Episodes

  • 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey Are You Attracting Clients Like a Lighthouse Signals Boats? Or Chasing Them?

    60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey Are You Attracting Clients Like a Lighthouse Signals Boats? Or Chasing Them?
    Jan 15 2025

    Hello to you listening on Orcas Island, Washington!

    Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga.

    I volunteer as a story docent at Admiralty Head Lighthouse. Sailing in from the Pacific Ocean through the treacherous Strait of San Juan de Fuca ship captains would look for the blazing lighthouse beacon 127 feet above Admiralty Inlet warning them to steer a hard right to starboard, avoid the cliffs, and continue safely south to Puget Sound and on into Seattle, Washington.

    How did the captain know he was seeing Admiralty Head Lighthouse? Each lighthouse - no matter where in the world - has its very own distinctive light pattern, or signature. Like your fingerprints. Lighthouses mark points of navigation, warn about dangerous coastlines, and guide boats into safe harbor.

    But no one harbor serves all boats. Different boats - different harbors. Lighthouses don’t chase boats; why do you chase clients?

    Ask yourself:

    What is it only you have to offer?

    Who needs it and wants it?

    How will you attract your particular client with your own distinctive beacon of light?

    And, how will they know you are signaling them?

    Once you have your answers, you will be well on your way to business success. Guaranteed!

    CTA: If you’re looking for someone to help navigate you and your message, contact me on LinkedIn or Quarter Moon Story Arts for a no-sales, complimentary consult.

    You’re invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, follow, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, and join us next time!

    Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:

    ✓ Check out Services I Offer,

    ✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today

    ✓ Stay current with Diane on LinkedIn, as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack, and now on Pandora Radio!

    Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

    Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

    Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

    All content and image © 2019 to Present: for credit & attribution Quarter Moon Story Arts
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    3 mins
  • 60 Seconds for Time Out Tuesday: What Human Need Does Poetry Fill?

    60 Seconds for Time Out Tuesday: What Human Need Does Poetry Fill?
    Jan 14 2025

    Hello to you listening in Glossop, Derbyshire, England!

    Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Time Out Tuesday and your host, Diane Wyzga.

    Tuesdays are a respite for me. A chance to contemplate for a moment the beauty of a world that might seem to have turned its back on all things beauty-full. I seek out poetry - some I understand - some I ponder as a wander, as with this poem by Czeslaw Milosz entitled “Love”:

    Love

    “Love means to learn to look at yourself

    The way one looks at distant things

    For you are only one thing among many.

    And whoever sees that way heals his heart,

    Without knowing it, from various ills—

    A bird and a tree say to him: Friend.

    Then he wants to use himself and things

    So that they stand in the glow of ripeness.

    It doesn’t matter whether he knows what he serves:

    Who serves best doesn’t always understand.”

    It is no wonder this Nobel Prize-winning poet also wrote these lines:

    “Not that I want to be a god or a hero

    Just to change into a tree,

    Grow for ages, not hurt anyone.” [Czeslaw Milosz]

    Question: Who are you aspiring to be, to change into?

    You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe, share a 5-star rating + nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, and join us next time!

    Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:

    ✓ Check out What I Offer,

    ✓ Arrange your free Story Start-up Session,

    ✓ Stay current with Diane on LinkedIn, as Wyzga on Words on Substack, and now on Pandora Radio!

    Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

    Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

    Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

    All content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.
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    3 mins
  • 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday: Keith McNally & The Question Guy Podcast Talking One Story at a Time

    60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday: Keith McNally & The Question Guy Podcast Talking One Story at a Time
    Jan 13 2025

    Hello to you listening in Hercules, California!

    Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.

    Recently I had the opportunity to share the mic with my friend and colleague Dr. Keith McNally on his popular podcast, The Question Guy! One Story at a Time. During our value-packed 30 minutes Keith and I shared stories about:

    • Resilience,
    • Falling down 7 - Getting up 8,
    • Faith, Family, Friends, and Surviving to Thrive; and
    • Forging a New Path.

    Click HERE to Access the YouTube link.

    CTA: Tune in when you can. You'll enjoy the listening. And while you’re there make sure to like, comment with nice words and subscribe!

    You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe, share a 5-star rating + nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, and join us next time!

    Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:

    ✓ Check out What I Offer,

    ✓ Arrange your free Story Start-up Session,

    ✓ Stay current with Diane on LinkedIn, as Wyzga on Words on Substack AND now on Pandora Radio

    Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

    Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

    Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

    All content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.
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    2 mins
  • 60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday: A Nourishing Story For the Days Ahead

    60 Seconds for Story Prompt Friday: A Nourishing Story For the Days Ahead
    Jan 10 2025

    Hello to you listening in Post Falls, Idaho!

    Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more) for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga.

