So welcome to the podcast to Ange Hi Ange.
2
00:00:10,363 --> 00:00:12,624
It's lovely to have you here.
3
00:00:13,164 --> 00:00:17,727
I thought it would be useful for everyone to get to know you a little bit.
4
00:00:17,727 --> 00:00:22,810
So do you want to just say a little bit about who you are and what it is that you do?
5
00:00:22,852 --> 00:00:23,793
Yes, absolutely.
6
00:00:23,793 --> 00:00:26,034
So my name is Ange Friesen.
7
00:00:26,112 --> 00:00:34,150
I am a brand strategist and a writer ah who is usually based in London, but at the moment
baseless.
8
00:00:34,150 --> 00:00:36,581
So we'll get into that a little bit more.
9
00:00:37,752 --> 00:00:48,529
I work mostly with product brands, but basically with anybody who has an idea for
something that they think is really cool and special that they want to bring into the
10
00:00:48,529 --> 00:00:51,291
world and turn into a product or a business.
11
00:00:52,332 --> 00:00:59,155
my background started as a copywriter and then I trained as a psychotherapist because I
thought I wanted to be a therapist.
12
00:00:59,155 --> 00:01:10,610
ah And then I got to the end of the training and realized I just wanted all the therapy
for myself and all of the kind of interesting insights as to how people work, which is
13
00:01:10,610 --> 00:01:12,420
totally applicable to brands.
14
00:01:12,420 --> 00:01:21,824
And so now I kind of think about my work as bridging those two, those two past selves.
15
00:01:22,042 --> 00:01:27,854
to really be able to dive deep with people to find the soul of a brand.
16
00:01:27,854 --> 00:01:37,568
For me, brand strategy is really about who we are at the deepest level, what is it that we
do, how do we share that with the world, which I think is uh some kinds of therapy is
17
00:01:37,568 --> 00:01:39,058
doing the same thing.
18
00:01:39,158 --> 00:01:44,110
And yeah, that's the overview of who I am and what I do.
19
00:01:44,462 --> 00:01:47,575
I like the way you describe brand being the soul of who we are.
20
00:01:47,575 --> 00:01:49,082
I don't think I've heard that before.
21
00:01:49,082 --> 00:01:51,229
That really kind of sits with me.
22
00:01:51,229 --> 00:01:54,352
I think about our identity a lot.
23
00:01:54,352 --> 00:02:00,858
So I'm a social scientist, so I'm thinking about our social identity and our individual
identity.
24
00:02:01,279 --> 00:02:05,253
How do people kind of show up with you with their identity?
25
00:02:05,253 --> 00:02:08,726
And how do you understand identity and then the link with soul?
26
00:02:09,155 --> 00:02:14,879
Well, because for me it's so interesting because I do not love personal brands.
27
00:02:14,879 --> 00:02:18,972
I don't love working with people who are just like, hey, I'm a coach.
28
00:02:18,972 --> 00:02:20,723
I love those people.
29
00:02:20,723 --> 00:02:24,476
one of my best friends is somebody who I started working with in that way.
30
00:02:24,476 --> 00:02:30,951
But I've realized that when it's a person, there's so many layers.
31
00:02:30,951 --> 00:02:32,972
are so many blocks that can get in the way.
32
00:02:32,972 --> 00:02:37,475
There's so much that's going on internally as a person that can...
33
00:02:38,860 --> 00:02:43,893
make it really hard to hone in on that thread of like one clear idea.
34
00:02:43,893 --> 00:02:47,865
And I really respect the people who can do that well.
35
00:02:47,865 --> 00:02:53,308
But for me, it's really working with the idea and the soul of the idea.
36
00:02:53,308 --> 00:02:56,369
And that's something I don't know if you've seen the TED talk.
37
00:02:56,369 --> 00:03:08,856
Oh, who the woman who wrote Eat, Pray, Love, Liz Gilbert, did a TED talk about creativity
and like ideas and how ideas pass from person to person.
38
00:03:08,856 --> 00:03:18,721
And I really have had that experience with working with people that ideas have, there's
something that wants to come into the world, that's how I see it.
39
00:03:18,782 --> 00:03:24,315
And it's a matter of tuning into that and getting past sort of our perceptions.
40
00:03:24,315 --> 00:03:28,147
You still have to get past those same things of like, I should be doing this.
41
00:03:28,147 --> 00:03:34,531
That's the biggest one is people have like all of these shoulds about how they think their
brand should show up and what they think they should be doing.
42
00:03:34,531 --> 00:03:36,750
it's like, so I use like,
43
00:03:36,750 --> 00:03:44,668
I'll do a meditation with somebody, if I have the kind of client and it's the kind of
relationship and the person who I think can explore that way, I'll do a meditation where
44
00:03:44,668 --> 00:03:53,157
it's like, let's connect with the soul of the idea and see what's there and get underneath
all of that sort of like top level thinking.
45
00:03:53,157 --> 00:03:54,258
And it's really, really fun.
46
00:03:54,258 --> 00:03:56,280
That's my favorite part of what I do.
47
00:03:56,748 --> 00:04:04,903
I could listen to you all day and I, you've started blogging on such that I really enjoy
your blogs.
48
00:04:05,905 --> 00:04:18,974
So, and I think the other thing that I really enjoy being connected to you is just the
storytelling that you do on Instagram and your Instagram account.
49
00:04:18,974 --> 00:04:25,358
think it sits with that idea of soul actually, because your Instagram account for me isn't
a
50
00:04:25,358 --> 00:04:28,818
a personally branded account is not in your face.
51
00:04:29,038 --> 00:04:35,698
But I was thinking last night around the questions I was going to ask you and it's like, I
feel like I know you quite well.
52
00:04:35,698 --> 00:04:39,498
We've met once physically, I think it's an award ceremony.
53
00:04:39,678 --> 00:04:45,338
And we've been in a community together at some point, but we've not spoken probably for
over a year or so.
54
00:04:45,338 --> 00:04:47,718
But I think I know you because...
55
00:04:47,820 --> 00:04:49,711
I think some of those things come through.
56
00:04:49,711 --> 00:04:55,956
when I think about you, I think about cats, think about travel, I think about Japan, I
think about stripes.
57
00:04:56,277 --> 00:04:59,919
Stripes are one of the things that comes up, and black and white stripes.
58
00:04:59,919 --> 00:05:07,465
And I think you have this kind of brand-like photo that I see a lot, and then you show up
like that as well.
59
00:05:07,465 --> 00:05:12,029
So there's quite a lot of congruence with what you talk about and who you are.
60
00:05:12,029 --> 00:05:14,050
em And I love the...
61
00:05:14,830 --> 00:05:20,525
probably, I don't know if spiritual's the right kind of word, but I like that woo side of
you as well.
62
00:05:20,525 --> 00:05:23,347
It's like really, I don't know, find it really calming.
63
00:05:23,347 --> 00:05:32,965
So yeah, I was just really excited to have you on the pod because your storytelling
recently has been so interesting to me.
64
00:05:32,965 --> 00:05:42,944
um From the perspective of psychologists who work with people around things like ritual
and routine, and you talk about with branding, people have those barriers and should
65
00:05:42,944 --> 00:05:43,884
haves.
66
00:05:43,884 --> 00:05:56,399
And I see people come into my coaching space and consultancy space with things that like
frameworks or rituals that are no longer serving them or working for them.
67
00:05:56,399 --> 00:06:11,225
So I wondered if you could just tell us a little bit about your recent swap of life
because you've swapped London with all of its local coffee shops for I think most recently
68
00:06:11,225 --> 00:06:13,466
a wander through a field with cows.
69
00:06:13,848 --> 00:06:17,670
Yes, and I've stopped wandering through the field because of the cows.
70
00:06:19,291 --> 00:06:20,381
It's shocking.
71
00:06:20,381 --> 00:06:23,712
So, my gosh, there's so much.
72
00:06:24,233 --> 00:06:35,298
the beginning of the story is about two and a half months ago, almost three months ago,
getting a phone call from my estate agents and saying, hey, you need to be out of your
73
00:06:35,298 --> 00:06:36,719
house in two months.
74
00:06:36,719 --> 00:06:39,330
um And we had been renting.
75
00:06:39,330 --> 00:06:41,151
a flat in London, so I'm Canadian.
76
00:06:41,151 --> 00:06:44,862
You might be able to tell from my accent that I am not, in fact, British.
