A Penny For Your Thoughts

I had a birthday last week. There was cake. And a rollercoaster of emotions I hadn't expected. In this episode, I go somewhere I've been avoiding — into the little deaths nobody acknowledges, the silence around menopause, and the irony of aging well. This is the conversation I wish someone had started with me at forty-five. Consider this me starting it with you.

What if love isn’t missing—just showing up in places we weren’t taught to look?In this episode, I share a story that begins on a dating site and ends somewhere entirely different. It’s about redefining connection, finding ease instead of effort, and discovering that the most meaningful forms of love often arrive unexpectedly.Also… there are boots.

I received a generator I didn’t order.Amazon said I could keep it.What happened next made me question whether anything that shows up in our lives is random.

Our cars don't just transport us. They carry us.So when I found myself at the car dealership being asked, “What would keep you from buying a new car today?” my answer defied logic.It was purely sentimental.Because essentially what I heard was, “Are you ready to let go of the car that carried you here today?”At that moment, I was not. No amount of persuasion could help me process that fact. I had to come to terms with it in my own time.

In the African bush, attention is a matter of survival.In ordinary life, attention is creation.In both scenarios, what you notice shapes what you become.Learning to track my attention showed me the truth. And then it gave me a choice.I could keep rehearsing endings, or I could start tracking what brings me back to myself.Loss would no longer be the only trail I follow.So I’m learning to track life again.Because tracking invites something wilder and more honest to reveal itself to me.

In this reflective conversation, Penny Plautz shares her experiences from the tumultuous year of 2025, exploring themes of resilience, community, and personal growth. She discusses the unexpected challenges that shaped her year, the importance of embracing vulnerability, and the transformative power of connection. As she looks forward to 2026, she encourages listeners to recognize the gifts that come from hardship and to cultivate supportive communities.

This year unraveled me in ways I didn’t see coming. I kept asking the question I was afraid to answer: “Are we there yet?” What I’m discovering is that maybe arrival was never the point. Maybe becoming is.

So many of us find ourselves in situations we couldn’t have imagined a year ago. This is why I created Architects of the Unknown. Not to avoid ambiguity. But to work with it. To look at what we’ve been taught to fear, like the dark side of the moon, and discover its untapped potential. To do so with a community of others who are going through similar upheaval and uncertainty.

From grade school to grad school, we’ve been handed maps: how to go from here to there, step by step. What if the map for what’s next doesn’t yet exist? What if you’re meant to build it?You know better than anyone what you want your life to be. You know your preferences, your capacities, and your deepest longings.This episode explores what it takes to be an Architect of the Unknown.

What if homecoming isn’t just a parade or a dance, but a personal pilgrimage — back to the self that’s been waiting for you to return?

One of the most telling photos from my trip to England wasn’t the most obvious. It was a small road sign in Bath: No Reversing.Of all the signs I got, from feathers to an enormous model left ear in a window (I kid you not!), this was the most straightforward.There would be no going back after this trip. No reversing. A portal opened. I walked through it.

When it comes to reunions, there are two types of people. Those who love them - organize them, travel far and wide to attend them - and those who avoid them even when they’re five minutes away.Until this year, I was firmly in the latter camp. Not because I didn’t want to reconnect with the people who grew up in the same place at the same time I did, but because high school was a hormone-fueled, trauma-triggering time.

I learned about the power of yet from psychological researcher Carol Dweck, who coined the term growth mindset. Instead of saying “I can’t do this,” saying “I can’t do this… yet,” shifts the feeling of finality to one of possibility and perseverance.The world is always rushing to resolve itself as if in a perpetual, “Are we there yet?” loop. To get to the next thing before the present thing is fully felt or experienced. But you don’t have to rush. You’re allowed to linger longer. You have permission to take your time. You get to “Sit and feast on your life,” as Derek Walcott urges in the closing lines of one of my favorite poems, Love After Love.

Capital One may be interested in what’s in your wallet, but I’m far more interested in what’s in your toolkit. Because that’s where your gold lies. No matter what may be going on around you, your tools remind you how to access what’s going on within you.Your tools are your buried treasure. They allow you to reinvent, rediscover, and remember who you are.

I’ve spent more time in the water this year than in recent years. This is largely based on the theory that when a baby is cranky or out of sorts, putting them in water helps calm them down. Applying the same philosophy to myself, I’ve taken to the water as often as possible.In this episode we explore how we navigate the emotional deep end of uncertain times.

This has been the kind of year that I can’t even begin to make sense of. So many things have happened that I didn’t expect. Personally, politically, globally.Even if I could have predicted these changes, they would have played out much differently had I been in charge.Thank goodness I wasn’t.When everything goes according to plan, there’s no room for the mystery that makes mundane moments magical or turns ordinary experiences into extraordinary adventures.

In this episode, I share my experience learning to surf and how it applies to just about everything.

On days when I default to ruminating about the past instead of imagining a wildly different future, it helps to ask who might be waiting for me once I claim my birthright as a butterfly.

A common theme in literature and philosophy is that even when we experience significant loss, something new or beautiful that was previously hidden can be revealed. In this episode, we explore how to discover it. The playlist mentioned in this episode is Penny P's Parting Playlist here on Spotify.

When everyday feels like Memorial Day, a day you remember what you can't seem to forget, these ideas may help you move on.

Do you find yourself in that messy, magical middle place where you're no longer where you used to be but not yet where you want to go? In this episode, you'll learn how to trust what shows up in the present moment can help you trust the unknown.

Are you feeling uprooted? In this episode we explore what flowers can teach us about uncertainty and navigating transitions.

Are you feeling uprooted these days? In this episode we'll explore what flowers can teach us about transitions.

A short poem for summoning the courage to take the leap that awaits you.

In this conversation, Penny discusses the concept of the Auntie Brigade, a community of women who, despite being childless by choice, play a vital role in society as caretakers and advocates for change. She emphasizes the importance of reclaiming personal power, mobilizing against injustice, and embracing one's unique strengths and perspectives. Through her own experiences, she encourages listeners to take action, share their stories, and recognize the impact they can have on the world around them.

This special Valentine's edition of Soul Stories can be enjoyed any time you need a refreshing take on love. It's a love letter to your heart and all the ways it contributes to the creation of something miraculous - you!

Today's Soul Story is designed to help you befriend your body and empower you with a new view of what it means to be vibrantly healthy and alive.

Soul Stories are roadmaps to articulating and actualizing your soul’s desire for different areas of your life. Think of them as a bridge between where you are now and where you want to go. When you listen to them regularly, they call you forward and invite you to embody an elevated version of yourself and allow you feel into the possibilities you can create as your best life. I encourage you to listen as you move throughout your day – maybe while you walk, drive, or do errands - or you can listen on a loop in the background while you work. Soul Stories are designed to uplift, inspire, and acknowledge the magic and miracles available to you right now that shape your thinking and expressing. I hope you enjoy listening!

Thoughts on ushering in the New Year and allowing whatever comes through for you to be okay.

What if instead of waiting for an antidote to the coronavirus and an end to the pandemic, you realized you are the antidote and what you do choose to do now will determine how you move forward? This episode explores the ways you are being called to be the antidote.

This is a guided journey into releasing the tensions you hold in your body and surrendering your worries to the weightlessness of floating. This is based on a process of intentional movement and meditation known as Flow Motion that was birthed in Bali on a recent retreat. While most of us don't have access to a swimming pool right now, this journey allows you to imagine the feeling of being held, supported, and gently swirled through the water giving you access to the wisdom that weightlessless brings forth.