January 4, 2021

Welcome back to the Transcend Human Podcast - this is the first episode of Season 2!

I can't believe it's already been a full year!

Minute of Transparency: The Apple Dilemma

Today's Topic: Transcend Human Revisited 

In this episode:

1. How did this start again?

2. Where did we come from?

3. Where are we going?

// 1. HOW DID THIS START AGAIN?

Like I said at the top of the show - this is the first episode of Season 2!

So I thought it would be good to do a quick refresh on what Transcend Human is, and why we're doing it in the first place.

For those of you who have followed along since the beginning - this will sound familiar:

• Episode 010 goes into detail on this if you're interested

• But back in November-ish of 2019 I had an idea that wouldn't go away

• I kept thinking about the fact that we are all part of this thing called the Human Condition - and that there is no escaping it. It doesn't matter who you are, how rich you are, how much power you have, what family you're part of, what color you are, what gender you are, how old you are, etc. It just doesn't matter - the Human Condition is something we all have to navigate

And based on my work in the field of mental health I understood an important concept:

• So you can't control the fact that the Human Condition exists - but you can control how you respond to it

• And this simple fact is what led to the formation of Transcend Human:

  • The idea that even though we can't control the Human Condition - we can learn to transcend it - or rise above it in some way

  • Because really - we have two options:

    • We can let the Human Condition roll us. We can live as victims - reacting to the things life throws at us

    • Or, we can be proactive. We can choose how we want to respond to the things the world throws at us in advance

• So this rolled around in my brain for the rest of the year and by December I knew I had to do something about it

• The easy thing would have been to start blogging - I love to write, and had blogged for years when working as a Web Director at a church in the Midwest

• But for some reason - blogging didn't seem to be enough

• So that left me with the following options:

  • Write a book - but unfortunately this would take too long and unless it was published - there was no bang for the buck

  • Start a YouTube Channel - but unfortunately I'm not big on being the one on camera - and I just couldn't see doing that

  • Or start a podcast - which seemed like a happy medium for me

    • I didn't have to be on camera

    • And there is a lot of bang for the buck with the popularity of podcasts and the ability to put content out there easily and regularly

• So that's what I did. And the first episode of the Transcend Human Podcast went live on January 13, 2020

// 2. WHERE DID WE COME FROM?

Looking back over the Season 1 - I would clump the episodes into three buckets:

1. Explanatory Episodes: These were the episodes that helped flesh out what TH was all about. They explained the mission, vision and values of TH. They dealt with some of the core concepts like the Human Condition, why it is important to be a lifelong learner, and some of the things that push us to think more transcendently

2. Controversy Theory: A series of 17 episodes that came from a manuscript I wrote back in the early 2000s. Each episode was a chapter from that manuscript and together they form a theory for living from the Christian perspective. The idea is that if we can wrap our minds around this theory, we would be able to Transcend Human even faster - because we would have a firm foundation upon which to explore and grow

3. Transcendent Ideas: The rest of the episodes took on more of a generic self help vibe. These were one-off episodes that explored random topics like time, happiness, low frustration tolerance, moderation, fairness, normality, medical conditions, etc. As we explored these topics we discussed how to "transcend" them. In other words - most of them are elements of the Human Condition - so we can either give into them the way the world suggests we give in to them, or we can choose to be better - to transcend it by choosing ahead of time to respond well to whatever it is

Some of you might be asking, "So why is Controversy Theory in there anyway? It seems like you could have just done a podcast called Controversy theory and called it a day?"

And on some level that might be true.

In 2019 I was 100% focused on this concept of transcending the human condition. Controversy Theory was an old manuscript I hadn't touched in close to 18 years.

But as a I began recording episodes of Transcend Human - I began to notice a theme. In discussing ways to rise above the Human Condition I found myself needing to explain why, and where the idea stemmed from. And often, the easiest way to explain things was to use an idea from Controversy Theory.

Before I knew it - I was going back through my old manuscript to see if there were other helpful pieces of info for the podcast. And eventually I realized that everything I was trying to convey on the podcast took root in some way in Controversy Theory.

So that's when I shifted gears, and decided to walk through the entire manuscript before going any farther. The thought was, if we could all get on the same page with the ideas in Controversy Theory - we would all have a firm foundation for the ideas Transcend Human was wanting to address.

So that really wraps up Season 1. We completed Controversy Theory and then dove into 16 episodes building on that foundation.

// 3. WHERE ARE WE GOING?

Season 2 lies in front of us - a blank canvas just waiting to express itself.

And while I don't have a detailed roadmap - complete with weekly topics and titles - I have done a fair amount of thinking about the direction I'd like to go this year:

1. Random TH Episodes: We will continue to do episodes on felt need topics throughout the year. These topics will be random, based on things going on in the world, or things I'm dealing with at the time. And together, we'll figure out ways we can transcend them moving forward

2. Short Series: Next - there may be topics I know I can't do justice in one episode. Similar to the 2-part series on Transcending Time last season, there will be times when we spend a few weeks on one topic. One of these series will most likely be on parenting

3. Conscience Driven Therapy: Conscience Driven Therapy was meant to be a book - the companion book or follow-up book to Controversy Theory. It was meant to build on the original theory - but with a focus on being a self help manual. Or a field guide for the Christian Clinician. CDT was started, but never finished. So the thought is to do a large series like we did for CT last season. We would do an episode for every chapter in the book and together they would form a complete set of tools for us to use as we navigate the Human Condition together

Let’s Land the Plane: So that's what I have on the agenda for this year.

I love that you've joined us - even if this is your first episode. I'm looking forward to this season - and continuing the journey with you. 

As always - you can support TH in two HUGE ways:

1. Share TH with your friends and family - either verbally, or over social media

2. Give us a positive rating on Apple Podcasts - this is the gold standard for improving your visibility in the podcast library. There are so many podcasts out there - it's easy to get lost in the sea of content. So increased visibility means it will be easier for people who need this content to find it

Again, thanks for joining us and supporting TH. Until next week - keep Transcending Human!