77
00:06:44,862 --> 00:06:54,004
um But I, so I grew up in Canada and I moved to the UK about five or six years ago to be
with my girlfriend.
78
00:06:54,244 --> 00:06:57,065
And ah so we've lived in a beautiful flat.
79
00:06:57,065 --> 00:06:58,475
I was in love with my flat.
80
00:06:58,475 --> 00:07:06,647
Like I would say not on a daily basis, but on like a monthly basis, I would just look
around and be like, oh, I love our flat so much.
81
00:07:06,668 --> 00:07:08,508
I don't ever want to leave.
82
00:07:08,908 --> 00:07:14,110
And then I get this phone call and essentially the landlords were moving back.
83
00:07:14,110 --> 00:07:17,852
They had been living away for a few years and they were moving back into the flat.
84
00:07:17,852 --> 00:07:19,583
And so the first thing I did was I cried.
85
00:07:19,583 --> 00:07:35,789
And then the second thing I did was to start rethinking what it means and what has to
happen now because kind of the first instinct was, boy, we're gonna have to find a new
86
00:07:35,789 --> 00:07:36,190
flat.
87
00:07:36,190 --> 00:07:37,562
We're gonna have to find like.
88
00:07:37,562 --> 00:07:39,213
Prices in London are wild.
89
00:07:39,213 --> 00:07:42,655
ah I don't know if we'll find something we like as much.
90
00:07:42,655 --> 00:07:47,357
The neighborhood we want to live in, maybe we can't afford, like all of these things.
91
00:07:48,178 --> 00:07:50,980
And then I don't know exactly what shifted, because it was pretty quick.
92
00:07:50,980 --> 00:07:59,775
was within about the day, essentially, was thinking about, so Chimmy is my partner, and so
Chimmy and I had always talked about like, oh, it'd be great to do some slow travel.
93
00:07:59,775 --> 00:08:01,926
it would be great to spend some time in Spain.
94
00:08:01,926 --> 00:08:03,597
Oh, blah, blah.
95
00:08:03,597 --> 00:08:05,168
But when you're paying,
96
00:08:05,282 --> 00:08:11,594
an excessive amount of money for your living space and it's not yours, so you can't just
put it on Airbnb.
97
00:08:11,855 --> 00:08:13,775
All of those things are challenging.
98
00:08:13,775 --> 00:08:19,898
And I was like, okay, well, if you take the expensive flat out of the equation, what's
possible?
99
00:08:20,558 --> 00:08:24,620
And so pretty quickly I was like, okay, well, we can do those things.
100
00:08:24,620 --> 00:08:26,861
Let's go, let's turn this into an adventure.
101
00:08:26,861 --> 00:08:32,603
um We had had some, over the last year, Shimmy has...
102
00:08:32,930 --> 00:08:38,944
reduced her hours at work to have a better quality of living, but of course that has the
money that goes down as well.
103
00:08:38,944 --> 00:08:41,536
And with me being freelance, there's kind of ups and downs.
104
00:08:41,536 --> 00:08:50,852
So it was like, okay, maybe this is a chance to both rethink how we are operating
financially and turn it into something fun.
105
00:08:50,912 --> 00:08:51,953
So that's what we did.
106
00:08:51,953 --> 00:08:56,126
ah And so about three weeks ago, we set off on our first place.
107
00:08:56,126 --> 00:08:57,407
We didn't have a place lined up.
108
00:08:57,407 --> 00:09:00,059
So basically we put all of our stuff in storage.
109
00:09:00,059 --> 00:09:02,128
We had nothing set up.
110
00:09:02,128 --> 00:09:04,008
two weeks before the move.
111
00:09:04,209 --> 00:09:16,342
Chimmy goes into ChatGPT and gives it our parameters and says, we're like, I can't
remember even what she said, but basically like, she was like, we want somewhere like not
112
00:09:16,342 --> 00:09:21,024
too far from London, um like a cute, cute village.
113
00:09:21,024 --> 00:09:24,675
Like we wanted to try kind of a totally different lifestyle.
114
00:09:24,675 --> 00:09:27,356
And so ChatGPT suggested Tisbury.
115
00:09:27,356 --> 00:09:29,172
ah
116
00:09:29,172 --> 00:09:30,753
And so that's where we started looking.
117
00:09:30,753 --> 00:09:31,794
We went on Airbnb.
118
00:09:31,794 --> 00:09:34,016
We found a place that looked really cute.
119
00:09:34,016 --> 00:09:37,338
We didn't realize until after it was booked that it was the studio.
120
00:09:37,338 --> 00:09:39,380
So it's us in one room.
121
00:09:39,380 --> 00:09:44,383
So right now I'm in a tiny little guest cottage, not in Tisbury.
122
00:09:44,383 --> 00:09:50,988
It turned out that it was so 10 minutes away by car, which means about two hours away
walking.
123
00:09:50,988 --> 00:09:52,429
So we show up.
124
00:09:52,990 --> 00:09:54,471
We're just in the middle of nowhere.
125
00:09:54,471 --> 00:09:55,991
We don't have a car.
126
00:09:56,898 --> 00:10:09,368
So we've been trying cottage life for the last three weeks with, yes, cows and bugs and
expensive taxis to get anywhere.
127
00:10:09,368 --> 00:10:12,943
No hipster coffee shops, which you mentioned, which are my favorite thing of all time.
128
00:10:12,943 --> 00:10:16,726
I miss like bubble tea and hipster coffee shops are my two things that I miss.
129
00:10:16,726 --> 00:10:23,692
um But having a like feeling so happy just to be exploring in that new way.
130
00:10:24,780 --> 00:10:29,557
I like the way you kind of talked about that mindset shift of almost like a release.
131
00:10:29,557 --> 00:10:36,846
we, know, without this expensive property each month, what can we do?
132
00:10:36,846 --> 00:10:43,094
What do you think has been the biggest shift in your mind and body then since going to the
cottage?
133
00:10:49,626 --> 00:10:54,599
So it's interesting because it's not what I expected.
134
00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:59,162
both Chimmy and I are quite, we love experimenting.
135
00:10:59,162 --> 00:11:01,773
We love learning about ourselves.
136
00:11:01,773 --> 00:11:12,450
And so no matter what it's been like a glorious experiment and very quickly it became
clear like, we are not cut out for this lifestyle.
137
00:11:12,450 --> 00:11:15,522
Like, yeah, I can't remember what you said about the field with the cows.
138
00:11:15,522 --> 00:11:16,336
And I said,
139
00:11:16,336 --> 00:11:20,096
I've stopped going in the field because basically there's a walking path.
140
00:11:20,196 --> 00:11:23,536
in order to get to, there's one shop that's walking distance.
141
00:11:23,536 --> 00:11:25,316
It's about 25 minutes.
142
00:11:26,056 --> 00:11:35,976
There is one route that you can take like the highway or whatever you call a highway here,
like the A30, whatever the like, it's like lorries, it's like car, it's just like vom,
143
00:11:35,976 --> 00:11:37,016
vom, vom.
144
00:11:37,276 --> 00:11:42,256
We tried to take that to go to the bus one day and felt like we were gonna die the whole
time.
145
00:11:42,256 --> 00:11:44,096
And so we're like, never again.
146
00:11:44,174 --> 00:11:47,035
And then there's a walking path and we're like, great, we found the walking path.
147
00:11:47,035 --> 00:11:48,606
It takes you through some fields.
148
00:11:48,606 --> 00:11:51,407
It's marked as a footpath.
149
00:11:51,407 --> 00:11:57,118
And then we came home one of the second or third time we took this walk and there's just
like 30 cows.
150
00:11:57,118 --> 00:12:05,671
Like I called it a gang of cows because it genuinely was just this gang of cows in the
field that we need to walk through to get back to our house.
151
00:12:07,086 --> 00:12:07,800
You
152
00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:08,981
just like, what do we do?
153
00:12:08,981 --> 00:12:13,925
And so we went around them, but people meanwhile have told us like, no, you don't just
walk through the field with cows.
154
00:12:13,925 --> 00:12:16,927
And it's like, okay, so then what do we do?
155
00:12:16,927 --> 00:12:28,135
So basically I just sit at home and then we book a taxi for like 30 pounds return to go to
the village like once or twice a week.
156
00:12:28,135 --> 00:12:29,506
So I've learned like.
157
00:12:29,506 --> 00:12:32,299
I'm worse off living in the country.
