage to bring that fire to life. 🔥
After my son was born, The Firebelly Chronicles evolved into Winging It. And as I reflect on the creative decision to evolve the project into Winging It it makes sense.
When Winging It launched, I was a new mom, working full-time, and interested in exploring my own life and ability to create within my new reality, in a whole new way.
Winging It became an audio diary podcast and gained a following very quickly, which I was excited about. I loved producing Winging It because it allowed me the opportunity to dig deeper into who I was, where I was, and who I was becoming.
So, it makes sense that now, Winging It, is evolving into its next stage—a stage where I explore everything I have learned and continue to learn, as I step into living life in a whole new way once again. 
Into the Living Room: Behind-the-Scenes of a Lifelong Learner is an up-close and personal look at my life—what I've discovered along the way and what I am still learning. 
I enlist the support of experts out in the field, as well as those personally close to me in my life, and like Winging It, I include an audio diary of my own life.
I explore my questions and issues, and the questions and issues of others, but most of all, I search for the core of it all, the bottom of the barrel, the secrets of life, that I have been obsessed with for so long.
Looking back on all the projects I have created, I recognize that I have never stopped searching.
Into the Living: Behind-the-Scenes of a Lifelong Learner is an accumulation of it all. At its very core, my intention is for this to be something you can turn on when you need to be inspired, energized, and reminded of who you are.
Welcome to Into the Living Room: Behind-the-Scenes of a Lifelong Learner!

If you know anything about me, you know that I have felt awkward for most of my life. I still do to be honest. For so long I felt like I was born without life’s operating instructions, like I was missing the manual or something. 
But as I grew up, I realized that, you know what, most people felt like me, too, at least at some point in their life, maybe not now. But when I was younger, oh my goodness, I thought I was the only one.
I think that’s why I’ve always loved to hear other people’s stories. The people, the experiences, the books, the art, the teachings that made them who they are today. 
How did they become who they are? 
Step into the living room with me as I navigate life and continue to learn all I can about being human.
Into the Living: Behind-the-Scenes of a Lifelong Learner is an accumulation of it all and I am so excited to share this journey with you all.
 

When I started Winging It back in 2015, my son Blaze was just two years old. At that time, I wanted to document becoming a parent while working full-time, all while attempting to do all the things. Since launching the podcast almost five years ago, a lot has happened, and I’ve figured some things out. 
Today, I’m excited to share a new 5-part series I’ve created within my podcast. This new series is called: Winging It | Midlife.
Follow along with me as I explore life after leaving my full-time job and starting a business of my own. 

Ready or not, here I am. In part two of our Winging It: Midlife series, I dive into learning to be okay with putting myself and my new projects out into the world. 

It was author, Kurt Vonnegut who said: "We have to be continually jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down."
I’m a new mom and I constantly feel like I’m winging it. Winging it with motherhood, winging it with marriage, winging it with my career, and winging it with life in general.
My life looks different than it did before I had a child (obviously).
And it’s not that I didn’t think that was not going to happen, but I guess I didn’t think it would be so drastic and I would feel so out of place, so unfit for motherhood – in a nutshell, that I would feel like a failure in more than one area of my life.
So, I’ve created an audio diary as an attempt to figure life out after having my baby.
But actually, who am I kidding, this is about figuring out life period.
This is Winging It.

Since having my son almost two years ago, finding the balance between him, my husband, my friends, my family, my work, my health, my finances, and my creative projects, has been a bit of a struggle. Once I feel like I have it all down, the next day, it all falls apart.
I don’t know if my life will ever be balanced to be honest, I don’t even know if that is realistic for me, but as long as I am able to strive for a balanced life, and am conscious of when my life feels out of balance, that is completely good enough for me.
In Episode 2, Winging It: Finding Balance, I take a deeper look into how to balance a full life – from date nights with my husband to my precious morning time before the world wakes up.
I also include an update on how getting my health back on track in going.