This is Episode 40 — the episode that nearly wasn’t.

For two weeks I put out no new material: one encore, then nothing at all. And here’s the paradox: when I went quiet, the downloads spiked. Which made me stop and wonder - is there something in silence itself that draws people in?

In this milestone episode, I explore the power of fallow periods - those empty-chair moments when it looks like nothing is happening, but in truth everything is gathering strength beneath the surface. From Carl Jung’s insights on thresholds, to Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ call for the soul’s winter, to Thomas Moore and Parker Palmer’s reflections on silence, I share why doing nothing is not failure but part of the natural cycle.

We’ll talk about:

• What it means to leave the field fallow in life, work, and creativity
• Why silence, rest and waiting can be as powerful as constant output
• The paradox of absence: more downloads when no episode was released
• How to recognise the ‘let it lie’ moments a la Vic Reeves
• October as a season of harvest, thresholds and friends
• A preview of my upcoming “season of friends,” with milestone birthdays, memories and synchronicities to share

00:00 Welcome to the Download

00:29 Episode 40: A Milestone

00:58 The Fallow Period

02:03 Embracing Silence and Rest

06:25 The Wisdom of Letting It Lie

08:58 The Paradox of Silence

10:48 A Season of Friends

12:20 Conclusion and Next Steps

Episode 40 is a pause, a marker stone, a threshold. A reminder that it’s not wrong to do nothing, and that sometimes the most authentic thing we can do is let it lie.

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