158
00:12:32,299 --> 00:12:34,971
You'd think that I'd be like, I'm going for glorious walks.
159
00:12:34,971 --> 00:12:36,312
Like I'm surrounded by nature.
160
00:12:36,312 --> 00:12:37,452
My body feels so free.
161
00:12:37,452 --> 00:12:38,734
Like absolutely not.
162
00:12:38,734 --> 00:12:40,385
That is not the case.
163
00:12:41,367 --> 00:12:47,451
I'm sitting inside my little cottage and I'll go outside and like look out and I'll get
some sun on my face for a few minutes.
164
00:12:48,073 --> 00:12:49,183
But I miss parks.
165
00:12:49,183 --> 00:12:53,277
I miss my neighborhood walks.
166
00:12:53,417 --> 00:12:55,239
I feel more stuck.
167
00:12:55,239 --> 00:12:56,920
And I think that's because
168
00:12:57,024 --> 00:12:58,585
I've grown up in cities my whole life.
169
00:12:58,585 --> 00:13:01,746
I've grown up in at least medium to large cities.
170
00:13:01,746 --> 00:13:04,487
um And so I was curious.
171
00:13:04,487 --> 00:13:05,698
It was like, what will it be like?
172
00:13:05,698 --> 00:13:11,571
Maybe I will have that sense of like, oh, my whole nervous system will relax and I'll feel
free.
173
00:13:11,571 --> 00:13:12,531
That was what I expected.
174
00:13:12,531 --> 00:13:15,172
That's what I wanted and kind of expected to happen.
175
00:13:15,172 --> 00:13:20,114
And what I learned was no, no, in fact, like you really like cities.
176
00:13:22,416 --> 00:13:23,996
Like parks are nice.
177
00:13:26,446 --> 00:13:31,966
So you actually end up missing the things that you thought you'd enjoy moving away from.
178
00:13:31,966 --> 00:13:33,466
I think it's so interesting.
179
00:13:33,686 --> 00:13:41,926
spent, oh, I spent a decade or more living either in London or Manchester and where I live
now.
180
00:13:41,926 --> 00:13:43,846
I mean, if I look out my window, I can see cows.
181
00:13:43,846 --> 00:13:46,566
So I'm very much in the country.
182
00:13:47,386 --> 00:13:53,300
And I would walk through, I mean, I walked through a gang of
183
00:13:53,300 --> 00:14:02,363
not a herd, a gang of cows, oh last week with a friend but I did say to my friend I'm not
that keen on cows and then we avoided them on the way back so I think that's totally
184
00:14:02,363 --> 00:14:05,934
normal and rational to be thinking about that.
185
00:14:06,414 --> 00:14:16,247
In that case then how has the changing environment then because I mean you talked about
there expecting perhaps your nervous system to relax and to be at one with nature and all
186
00:14:16,247 --> 00:14:20,514
that kind of razzmatazz but how's this
187
00:14:20,514 --> 00:14:24,063
three week journey if you like impacted your creativity then.
188
00:14:31,162 --> 00:14:40,905
Well, it's interesting because I think it's made me realize like how important, because my
favorite moments have been when we've gone and done something.
189
00:14:40,905 --> 00:14:50,057
So essentially on the weekends, we've gone for our trips into Salisbury and we went to
Frome, which I don't know if you've been, but was beautiful.
190
00:14:50,057 --> 00:14:57,079
Like I fell in love with it because it's just like artsy and independent, but like cute
and like Cobbledy.
191
00:14:57,199 --> 00:15:00,840
And those have been the moments that ah
192
00:15:01,102 --> 00:15:06,575
where I feel like inspired and alive and happy.
193
00:15:07,276 --> 00:15:17,241
And it's similar because so what we do in London with friends are called adventure days
where we just pick a neighborhood and pick sort of a thing to do and just go off and
194
00:15:17,241 --> 00:15:18,742
explore something new.
195
00:15:18,742 --> 00:15:27,847
And so I think it's pretty much the same, just a slightly different setting, but those are
the things that really give me juice for the rest of things.
196
00:15:27,847 --> 00:15:30,248
um
197
00:15:32,526 --> 00:15:44,701
I think if I wasn't spending so much time on TikTok, then maybe my creativity would be
like, because I think that boredom does something good for creativity when you can let
198
00:15:44,701 --> 00:15:47,802
yourself actually experience the boredom.
199
00:15:48,203 --> 00:15:52,014
But instead I have just like spent a lot of time scrolling.
200
00:15:53,496 --> 00:15:54,956
Why do you think that is?
201
00:16:01,102 --> 00:16:07,314
I think, so it's interesting because I watched a video that Chimmy sent me the other day
and was like, do you think this is accurate?
202
00:16:07,314 --> 00:16:08,774
And it was about ADHD.
203
00:16:08,774 --> 00:16:13,475
And so I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was like 36 or something a few years ago.
204
00:16:13,575 --> 00:16:20,857
And um it was like the idea that the ADHD brain needs to be operating at a hundred percent
at all times.
205
00:16:20,857 --> 00:16:26,979
Like, and so if you are like, I need different levels of stimulus.
206
00:16:26,979 --> 00:16:30,928
So like if I'm sitting on the couch and I'm doing data entry.
207
00:16:30,928 --> 00:16:35,932
let's say I'm doing something boring, then I can have the TV playing and I'm fine.
208
00:16:35,932 --> 00:16:40,116
Like I'm in a bubble where sort of I've got just like, I know what I'm doing.
209
00:16:40,116 --> 00:16:51,806
Whereas there was this one time that we were playing this game that involves sort of math
and adding things up and Shimi was trying to sing along and play the Hamilton soundtrack
210
00:16:51,806 --> 00:16:53,417
at like 10 out of 10 volume.
211
00:16:53,417 --> 00:16:54,448
And I was just like.
212
00:16:54,448 --> 00:16:57,788
Listen, I cannot deal with this.
213
00:16:57,788 --> 00:17:00,808
And she was surprised because I'll be like working and watching TV.
214
00:17:00,808 --> 00:17:03,508
So why can't I deal with a little bit of music?
215
00:17:04,348 --> 00:17:06,388
And so she played me this video.
216
00:17:06,388 --> 00:17:07,848
I'll see if I can send it to you.
217
00:17:07,848 --> 00:17:08,808
It was really interesting.
218
00:17:08,808 --> 00:17:16,968
But it was like, oh, I do recognize that is like, I kind of want my brain to be like
maximum stimulus at all times.
219
00:17:17,268 --> 00:17:19,588
And so I think I'm doing that.
220
00:17:19,588 --> 00:17:21,689
to myself despite knowing.
221
00:17:21,689 --> 00:17:28,191
So I did a 10 day, like the silent meditation 10 day retreat thing, the Pupashana
meditation training.
222
00:17:28,191 --> 00:17:34,053
And that was my only experience in life being truly bored and also being like really
inspired.
223
00:17:34,353 --> 00:17:42,255
And I know, so I know that when I do that to myself, it's valuable, but it's not
comfortable or fun.
224
00:17:42,876 --> 00:17:44,296
And so I avoid it.
225
00:17:45,486 --> 00:17:49,428
I think we have to um try hard at some stuff.
226
00:17:49,428 --> 00:18:02,593
And that idea in the video, I think, if I'm understanding it correctly, is the idea that
getting the brain to be cognitively busy is something that there's a certain threshold
227
00:18:02,593 --> 00:18:13,097
that we can work comfortably at versus uncomfortably, or where perhaps we're not able to
have that executive function working in the way that we would need it to.
228
00:18:13,097 --> 00:18:14,602
So if you're having to think,
229
00:18:14,602 --> 00:18:15,422
at meditation.
230
00:18:15,422 --> 00:18:25,485
think a lot of people who begin meditation, I always say I'm really bad at meditation, I'm
very poor at being able to shut my brain down from all the thoughts in my head.
231
00:18:25,642 --> 00:18:31,057
So I have to really think about it and I find meditation very tiring as a result.
232
00:18:31,057 --> 00:18:40,829
And I don't think that's an unusual concept for some people, whereas others will go into
meditation and find it quite easy to relax because perhaps that's the state they're in
233
00:18:40,829 --> 00:18:42,050
most of the time.
234
00:18:42,050 --> 00:18:43,746
It's really interesting, I think, how
235
00:18:43,746 --> 00:18:52,070
different people experience these kind of things that we believe to be like one particular
way of doing it.