    Maybe it’s true and maybe it isn’t but once there was a soldier walking home from the war. He had been walking many days, sleeping rough, eating little, and was very hungry. He stumbled into a small village that looked worse than he felt but surely, he thought, someone could spare a bite to eat. He knocked at the first door he came to but the woman who answered his knock said ......

    How we treat each other, help each other, brings people together, makes food taste better, makes life better. Going into the coming days we will need each other like never before. We will need to feed each other with stone soups and nourishing stories.

    Story Prompt: Think of a time when you were nourished by someone or something that felt as magical as ..... stone soup! Write that story!

    You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!

    Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:

    ✓ Check out Services I Offer,

    ✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today

    ✓ Stay current with Diane as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack, LinkedIn and now Pandora Radio

    Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

    Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

    Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

    All content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.

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    5 mins
  • 60 Seconds for Thoughts on Thursday: What Is Important Work?

    60 Seconds for Thoughts on Thursday: What Is Important Work?
    Jan 9 2025

    Hello to you listening in Verbier, Switzerland!

    Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Thoughts on Thursday and your host, Diane Wyzga.

    Maybe like me you keep pursuing your angels for a guide to important work.

    I want to do important work; but what is important work?

    A story by Kai Skye of Flying Edna shows me important work is more than what I thought it is. I’d like to share an Everyday Angels words with you.

    "I want to do important work, I said ......

    Tap this LINK to purchase a copy of the Everyday Angels art and story created by Kai Skye of Flying Edna.

    You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!

    Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:

    ✓ Check out Services I Offer,

    ✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today

    ✓ Stay current with Diane as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack, LinkedIn and now Pandora Radio

    Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

    Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

    Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

    All content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.

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    3 mins
  • 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey: How Did a Know-It-All Learn Restraint

    60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey: How Did a Know-It-All Learn Restraint
    Jan 8 2025

    Hello to you listening in Ferndale, Washington!

    Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga.

    Earlier in life I had tendencies toward behaving like a spring-butt. You know the type. The over-eager know-it-all with her hand in the air. Teacher! Teacher! I know! I know! Think Hermione Granger in the early years of Harry Potter.

    Over time I learned to take to heart what my mother always said: “Just because you thought of something, Diane, doesn’t mean you have to say it.” I can still hear her voice as mom continues to pull me back from “I know! I know!”

    Practical Tip: Prompted by Jim Burke in a recent BizCatalyst 360 Friendship Bench discussion, I offer 3 questions that might have the same effect on you that mom’s voice has on me:

    Does it need to be said?

    Does it need to be said now?

    Does it need to be said by me?

    To be continued because ..... I still have learning and practice to do.....

    You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!

    Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:

    ✓ Check out Services I Offer,

    ✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today

    ✓ Stay current with Diane as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack, LinkedIn and now Pandora Radio

    Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team

    Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts

    Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music

    All content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.

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    2 mins
  • 60 Seconds for Time Out Tuesday: Advice to Myself for 2025: A Factory Reset

    60 Seconds for Time Out Tuesday: Advice to Myself for 2025: A Factory Reset
    Jan 7 2025
    Hello to you listening in St. Paul, Minnesota!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories from Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more) for Time Out Tuesday and your host, Diane Wyzga.While I don’t go for Begin Anew resolutions I’ve found that I can do pretty well with a factory reset. Those who have been following me for some years now have heard me seeking the genuine in life, women having a voice in the world, letting go of the unnecessary, and making room for what nourishes in these finite days of a human life.What’s my factory re-set for 2025? Advice to Myself by Louise Erdrich whose writing and wisdom I have coveted since reading Love Medicine in 1984. Perhaps her poem will reset something wild and unexpected in you. Advice to MyselfLeave the dishes. Let the celery rot in the bottom drawer of the refrigeratorand an earthen scum harden on the kitchen floor.Leave the black crumbs in the bottom of the toaster.Throw the cracked bowl out and don't patch the cup.Don't patch anything. Don't mend. Buy safety pins.Don't even sew on a button.Let the wind have its way, then the earththat invades as dust and then the deadfoaming up in gray rolls underneath the couch.Talk to them. Tell them they are welcome.Don't keep all the pieces of the puzzlesor the doll's tiny shoes in pairs, don't worrywho uses whose toothbrush or if anythingmatches, at all.Except one word to another. Or a thought.Pursue the authentic—decide firstwhat is authentic,then go after it with all your heart.Your heart, that placeyou don't even think of cleaning out.That closet stuffed with savage mementos.Don't sort the paper clips from screws from saved baby teethor worry if we're all eating cereal for dinneragain. Don't answer the telephone, ever,or weep over anything at all that breaks.Pink molds will grow within those sealed cartonsin the refrigerator. Accept new forms of lifeand talk to the deadwho drift in through the screened windows, who collectpatiently on the tops of food jars and books.Recycle the mail, don't read it, don't read anythingexcept what destroysthe insulation between yourself and your experienceor what pulls down or what strikes at or what shattersthis ruse you call necessity.""Advice to Myself" by Louise Erdrich from Original Fire. © Harper Collins Publishers, 2003. PDF in Library of CongressYou’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and comment - it helps us all - and join us next time!Meanwhile, stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website to:✓ Check out Services I Offer,✓ For a no-obligation conversation about your communication challenges, get in touch with me today✓ Stay current with Diane as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack, LinkedIn and now Pandora RadioStories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicAll content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.
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    5 mins
  • 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday: Announcing a Camino Book by Dennis & Ali Pitocco

