The Places That Scare Us

For the final episode of this first season of The Places That Scare Us, I’m joined by Fiona Barrows - for a conversation in which we delve into how we’re feeling in amidst such uncertain times, what I learned in making this podcast, and figuring it out as we go.

What we talk about in this episode

• My fears in making this podcast
• The Places That Scare Us: Fitting in, standing out, and feeling the feelings, with Fiona Barrows
• Range - David Epstein
• The inherent biases in the stories we (don’t) tell
• My complete lack of knowledge about growing vegetables and the yield of a courgette plant
• Giving ourselves the time and space to figure things out as we go
• My non-story of not wanting children

In this episode I talk to Lisa Stewart about her experience of living with ME, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There is no known cause, diagnosis, or cure for ME, and it is an incredibly poorly understood illness. As a result, a lot of people who suffer from ME don’t get the support they need to navigate an experience that Lisa describes as a ‘half life’. As always, there are no easy answers. This is very much an episode on being the middle of what is, what it looks like to figure things out in your own way, in your own time.

What we talk about in this episode:

• Lisa’s first experience of ME and relapse
• #millionsmissing campaign
• Managing energy around using social media
• Spoon Theory and chronic illness
• Lisa’s childhood on Shetland
• Lisa’s Instagram and Etsy Shop

In this episode, I talk to Anna Considine, about her experience of psychosis, as well as the importance of asking for help. Based in Northampton, Anna is photographer and copywriter, and she helps creative brands and businesses to tell their story online. I really appreciate Anna’s openness with sharing her experiences of dealing with a mental illness, and I hope you do too :)

Notes:

• How Anna listens to her gut, and intuition vs. intrusive thoughts
• Myers-Briggs Personality Test
• INFJ Type
• Buying into the culture of ‘hustle’ when starting a business
• Anna’s experience of psychosis
• Arianna Huffington - The Sleep Revolution
• Brain development in teenagers
• Mizz Magazine
• Giving yourself permission
• Taking time to gain perspective and notice things
• The importance of asking for help
• NHS 111 - NHS 111 can help if you have an urgent medical problem and you’re not sure what to do
• Samaritans - Samaritans works to make sure there's always someone there for anyone who needs someone
• Anna’s website and Instagram

You may know the lovely Jo McCarthy as Jo at Firain, who joined me to talk about her recent decision to close her online shop and transition to becoming a creative business coach and cheerleader. Jo and I covered quite a few different things in this episode, including Jo’s thoughts on managing your time when you’re self-employed, how not to get distracted by your phone, and some of the most common challenges she sees creatives facing in the online world.

What we talk about in this episode:

• What home means to us
• Creating a space that feels like your own
• Jo’s career as an estate agent
• Keeping in tune / looking out for signs that we’re veering off
• Agnes Becker, of We Are Stardust
• Some of the most common challenges that creatives face
• Hashtag Authentic Episode 82: How to be Indistractable in a chaotic world with Nir Eyal
• Indistractable, by Nir Eyal
• Jo’s techniques for not getting distracted by your phone!
• Setting boundaries around work and personal time
• Running your business at your own pace
• Jo’s embracing of more her introverted side!
• Morning pages
• Sibella Court
• The word ‘Cwtch’
• Paul Jarvis
• SF Girl by Bay
• Jo’s Instagram
• Firain website

Giulia Mazzola joins me for a conversation in which she shared her story of losing her corporate identity, rediscovering her love of the written word, and how learning to listen to your inner voice can sometimes take much longer than we might expect!

We also talk about how we can become comfortable with being in the process of figuring things out. I also share some of my own experiences in this conversation of being lost and having to learn to be okay with that.

What we talk about in this episode:

• Giulia’s career in Finance
• The Underworld Journey
• Lindsay Mack // Tarot for the Wild Soul
• Giving ourselves the time and space to figure things out
• Redefining what success looks like for you
• The fear of not fitting in
• The stories that we tell ourselves, and reframing our realities
• Parker Palmer - Let Your Life Speak
• The Science of Storytelling - Will Storr
• My experience of counselling
• How Giulia is learning to listen to her inner voice
• Giulia’s Instagram
• Giulia’s website