236
00:18:52,070 --> 00:18:56,652
So creativity being one particular way or boredom being one way.
237
00:18:56,652 --> 00:19:01,534
And actually it looks all different to different people.
238
00:19:01,854 --> 00:19:10,097
I think one of the things that I really wanted to ask you about as well was your kind of
coffee routine because...
239
00:19:11,514 --> 00:19:18,220
Talk to me about, go back to your um flat set up in London and your routine.
240
00:19:18,341 --> 00:19:23,626
Certainly if it's just you and Chimmy together, what is your coffee routine like?
241
00:19:24,058 --> 00:19:37,782
Well, so I need to come back to something before I get there, which is as long as I've
lived with Chimmy, I have been clear that one of my priorities is a hipster coffee shop.
242
00:19:37,782 --> 00:19:47,940
And I say that and I'm just like, does the word, but like an independent good coffee shop
within ideally a five minute walk up to a 10 minute walk.
243
00:19:47,940 --> 00:19:54,043
but that has been on our list of non-negotiables when we're looking for flats, which is
not hard in London.
244
00:19:54,043 --> 00:20:00,767
There's independent coffee shops all over the place in most neighborhoods, but that for me
is a priority.
245
00:20:01,648 --> 00:20:11,223
And I don't know why it's a priority, but just the amount of joy that it actually gives
me, and I noticed it a while ago, because I'll go for a little walk, and sometimes I'll go
246
00:20:11,223 --> 00:20:12,093
to the faraway coffee.
247
00:20:12,093 --> 00:20:13,654
I like having a few.
248
00:20:14,460 --> 00:20:17,486
This sounds so ridiculous.
249
00:20:17,788 --> 00:20:27,442
But so and like I sit there and I'm having my little iced latte in the afternoon and I'm
just like this brings me a Surprising amount of joy and I don't know where it come from.
250
00:20:27,442 --> 00:20:35,236
I don't know why but it just like that moment brings me so much joy, so In our flat in
London.
251
00:20:35,236 --> 00:20:40,108
We had a cute hipster coffee shop around the block For a while.
252
00:20:40,108 --> 00:20:42,379
I was going every day like every morning.
253
00:20:42,379 --> 00:20:44,539
I would go and I would get my iced latte
254
00:20:46,298 --> 00:20:51,463
For Christmas two years ago, Chibi bought me a fancy espresso maker.
255
00:20:51,463 --> 00:20:55,938
And so then it was like, OK, yes, every day buying lattes at hipster coffee shop is a bit
much.
256
00:20:55,938 --> 00:21:03,946
Let's try doing it at home so that then really you get the pop of joy when you go once or
twice a week and you have even more joy.
257
00:21:03,946 --> 00:21:09,612
And so that was our coffee setup was I have my little
258
00:21:10,776 --> 00:21:23,420
whatever, I don't know what the brand is, but I have my nice milk and my nice coffee beans
and I make my iced latte and basically every day, I, again, with ADHD and like habits,
259
00:21:23,420 --> 00:21:35,583
like I find habits incredibly challenging, but when it's coffee, like that is probably the
one habit or routine that I have that is a non-negotiable.
260
00:21:35,583 --> 00:21:38,024
um
261
00:21:39,714 --> 00:21:44,348
Yeah, and then so here we've got like, we don't even have a kitchen in where we are.
262
00:21:44,348 --> 00:21:53,275
We've got a hot plate and I brought our little like, stovetop espresso maker.
263
00:21:54,337 --> 00:21:58,019
We don't have a freezer, so there's no ice for iced coffees.
264
00:21:58,140 --> 00:21:59,140
like it's...
265
00:22:00,942 --> 00:22:08,208
So anyway, that is my coffee life in London and then my coffee life here.
266
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:10,631
completely different.
267
00:22:11,454 --> 00:22:20,128
the question I have to ask then on this chat GPT prompt, are you updating this prompt now
with some prompts around hipster cafe?
268
00:22:21,161 --> 00:22:21,932
Definitely.
269
00:22:21,932 --> 00:22:33,368
So we've definitely learned from this experience that unless we have a car and a freezer,
I would say that country life is not doable for us.
270
00:22:33,368 --> 00:22:35,049
Village life, think we could do.
271
00:22:35,049 --> 00:22:40,342
Like if we're somewhere where we're like close to the train station and there's some
shops, I think we could do it.
272
00:22:40,342 --> 00:22:44,094
But I don't think we will be.
273
00:22:44,495 --> 00:22:46,766
We've learned a lot about.
274
00:22:47,050 --> 00:22:58,875
what we need and how to make sure that we will actually have the accessible and the stuff
that we want from life accessible in our future places.
275
00:22:58,875 --> 00:23:06,794
So we're coming back to London on Friday to have Sit for Friends for about a month and
then go from there and we'll see where we end up.
276
00:23:06,862 --> 00:23:14,968
And then are you going to, so is the idea to do this for like a year then to, kind of be
almost like digital nomads a little bit or?
277
00:23:14,968 --> 00:23:16,989
I would say not a year.
278
00:23:16,989 --> 00:23:23,110
And the timeline is kind of like, basically it feels like we've flung ourselves into the
universe and we're just seeing what happens.
279
00:23:23,110 --> 00:23:27,912
There's no real plan, which can be challenging in and of itself.
280
00:23:27,912 --> 00:23:34,654
So we kind of had to, it took a little while for us to get on the same page about what we
wanted and what we expected.
281
00:23:34,654 --> 00:23:39,035
um And we identified two priorities.
282
00:23:39,335 --> 00:23:41,876
And basically we agreed that as we...
283
00:23:41,954 --> 00:23:44,706
make plans, we have to be meeting these two priorities.
284
00:23:44,706 --> 00:23:54,395
And on the one hand, that's saving some money and trying to live in a way where we're not
quite spending as much as we were before and having it be an adventure.
285
00:23:54,916 --> 00:24:02,723
And so when we make decisions about where we're going, then those are the two things that
we both need to because on my side, I want the adventure.
286
00:24:02,723 --> 00:24:08,908
also want to say like we've kind of a little bit differently balanced in that Chimmy would
save money and move to
287
00:24:09,024 --> 00:24:13,505
random flat in a random suburb and stay there for a year and just like save a bunch of
money.
288
00:24:13,505 --> 00:24:21,467
Whereas I'm like, no, I need this to be fun and like interesting and an adventure at the
same time.
289
00:24:22,128 --> 00:24:27,259
And we know that we probably want to be somewhere more long term by winter.
290
00:24:27,259 --> 00:24:32,011
I don't think winter is the most fun time to be traipsing around.
291
00:24:32,011 --> 00:24:36,652
So we also do have two cats who are now running around the flat.
292
00:24:38,263 --> 00:24:43,284
So yeah, traveling around with two cat carriers and a load of suitcases.
293
00:24:44,324 --> 00:24:55,664
also had like, so we have a lead on a potential apartment that would probably be full of
fall, but if that doesn't happen, I think we want to be settled somewhere by November or
294
00:24:55,664 --> 00:24:56,484
December.
295
00:24:56,484 --> 00:25:00,944
So right now it's July and we set off in June.
296
00:25:00,944 --> 00:25:02,384
So I guess what is that?
297
00:25:02,384 --> 00:25:04,264
Five or six months at least.
298
00:25:04,304 --> 00:25:05,566
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
299
00:25:05,566 --> 00:25:16,006
So I'm imagining then, so you're in this studio and some beds and the food prep area is
quite tiny, you've got this hot stove, no freezer.
300
00:25:16,506 --> 00:25:20,026
How have you then made it a home from home?
301
00:25:20,026 --> 00:25:23,486
What things have you done that have brought you a bit of joy?
302
00:25:24,305 --> 00:25:36,731
I don't know if you saw this post that I did on Instagram because I was really excited
about my I bought a couple of containers from Amazon like Okay, so because one of the
303
00:25:36,731 --> 00:25:49,166
things that we when we packed up all of our stuff in our flat the number of boxes That I
had to pack into other boxes like because I just love like having stuff Organized nicely
304
00:25:49,166 --> 00:25:53,958
like the box for the sweaters and the box for the makeup.
305
00:25:53,958 --> 00:26:05,463
I just had an excessive number of plastic bins, like the nice IKEA ones with the swoopy
sides um that Shimmy thinks are ridiculous again.
