Ear Worthy Giving Thanks This Year

"There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy."

Meister Eckhart was a 13th-century Christian theologian who once said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”

Eight hundred years has not diminished the wisdom inherent in that statement. The human condition is such that we too often focus on what we lack and not on what we have.

As a wise person once said,"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses."

Sadly, Thanksgiving has become a holiday where gratitude is linked to a feast recorded as occurring in 1621. Now, being thankful is reduced to a day instead of a daily viewpoint or routine.

I think we can agree that thanking others is an act we do too infrequently. Think about when we do give thanks. When we're retiring, we finally thank people we worked with for 30 or 40 years. When someone gives us something, whether it be a present, a gift, or a reward for an accomplishment, we give thanks.

I am, sadly, one of those people who does not offer thanks often enough to the people in my life. In the case of the Ear Worthy podcast review site, my personal jury has rendered a verdict. I, too, am guilty of not thanking the people who work with me on Ear Worthy.

Like so many others, I have waited until Thanksgiving to offer my gratitude to those who have made Ear Worthy successful.

First, I want to thank the readers of Ear Worthy. There's that old existential question: If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it actually fall?

That's true for Ear Worthy. If an online publication was created to communicate podcast reviews, recommendations, and trends, would it qualify as a communications device if no one read it?

Thanks to you, we've had more than 250,000 impressions so far this year. We hope to continue to offer you value in the coming year.

Second, I want to thank the people who make Ear Worthy possible. So far this year, we've published 275 articles. That doesn't happen alone. Thank you to our podcast consultant, George Witt, for his wisdom and counsel. Thanks to Jim Driscoll in Texas for his investigative work on finding these hidden gems in indie podcasting. Thank you to Pushpa Khanal for her database management, SEO work, and technical expertise.

Thank you to those who regularly share their incisive perspective on podcasts that are worth "ear time." Those people include Devin Andrade, Andreea Coscai, Arielle Nissenblatt, Lauren Passell, and Wil Williams.

These people are passionate about podcasting. They are often the boost up the success ladder that indie podcasters need.

Thank you to those who work with podcast networks and podcast marketing companies who send us press releases, updates, and announcements about podcasts. I know it's their job, but they are damn good at it and treat us at Ear Worthy - a small online publication -- with the respect accorded to institutions like The New York Times, Bloomberg, or Podnews. Those people include Mackensie Freeman, Ray Padgett, Tamar Aprahamian, Tucker Nesbitt, Khim Aday, Ale Russian, Jennifer Savage, Emily Hodgkins, Nancy Zakhary, and so many others.

Thank you to my partners at Substack for their ongoing support, including Amanda B., Danny Brown, Joe Casabona, Captain Ron, Tony Doe, J. Rosemary Francis, Samantha Hodder, and Diana Krach. Your positive comments and graciousness in recommending Ear Worthy are noted and appreciated.

Thank you to John Kowalczuk for his financial support of Ear Worthy and his ability to analyze and define "quality podcasts." John epitomizes the concept of "giving back."

Thank you to all the independent podcasters who have been so gracious with their time so that we at Ear Worthy can help them achieve the level of success they desire from their podcasting efforts.

I think an appropriate quote for any indie podcaster is this: “I’m thankful for my struggle because, without it, I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength.”

Thank you to Amanda B., Danny Brown, Ben Castleman, Steve Cooper, Matt Gilhooly, Glenda Pacanins, Ayesha Khan, Ned Donovan, Danusia Malina-Derben, Joe Gangemi, Whitney Knox Lee, Zale Mednick, Aileen Merciel, Arielle Nissenblatt, Mathew Passy, Emily McElwreath, Emily Ross, Rita Richa, Lyndsay Phillips, Monique Sanchez, Jennica Sadhwani, Evan Stern, and Jenn Trepeck.

This next quote reminds us of why gratitude is such an essential fuel for well-being. “The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we cannot feel thankful and unhappy at the same time.”

Finally, I'm thankful that I get to interact with such creative, considerate, and skilled podcasters and those associated with the industry. I'll end with this quote: “It’s a funny thing about life. Once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.”