Today started as the first time I sat down to record and did not know exactly what I wanted to say.

But maybe that was the point.

In this episode of THEE BIG SWING, I reflect on two very different encounters: one conversation that felt more like being questioned than being known, and another with an 80-year-old woman who slowly let her guard down and reminded me how rich human connection can be.

Everybody starts as a stranger. The question is whether we are willing to move past the surface long enough to discover who is really in front of us.

This episode is about guardedness, vulnerability, time, aging, curiosity, and the quiet beauty of letting people in.

Note: This episode is part of a new creative direction for THEE BIG SWING, where select episodes are paired with an original companion song inspired by its emotional core.

Listen here: The Strangers We Let In, performed by Tadeo Vilar.

The episode tells the story. The song carries the feeling.

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THEE BIG SWING is a reflective podcast about the emotional reckonings and subtle internal recalibrations that change our trajectory over time — and the possibilities still available in life.

Each episode explores the moments when curiosity, courage, accountability, or reflection opens new ways of seeing ourselves and the world.

Through personal reflections and conversations, Lloyd explores changing identities, relationships, self-trust, and the quiet decisions that alter how we see ourselves over time.

THEE BIG SWING is for people who are quietly realizing they are not the same person anymore and that there are still choices left.

The biggest swing isn't always dramatic. Often, it's the shift inside that changes everything.

If something here stayed with you, you can reach me at lloyd@theebigswing.com

Have you ever known exactly how you felt about someone — but when the moment came to say it out loud, the words disappeared?

In this episode of THEE BIG SWING, I sit down with a listener for a deeply honest conversation about love, timing, regret, and the emotional cost of silence.

She reflects on a moment when someone she cared about expressed how they felt — and although she felt the same way, she could not say it back. Not because the feelings weren’t there, but because fear, outside advice, past hurt, and the desire not to look foolish got in the way.

What follows is a conversation about the space between what we feel and what we are able to express. It is also a reflection on how other people’s opinions can shape our choices, especially when we are inexperienced, wounded, or afraid to repeat old mistakes.

But this is not only a story about regret. It is also a story about care, friendship, emotional maturity, and the strange ways people can remain important in our lives even after romance changes form.

Inside this conversation:

• Why saying what we feel can be harder than feeling it
• How fear of looking foolish can silence honest emotion
• The danger of letting outside voices make intimate decisions for us
• Why timing matters in love
• How some relationships survive by becoming something different
• What it means to look back and finally say the words that were once withheld

Sometimes the biggest swing is not chasing love.

Sometimes it is having the courage to say what was true when the moment was still in front of you.

Note: This episode is part of an exciting new creative direction for THEE BIG SWING, where every conversation is paired with an original companion song inspired by its emotional core. The companion song for this episode, "The Words I Couldn't Say," performed by Ophelia Ellis, is available on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, YouTube, and most major streaming platforms.

Send us Fan Mail

THEE BIG SWING is a reflective podcast about the emotional reckonings and subtle internal recalibrations that change our trajectory over time — and the possibilities still available in life.

Each episode explores the moments when curiosity, courage, accountability, or reflection opens new ways of seeing ourselves and the world.

Through personal reflections and conversations, Lloyd explores changing identities, relationships, self-trust, and the quiet decisions that alter how we see ourselves over time.

THEE BIG SWING is for people who are quietly realizing they are not the same person anymore and that there are still choices left.

The biggest swing isn't always dramatic. Often, it's the shift inside that changes everything.

If something here stayed with you, you can reach me at lloyd@theebigswing.com

One of the strangest feelings in life is realizing someone has mistaken you for smaller than you are.

In this episode of THEE BIG SWING, I share a recent experience that caught me completely off guard. What started as a friendly conversation over lunch turned into a moment where I felt questioned, underestimated, and profiled. My first instinct was to defend myself by listing my accomplishments, credentials, and success.

But afterward, I realized the conversation wasn't really about the other person.

It was about me.

Why did I feel the need to prove my worth to someone I had just met? Why did their opinion carry so much weight? And why, after doing so much work on myself, did I slip back into old patterns of defensiveness?

This episode isn't about winning an argument. It's about recognizing the subtle ways our ego can pull us away from the peace we've worked so hard to build. I reflect on profiling, identity, self-worth, and the challenge of staying grounded when someone doesn't see us for who we are.

Sometimes the greatest victory isn't convincing someone else of your value. It's knowing your value well enough that you don't have to.

Because sometimes the biggest swing isn't changing someone else's perception of you. It's resisting the urge to abandon yourself while trying to do it.

Note: This episode is part of an exciting new creative direction for THEE BIG SWING, where every conversation is paired with an original companion song inspired by its emotional core. The companion song for this episode, "I Thought I Had Outgrown That," performed by Marcus Reede, is available on YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, and most major streaming platforms.

Send us Fan Mail

THEE BIG SWING is a reflective podcast about the emotional reckonings and subtle internal recalibrations that change our trajectory over time — and the possibilities still available in life.

Each episode explores the moments when curiosity, courage, accountability, or reflection opens new ways of seeing ourselves and the world.

Through personal reflections and conversations, Lloyd explores changing identities, relationships, self-trust, and the quiet decisions that alter how we see ourselves over time.

THEE BIG SWING is for people who are quietly realizing they are not the same person anymore and that there are still choices left.

The biggest swing isn't always dramatic. Often, it's the shift inside that changes everything.

If something here stayed with you, you can reach me at lloyd@theebigswing.com