306
00:26:05,463 --> 00:26:15,147
And so when we got here, I brought my skincare stuff and it was just sitting in this uh
cardboard box.
307
00:26:15,147 --> 00:26:18,254
I had a cardboard box and on the bedside table,
308
00:26:18,254 --> 00:26:22,576
had all of my skincare and random stuff that would go on my bedside table in this
cardboard box.
309
00:26:22,576 --> 00:26:24,526
And I would just look at it and be like...
310
00:26:25,267 --> 00:26:31,169
And so I went on Amazon and was like, I'm sorry, I just have to buy a couple of more
storage containers.
311
00:26:31,169 --> 00:26:41,194
And so I bought these like white storage containers with like the bamboo dividers so that
it's like the, you know, like the ones that has eight little slots so that like, okay, the
312
00:26:41,194 --> 00:26:45,295
moisturizers can go in here, the lip stuff can go in here, the tweezers can go in here.
313
00:26:45,295 --> 00:26:47,096
So that was my one...
314
00:26:47,278 --> 00:27:02,212
big 11 pound purchase to really like, and again, the amount of joy that I got opening that
up and being able to put my things and be like, they're so nicely organized.
315
00:27:02,212 --> 00:27:10,594
Yes, it feels like that was the one thing that I did um that really made me feel settled.
316
00:27:10,594 --> 00:27:11,781
And I was just like, okay, that's fine.
317
00:27:11,781 --> 00:27:13,311
I'm going to have to pack them up into my suitcase.
318
00:27:13,311 --> 00:27:15,576
I'm going to have to take them from place to place.
319
00:27:15,576 --> 00:27:16,030
But
320
00:27:16,030 --> 00:27:19,374
that's a grounding thing that makes me feel at home.
321
00:27:19,374 --> 00:27:23,904
That makes me feel at home and it makes me feel like set and happy.
322
00:27:23,904 --> 00:27:24,744
Yeah.
323
00:27:25,176 --> 00:27:27,797
What was the, there was this big thing a few years ago, wasn't it?
324
00:27:27,797 --> 00:27:31,148
Was it the, is it Marie, Marie Kondo?
325
00:27:31,148 --> 00:27:45,890
Like that kind of like packing craze and tidiness and, and, I'm just getting images of you
needing that kind of structure in your ADHD life and that being a grounding thing for you.
326
00:27:45,890 --> 00:27:49,622
Yeah, well, because it's interesting because so like, shimmy.
327
00:27:49,622 --> 00:27:54,480
So yes, I can end up with piles if I'm not careful.
328
00:27:54,480 --> 00:28:00,368
I do end up with piles no matter what there's going to be some piles of like books and
like clothes and things.
329
00:28:00,368 --> 00:28:09,052
But so yeah, I love even when I was a kid, I loved to like organize my room and rearrange
things and like get everything.
330
00:28:09,786 --> 00:28:14,358
properly organized because then it's gonna turn into chaos again and then I do it all over
again.
331
00:28:14,358 --> 00:28:18,780
Whereas Chimmy, so because, but that means I have to like pull everything out of the
closet.
332
00:28:18,780 --> 00:28:20,456
It's spread out all over the room.
333
00:28:20,456 --> 00:28:29,814
I put all of the things together and Chimmy comes in and she's just like overwhelmed and
stressed out and I'm just like, just go to the office, like go somewhere else for six
334
00:28:29,814 --> 00:28:32,646
hours because it's gonna be like this for a while.
335
00:28:32,646 --> 00:28:35,507
But then it's organized and fresh and lovely.
336
00:28:35,507 --> 00:28:38,488
Whereas Chimmy just throws everything into a closet.
337
00:28:38,488 --> 00:28:40,730
and it will be a mess in the closet.
338
00:28:40,730 --> 00:28:42,691
And then when she needs something, she'll pull it out.
339
00:28:42,691 --> 00:28:48,415
then so we're so completely different, but I need that feeling of organization.
340
00:28:48,588 --> 00:28:50,687
And I love the act of it.
341
00:28:50,687 --> 00:28:54,199
Like I find it just fun to organize things.
342
00:28:55,606 --> 00:29:04,555
Is there anything about a temporary kind of ritual or rhythm that you've kind of fallen
into while you've been in this place?
343
00:29:04,555 --> 00:29:08,118
Anything you think you might take with you that's something new for you?
344
00:29:17,764 --> 00:29:31,902
I think the only thing is sort of because what we did before we moved and as we were
deciding what was next is we sat down together and we decided like what are those
345
00:29:31,902 --> 00:29:33,272
priorities?
346
00:29:33,313 --> 00:29:40,506
And also we looked at like everything that we want in a home and how important are those
things?
347
00:29:40,506 --> 00:29:42,538
How do they stack up for each of us?
348
00:29:42,538 --> 00:29:47,108
um And our lists are similar but quite
349
00:29:47,108 --> 00:30:01,474
different, but so it's things like neighborhood cuteness of neighborhood walkability
proximity to transit closeness to our friends good groceries hipster coffee shops like all
350
00:30:01,474 --> 00:30:10,638
of the things that We have identified are important to us and then we rank them and we say
this is the most important short-term For this next move.
351
00:30:10,638 --> 00:30:15,298
This is the most important and then it's kind of reassessing
352
00:30:15,298 --> 00:30:21,410
And so really it's that check-in about what do we want next, what's important, how are we
making that decision?
353
00:30:22,511 --> 00:30:33,715
And I think that's something that has been really valuable and it has also helped us sort
of learn and shift direction rather than just going where the wind takes us.
354
00:30:33,715 --> 00:30:38,176
um And I think that I will probably keep.
355
00:30:40,910 --> 00:30:52,854
I think that idea of the ritual and routine being quite important and I suppose that not
being so obvious in that initial list, but it's really obvious now and especially through
356
00:30:52,854 --> 00:31:00,416
your storytelling that this, you know, the loss of the hipster coffee, I don't know we're
joking about it, but I mean, these things are important to us.
357
00:31:00,416 --> 00:31:03,797
We create our sense of home and place.
358
00:31:03,797 --> 00:31:05,118
We're placemakers, aren't we?
359
00:31:05,118 --> 00:31:06,548
And homemakers and...
360
00:31:07,591 --> 00:31:15,147
It doesn't matter how transient we are as individuals and how we move through life,
there's stuff that really holds us in the space that we're in.
361
00:31:15,147 --> 00:31:18,829
And I think that's just what I found so beautiful about your storytelling recently.
362
00:31:18,829 --> 00:31:27,866
It's like, it's just a real window into what it looks like when you move and do something
so different and actually what you think you might want to need.
363
00:31:27,866 --> 00:31:32,232
And then it was just something so simple as the, need my coffee shop.
364
00:31:32,232 --> 00:31:32,973
Yeah.
365
00:31:32,973 --> 00:31:37,797
Well, and it's interesting because I feel like some people thought we were going to be
miserable.
366
00:31:37,797 --> 00:31:43,701
And some of the stories I'm telling, I don't think it sounds like I'm miserable, but it
sounds like I might be miserable.
367
00:31:44,162 --> 00:31:46,564
And I've been not miserable whatsoever.
368
00:31:46,564 --> 00:31:49,666
Like the whole thing, I would not have done anything differently.
369
00:31:49,666 --> 00:31:55,471
I wouldn't have made a different choice about where to be, even knowing like, okay, we're
going to be stranded.
370
00:31:56,052 --> 00:31:59,594
Because the experience itself has been joyful.
371
00:31:59,594 --> 00:32:01,730
Like, and I think it is that idea of like,
372
00:32:01,730 --> 00:32:05,341
adventure and learning and what just what is this like?
373
00:32:05,341 --> 00:32:09,262
um It has been really fun.
374
00:32:09,262 --> 00:32:20,805
And also it felt like making that decision sort of like has shaken up the energy in our
lives in a way that I think is valuable and I think is rare.
375
00:32:20,805 --> 00:32:31,668
I would say that myself as a person I tend to get or maybe this isn't true anymore, but it
was definitely true when I was younger that I would end up stuck in situations.
376
00:32:31,674 --> 00:32:40,113
that I didn't really love and wasn't really happy in, but were just how it was.
377
00:32:40,474 --> 00:32:48,162
And I didn't really realize, like this was probably my biggest learning in life is like,
oh, I can make different decisions.
378
00:32:48,303 --> 00:32:53,238
I can decide what I want and take action to make those things happen.