    60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday: Announcing a Camino Book by Dennis & Ali Pitocco
    Jan 6 2025
    Hello to you listening in Lutz, Florida! (City tour on YouTube)Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Motivate Your Monday and your host, Diane Wyzga.Today we’re celebrating Epiphany - a time of revelations - and what I’d like to reveal to you is the launch of a wonderful new book by my friends and fellow Camino travelers, Dennis and Ali Pitocco. Their book “Rites of Passage: Through the Landscape of Our Souls” is NOW ON AMAZON.For those who are curious about walking a Camino you will learn that while you can prepare for a pilgrimage it is only by walking one that you let go of what no longer works for you and become who you were sent here to be.The detailed essay posted by Dennis J. Pitocco on January 1, 2025 reveals what you can expect from their Camino journey of 40 days, 500 miles and 1,300,000 steps: walking, talking, laughing, crying, praying, and witnessing. You can read his essay in its entirety in the Episode Notes where you will also find a link to purchase your own copy of Rites of Passage on Amazon, with proceeds going to American Pilgrims on the Camino. ESSAY Forty days. Five hundred miles. One million, three hundred thousand footsteps echoing across ancient stones. We emerged transformed, our spirits awakened to life’s true purpose. The path became a mirror, reflecting our authentic selves and our place in the vast tapestry of existence. In the end, we realized that the Camino wasn’t just a journey across Spain, but a pilgrimage through the landscapes of our souls.We walked through dawn mists that cloaked the Pyrenees in ethereal light, through sun-drenched Spanish mesetas where shadows stretched like memories across endless golden fields, and through ancient forests where pilgrims’ footsteps had worn smooth paths in the earth for a thousand years before us.We talked with strangers who became family, sharing stories in broken Spanish and perfect smiles, with ourselves in those long stretches of solitude where the mind finally quiets enough to hear the whispers of the heart, with the ghosts of pilgrims past, their presence palpable in the worn stones of medieval bridges and the cool shadows of Romanesque churches.We laughed at blisters that mapped our journey across tender feet, at the absurdity of carrying our lives in backpacks, at the joy of simple pleasures – a cold fountain on a hot day, a warm bed after miles of rain, the taste of rustic bread shared with fellow travelers in the fading light of day.We cried for the weight of burdens finally laid down, for lost companions who never made it to Santiago, and for all those whose journeys ended too soon, leaving behind empty beds in albergues and half-finished stories in our hearts.We prayed not always with words, but with footsteps, with breath, with the rhythm of walking poles against ancient stone. Prayer became as natural as breathing – in the silence of pre-dawn departures, in the golden light of cathedral windows, in the simple act of placing one foot before another, again and again and again.We witnessed nature’s symphony – the wind through wheat fields conducting an orchestra of rustling leaves, the percussion of raindrops on stone walls, the soprano calls of unseen birds, and yes, that rare and precious gift: the absolute silence that exists only in places where the modern world hasn’t yet laid claim.Our story is not merely a travelogue of our journey from the French Pyrenees to the fields of Galicia, but of a transformation. Our memories, like the path itself, wind and weave, double back and leap forward, and we honor this fluidity by allowing our story to seamlessly flow between what happened and what might have happened, between what we saw with our eyes and what we knew with our hearts."The true Camino de Santiago begins when you finish it."We invite you now to shoulder your own pack, to step onto this ancient path with us. Come walk the Camino de Santiago through our eyes, our hearts, our transforming souls. Let us be your companions as you discover, as we did, that every pilgrimage is both universal and uniquely personal, that every step takes you both forward and inward, and that the real distance covered is not measured in miles but in epiphanies.CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOUR COPY OF “RITES OF PASSAGE” ON AMAZONThis is our story, but it could be yours. The path awaits.Author’s note: All proceeds from Book sales (net of actual publishing costs) will be donated to American Pilgrims on the Camino, a Charity Navigator 4-star-rated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the enduring tradition of the Camino by supporting its infrastructure, by gathering pilgrims together, and by providing information and encouragement to past and future pilgrims.You’re always invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, would you subscribe and spread the word with a generous 5-star review and ...
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    3 mins