379
00:32:55,246 --> 00:33:05,619
And I think that's a common, from speaking with other people in my life sometimes, I think
that's a common thing to believe or thing to get stuck in.
380
00:33:05,919 --> 00:33:13,192
And that's the biggest thing I wish I could shake people and say sometimes is like,
listen, you can make a different choice.
381
00:33:13,192 --> 00:33:14,942
You can do something.
382
00:33:15,042 --> 00:33:21,564
If there's something that doesn't feel right, even if it's scary.
383
00:33:21,836 --> 00:33:28,590
even if you have no idea where you're gonna end up and you're gonna be in an Airbnb in the
middle of the country for weeks at a time.
384
00:33:30,296 --> 00:33:32,670
There's just, I think there's value in that.
385
00:33:33,294 --> 00:33:36,556
I think it's really interesting how we can feel stuck.
386
00:33:36,757 --> 00:33:44,173
And last season, I was exploring this kind of space in between liminal spaces and how
interesting they are.
387
00:33:44,173 --> 00:33:46,785
They're real growth spaces in our lives.
388
00:33:47,346 --> 00:33:51,089
you know, people move for lots of different reasons.
389
00:33:51,089 --> 00:33:55,162
Sometimes people move for, they like moving, they don't like sitting still.
390
00:33:55,162 --> 00:34:02,818
They like the hit of dopamine from going from one place to another, or perhaps people move
because they want to change and they think,
391
00:34:02,818 --> 00:34:14,474
the physical move, I think we call it a geographical cure fallacy or something, because
actually just moving yourself from one geographical location to another doesn't change
392
00:34:14,474 --> 00:34:20,036
anything really, unless you're doing something to think about who you are inside.
393
00:34:20,036 --> 00:34:22,508
Because I disagree with that in some ways.
394
00:34:22,508 --> 00:34:29,493
I know that people do that sometimes, but I feel like I've done that and it has completely
changed my life.
395
00:34:29,493 --> 00:34:38,059
Not this move, but one of the biggest things I've done was when I was in my late 20s.
396
00:34:38,059 --> 00:34:44,864
So I grew up in Vancouver on the west coast of Canada and growing up it was, in my
opinion, the most beautiful city in the world.
397
00:34:44,864 --> 00:34:48,086
It's still one of the most beautiful cities in the world and I loved it.
398
00:34:48,610 --> 00:34:51,101
and I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
399
00:34:51,101 --> 00:35:08,787
And then I hit my Saturn return years and like I decided, so graduated during the
recession, like couldn't find a job, decided to go do a master's and basically I had two
400
00:35:08,787 --> 00:35:09,447
choices.
401
00:35:09,447 --> 00:35:13,784
Like I could go, I applied to two universities, one in Vancouver.
402
00:35:13,784 --> 00:35:18,817
and one across the country in Halifax, which is as far away as I could get from Vancouver.
403
00:35:18,817 --> 00:35:34,616
And I remember praying not to get into UBC because I knew that if I did, I would stay
where I was and I would, and I had, like I was 28 and I was miserable basically because I
404
00:35:34,616 --> 00:35:35,376
had.
405
00:35:35,546 --> 00:35:46,055
grown up with a significant amount of trauma and had not really done the healing with that
and was still in that world where that was sort of, I was still steeped in that
406
00:35:46,055 --> 00:35:47,365
environment.
407
00:35:47,366 --> 00:35:50,268
And for me, I didn't get into UBC.
408
00:35:50,268 --> 00:35:53,130
So I had to go move across the country.
409
00:35:53,291 --> 00:35:56,774
And that move was like the beginning of my life as an adult.
410
00:35:56,774 --> 00:36:04,790
And for me, it's that specific scenario too, is like shifting out of a place where you
kind of,
411
00:36:06,690 --> 00:36:15,944
are stuck in an energy or an environment that isn't healthy and getting out of that and
into something else, that changed my life completely.
412
00:36:16,304 --> 00:36:24,707
And I know exactly what you're talking about, about the people who are constantly trying
to move because they think they'll leave themselves behind.
413
00:36:24,707 --> 00:36:27,288
In my case, I didn't need to leave myself behind.
414
00:36:27,288 --> 00:36:36,852
I needed to leave some of the people and the situations that I was stuck in so that I
could learn who I was in a different environment.
415
00:36:37,166 --> 00:36:38,446
that different context.
416
00:36:38,446 --> 00:36:45,706
think our relationship with place and attachment is so layered and complex.
417
00:36:45,706 --> 00:36:56,506
I mean, you're, you know, trained psychotherapist and I imagine, I mean, as a
psychologist, kind of, think about attachment in a different way as a psychotherapist
418
00:36:56,506 --> 00:37:02,990
would I imagine, but that whole attachment piece is so integral to our early years and
419
00:37:02,990 --> 00:37:06,450
being able to form and create those really stable relationships.
420
00:37:06,450 --> 00:37:14,096
And I suppose what we're really talking about here is that positive fracturing of it to
enable to move forward and get that joy.
421
00:37:14,096 --> 00:37:15,016
Mmm.
422
00:37:17,004 --> 00:37:26,277
What would a psychotherapist say about, I suppose about your, about those kind of big
scale moves?
423
00:37:26,277 --> 00:37:29,752
what, tell me about the move from Canada to the UK.
424
00:37:29,752 --> 00:37:31,444
What was it that prompted that?
425
00:37:31,618 --> 00:37:39,374
well, that was also interesting because so I had lived in Toronto for almost 10 years.
426
00:37:39,374 --> 00:37:44,198
So after I finished my masters, I moved to Toronto with like $300 in my bank account.
427
00:37:44,198 --> 00:37:50,033
A friend of mine let her let me come live in her apartment with her until I found a job.
428
00:37:50,033 --> 00:37:57,499
And so I had been there for about 10 years and loved Toronto a lot.
429
00:37:57,499 --> 00:37:58,520
I still love Toronto.
430
00:37:58,520 --> 00:37:59,811
It's one of my favorite cities.
431
00:37:59,811 --> 00:38:01,472
ah But
432
00:38:01,486 --> 00:38:07,167
just felt this like I just felt that there was I was feeling this
433
00:38:08,942 --> 00:38:24,207
I don't know if it's a yearning for something more or different or a knowing that there
was something different coming because I had no reason to know what was gonna happen.
434
00:38:24,207 --> 00:38:33,876
I mean, aside from like, let's say some kind of intuition, I don't know what's going on,
but I just knew that I wanted to try something.
435
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:42,329
knew and I had thought about moving to Europe in some way, like getting some kind of visa,
but there was nothing that was really a good fit, like the kinds of visa that were
436
00:38:42,329 --> 00:38:42,969
available.
437
00:38:42,969 --> 00:38:50,637
um And then I met my girlfriend, so Chibi, who we'll all know by now.
438
00:38:50,637 --> 00:38:55,903
um I met her in San Francisco at conference and we fell in love very quickly.
439
00:38:55,903 --> 00:38:57,544
um
440
00:38:57,858 --> 00:39:08,011
we basically we started talking that weekend and then we spent like 16 hours a day on
WhatsApp or on the phone like for months until I came to visit her in the UK and because I
441
00:39:08,011 --> 00:39:19,994
was freelance I was able to just come for six weeks so it was like hey I'm coming to visit
and I'll go back when I go back and then she would come so we were kind of long distance
442
00:39:19,994 --> 00:39:25,710
for about nine months and then she tried to move to Canada.
443
00:39:25,710 --> 00:39:28,712
but the visa situation didn't work out.
444
00:39:28,712 --> 00:39:32,324
so by then, so I'm a commitment shy Aquarius.
445
00:39:32,324 --> 00:39:35,375
Like I, she was all in.
446
00:39:35,375 --> 00:39:37,927
She was like, yep, like let's get married.
447
00:39:37,927 --> 00:39:40,344
I'm, and I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
448
00:39:40,344 --> 00:39:44,791
Like you can move to Canada, but you have to get your own apartment even though we're
going to spend every night together.
449
00:39:44,791 --> 00:39:54,376
Like, but by the time, it was about a year and a half later that I decided to move to the
UK because um
450
00:39:55,054 --> 00:40:00,390
because she could get a better job in the UK and just life seemed like it would make more
sense.
451
00:40:00,390 --> 00:40:11,702
ah And so I was comfortable enough, like we had gone through enough that I felt like,
okay, I'm not doing, like, I'm not gonna move across the world and be with someone who
452
00:40:11,702 --> 00:40:16,107
turns out to be like a terrible human and end up alone.
453
00:40:16,107 --> 00:40:17,686
um
454
00:40:17,686 --> 00:40:22,301
But yeah, I found it just really interesting that I kind of had this sense, like I knew I
had talked about it.
455
00:40:22,301 --> 00:40:31,240
One of the reasons I didn't become a psychotherapist is because I sort of knew that the
amount of hours that I would have to go do and registration, like I just kind of knew I
456
00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:35,093
didn't want to be in Toronto for much longer.
457
00:40:35,594 --> 00:40:37,986
And then it happened.
458
00:40:39,820 --> 00:40:41,472
you move to the UK.
459
00:40:41,930 --> 00:40:43,049
And here we are.
460
00:40:43,049 --> 00:40:43,509
Yeah.
461
00:40:43,509 --> 00:40:49,242
And that I feel like is the thing that changed for me was being in a relationship with
somebody really loving.
462
00:40:49,242 --> 00:40:53,075
it's like, I've never been homesick ever.
463
00:40:53,075 --> 00:40:54,816
I don't really understand.
464
00:40:54,816 --> 00:41:00,299
And I don't know if it's that kind of like ADHD, like when they talk about what you don't
really miss people necessarily.
465
00:41:00,299 --> 00:41:06,393
like there's this thing where like, exactly like I love my family.
466
00:41:06,393 --> 00:41:07,373
I love my friends.
467
00:41:07,373 --> 00:41:08,846
I miss them.
468
00:41:08,846 --> 00:41:15,148
But day to day, just am like, yep, it feels like you picked me up and put me in a new
place and I am my home.
469
00:41:15,270 --> 00:41:16,191
Like.
470
00:41:20,408 --> 00:41:28,351
And the big change was moving in with somebody and starting a life with somebody and
having my family for the first time that I was creating.
471
00:41:28,351 --> 00:41:29,863
Yeah.
472
00:41:30,517 --> 00:41:42,478
I think from the outside looking in and I mean we all see obviously your created view of
the world and we all put our own curated views out there but from the outside looking in
473
00:41:42,478 --> 00:41:52,718
there's this idea that that relationship that you have and the home that you've created
and the rituals it's all it all brings joy and that that joy thread kind of runs all the
474
00:41:52,718 --> 00:41:58,862
way through everything that you're doing and I was kind of interested I think to hear a
little bit about how
475
00:41:58,862 --> 00:42:05,882
I suppose how your work then is looking for soul and I've not really thought about how
soul and joy are connected before.
476
00:42:05,882 --> 00:42:09,502
So that's something really intriguing to think about, I think.
477
00:42:09,604 --> 00:42:18,969
Well, and I think a lot of what I've talked about today, kind of like there's these, I've
had this huge shift that I have gone through in my life.
478
00:42:18,969 --> 00:42:23,512
And I've talked about sort of there's that first part of moving from Vancouver to Halifax.
479
00:42:23,512 --> 00:42:26,693
And then, so my career before now, I was a librarian.
480
00:42:26,693 --> 00:42:34,618
um And I worked in libraries, which I loved, but always felt like it was not my, like, I
was not a librarian.
481
00:42:34,618 --> 00:42:37,369
Like I worked with people who loved their job and were great at it.
482
00:42:37,369 --> 00:42:39,182
And you could tell that that was the...
483
00:42:39,182 --> 00:42:40,853
like where they belonged.
484
00:42:40,853 --> 00:42:46,832
And I felt kind of like an outsider and it was like, this is fun, but I'm doing it because
I need a job.
485
00:42:46,832 --> 00:42:51,259
I wasn't doing it because it was something that like I felt profoundly passionate about.
486
00:42:51,259 --> 00:43:00,804
And so I burnt out, which is I think what happens a lot when you're doing something that
you don't actually love or get fulfilled by.
487
00:43:00,804 --> 00:43:08,784
um And so for me, that was the other big shift was making that decision to like,
488
00:43:08,784 --> 00:43:10,844
Basically, I didn't feel like I had a choice.
489
00:43:10,844 --> 00:43:12,124
I burnt out.
490
00:43:12,124 --> 00:43:13,744
I couldn't ever go back.
491
00:43:13,744 --> 00:43:15,424
And so I had to try something new.
492
00:43:15,424 --> 00:43:21,804
And there were no jobs in the world that I, like I'd look at job boards and be like, no,
none of these look appealing at all.
493
00:43:21,804 --> 00:43:24,584
And so it was like, okay, I just have to try being freelance.
494
00:43:24,764 --> 00:43:30,864
And that's when I discovered joy in work and joy in my life.
495
00:43:30,864 --> 00:43:36,804
And again, it's like, oh, I can do work that I'm great at that.
496
00:43:37,858 --> 00:43:43,210
is something the world needs that helps to create really cool things in the world.
497
00:43:43,310 --> 00:43:55,516
I do get a lot of joy from my life, but it's something that I feel like, I've always been
a happy, optimistic person, even when I was a really sad, depressed person.
498
00:43:55,516 --> 00:43:59,237
I don't know how those two things go together, but for me, somehow they do.
499
00:43:59,237 --> 00:44:06,690
And now I get to be a happy, optimistic person who experiences a lot of joy in the way,
the things that I've.
500
00:44:07,598 --> 00:44:12,043
both been able to create and the things that have found their way into my life.
501
00:44:12,043 --> 00:44:14,198
And I feel very fortunate.
502
00:44:15,628 --> 00:44:21,672
One of the reasons I was doing this season on Joy was that was my word for the year.
503
00:44:21,672 --> 00:44:23,824
So I this thing.
504
00:44:23,824 --> 00:44:28,286
And it's the first year that I've actually picked a word and stuck with it.
505
00:44:28,607 --> 00:44:34,391
But there was a lot of things for me that started to make sense towards the end of last
year.
506
00:44:34,391 --> 00:44:36,102
I nearly quit my PhD.
507
00:44:36,102 --> 00:44:37,613
I wasn't enjoying it.
508
00:44:37,613 --> 00:44:43,307
uh I was working on a contract which wasn't freelance.
509
00:44:43,307 --> 00:44:45,272
So I felt like an employee.
510
00:44:45,272 --> 00:44:48,404
didn't like it.
511
00:44:48,885 --> 00:44:50,786
Yeah.
512
00:44:50,887 --> 00:44:58,893
And, you know, the, were just other things where I'd lost my love of running and running
was such a huge part of my identity.
513
00:44:58,893 --> 00:45:06,579
So I'd set up this idea that I'm going to seek joy this year through running through my
work and through my study.
514
00:45:06,940 --> 00:45:12,102
And it's been like this kind of gentle re grounding and return.
515
00:45:12,102 --> 00:45:14,446
I call it a bit of a return to.
516
00:45:14,654 --> 00:45:23,759
understanding where I find joy and how I find joy and I think it's quite an active thing
to be joyful.
517
00:45:23,759 --> 00:45:28,901
It's not something that just lands in your lap, I think you have to go and seek out and
find it.
518
00:45:29,181 --> 00:45:37,015
So I'm kind of, I think I'm really interested in these conversations we're to have in this
season, it's just to explore what joy looks like for different people and I really
519
00:45:37,015 --> 00:45:39,226
appreciate your perspectives today.
520
00:45:39,374 --> 00:45:41,437
I've really just such a noisy person.
521
00:45:41,437 --> 00:45:45,574
I've really enjoyed just understanding how your moves go and where you're going next.
522
00:45:45,574 --> 00:45:48,788
But yeah, especially in that.
523
00:45:49,096 --> 00:45:50,818
So for you, what have you learned?
524
00:45:50,818 --> 00:45:55,601
So we're like half the year, a little more than half the year in.
525
00:45:56,182 --> 00:45:58,594
What have you learned about finding that joy?
526
00:45:58,853 --> 00:46:02,194
the running was the, the most profound thing.
527
00:46:02,194 --> 00:46:09,897
m I think for me, I tied a lot of the running in with status around, I'd done ultras
marathons before.
528
00:46:09,897 --> 00:46:14,559
um I definitely felt like I was beating myself up because I couldn't run how I used to
run.
529
00:46:14,559 --> 00:46:16,840
I'd had an injury a few years ago.
530
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:22,602
um And then I started peeling back the layers and go, but what was it?
531
00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:31,498
went and I started looking at photos and Facebook and the things that I was posting, the
things I was saying during the time when I was really enjoying my training.
532
00:46:31,799 --> 00:46:35,212
And it wasn't the running, it was just all the social bit.
533
00:46:35,212 --> 00:46:41,330
was the sending messages to my friends when I'm out running and, my God, I'm dying, I hate
this, why am I running?
534
00:46:41,330 --> 00:46:43,179
And, you know, just having the social bit.
535
00:46:43,179 --> 00:46:48,814
So this year what I've done is I've just involved people in my running journey and I've
just...
536
00:46:48,814 --> 00:46:51,494
Like I'll get on a treadmill and send someone a little silly message.
537
00:46:51,494 --> 00:46:52,833
Oh, I'm getting on to do a run.
538
00:46:52,833 --> 00:46:55,914
And, and I think I, that was the joy.
539
00:46:55,914 --> 00:46:57,794
It was just such a social thing for me.
540
00:46:57,794 --> 00:47:01,154
And then running had become quite insular over lockdown.
541
00:47:01,534 --> 00:47:04,414
Um, and I never really went back to doing it in a social way.
542
00:47:04,414 --> 00:47:06,374
So that's what I've learned there.
543
00:47:06,734 --> 00:47:10,734
With the PhD, there were a couple of things.
544
00:47:10,734 --> 00:47:16,334
think one of them was I was trying to sprint to the end of it and I'm doing it part time.
545
00:47:16,334 --> 00:47:18,732
I'm going to be doing this for like till 2031.
546
00:47:18,732 --> 00:47:28,646
And I trying to sprint to the end and not taking time to just sit with the process of it
and sit with the uncomfortableness of it.
547
00:47:28,646 --> 00:47:29,816
I like to be structured.
548
00:47:29,816 --> 00:47:30,954
I like to know what I'm doing.
549
00:47:30,954 --> 00:47:33,318
I like to feel that I know what I know.
550
00:47:33,318 --> 00:47:41,061
And there's just a huge amount you don't know when you start your PhD and there's a huge
amount you're going to change and have to discover.
551
00:47:41,061 --> 00:47:46,733
And I think I just wasn't, I hadn't allowed myself to go into a vulnerable space to enjoy
that.
552
00:47:46,733 --> 00:47:48,670
And I've had to really
553
00:47:48,670 --> 00:48:01,846
surrender a little bit and just go okay this is going to be hard it's going to be messy
it's just going to and i'm enjoying it a lot more now and then yeah i'm back freelance
554
00:48:01,846 --> 00:48:14,882
again which is just and it's literally been a very short space of time but the energy and
creativity and it was interesting you're saying right at the beginning that idea of
555
00:48:15,769 --> 00:48:24,670
creativity being something that's produced and created by people rather than it being a
brand and I'm having a conversation with a couple of people at the moment about creating
556
00:48:24,670 --> 00:48:35,390
something that won't be me as a brand for example it's something that needs to happen it's
something that somebody mentioned to me a few years ago and I'm talking yesterday when
557
00:48:35,390 --> 00:48:37,902
remember you said this thing and I
558
00:48:37,902 --> 00:48:40,442
really want to pursue that and do want to pursue it with me?
559
00:48:40,442 --> 00:48:51,222
And like yeah and so I think these idea things are like coming to fruition because there's
space to do it all of a sudden I'm not feeling burnt out by some organization's agenda
560
00:48:51,222 --> 00:48:53,742
that I don't really believe in or whatever.
561
00:48:53,782 --> 00:48:59,242
So yeah I think that joy thing, I think it had to start with the running.
562
00:48:59,242 --> 00:49:03,756
I thought if I can't unravel what it is I've lost about the joy of running.
563
00:49:03,756 --> 00:49:08,189
I'll not understand it in other aspects of my life and it taught me so much.
564
00:49:08,690 --> 00:49:12,052
I think it'll be interesting to see where I go for the rest of the year with it.
565
00:49:12,052 --> 00:49:16,255
I've just entered a big competition for next year with my friend.
566
00:49:16,255 --> 00:49:25,202
So there's a lot of training coming up, but yeah, even smiling about it, talking about it,
because I'm really excited about the journey we're going to, for me, it's not about doing
567
00:49:25,202 --> 00:49:25,392
it.
568
00:49:25,392 --> 00:49:27,744
It's everything getting up to it.
569
00:49:27,744 --> 00:49:30,976
And I think that's what I'd lost in that joy journey.
570
00:49:31,248 --> 00:49:48,073
it's interesting because the thing that comes up for me when you talk about like joy and
losing joy is not so much working for like aiming for joy, but the things that get in the
571
00:49:48,073 --> 00:49:49,833
way of joy.
572
00:49:50,294 --> 00:49:57,776
And for me, I feel like that's stress and anxiety usually.
573
00:49:58,476 --> 00:50:05,722
in my case, related to other people's expectations or to like trying to do things a
certain way.
574
00:50:05,722 --> 00:50:14,049
And I guess it comes back to the initial season one and imposter phenomenon and kind of
like how that shows up for me.
575
00:50:14,049 --> 00:50:27,960
But I find that when I try to, like if I'm working with a new client and I'm trying to
like fit myself into their expectations, rather than just
576
00:50:28,762 --> 00:50:40,680
kind of relaxing into my own confidence and the way that I work and the things that are
important to me, like really making that effort to come back to wait, what are my
577
00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:41,801
priorities?
578
00:50:41,801 --> 00:50:43,022
What are my values?
579
00:50:43,022 --> 00:50:44,773
What's important to me and how I work?
580
00:50:44,773 --> 00:50:45,434
What's important?
581
00:50:45,434 --> 00:50:51,388
Like, and it's all these same things that you're talking about with kind of work that you
end up in that's like not a good fit.
582
00:50:51,388 --> 00:50:57,172
But those are the things that for me, it feels like a...
583
00:50:57,424 --> 00:51:05,544
layer on top of joy and that when I take those things out the joy can flow a lot more
easily.
584
00:51:06,544 --> 00:51:07,496
Yeah.
585
00:51:07,682 --> 00:51:12,242
it kind of takes out the heat in the joy in what you want.
586
00:51:12,442 --> 00:51:13,762
It's really interesting, isn't it?
587
00:51:13,762 --> 00:51:18,022
I think it's something that we continually discover about ourselves as well.
588
00:51:18,022 --> 00:51:28,742
I think the things that brought me joy when I was 20 and 30 and 40 are different to what I
find joy in now, or how I seek joy and how I can take joy.
589
00:51:29,164 --> 00:51:37,717
I think your example of moving and having a bit of a list of the things that you thought
you'd need to be, you know, happy and content.
590
00:51:37,717 --> 00:51:39,047
And yes, you've been happy.
591
00:51:39,047 --> 00:51:50,560
You've still enjoyed the uh process, but there was also layers on there of things that
you're like, so yes, this will also enjoy get being made at a coffee shop or uh whatever.
592
00:51:50,560 --> 00:51:56,558
And I think it's so interesting to me about how these things just shift all the time.
593
00:51:56,558 --> 00:52:02,778
you know, our sense of place belonging and where we sit, our attachments, it's all moving.
594
00:52:02,778 --> 00:52:05,758
So you can think, you know, yourself completely inside out.
595
00:52:05,758 --> 00:52:09,198
And then like the next year, no, you're back square one again.
596
00:52:09,198 --> 00:52:12,218
like, you're gonna have to do that work and understand where you're going again.
597
00:52:16,290 --> 00:52:28,279
I have to ask, there's a curtain behind you and as I'm looking at it, it feels like a
really festive, it looks like little Santas or something upside down, but it isn't, it?
598
00:52:28,279 --> 00:52:29,740
I can't believe it.
599
00:52:30,061 --> 00:52:31,893
Oh, I can see now, yeah.
600
00:52:31,893 --> 00:52:37,875
I think outside, I don't know if you can see the, yeah, the fields, the books.
601
00:52:37,875 --> 00:52:39,526
Yeah, there's antlers.
602
00:52:39,526 --> 00:52:40,646
Yeah, there's some kind of hunter.
603
00:52:40,646 --> 00:52:41,157
I don't know.
604
00:52:41,157 --> 00:52:49,366
ah Yeah, no, not Christmas curtains.
605
00:52:49,366 --> 00:52:51,052
That'd be really weird.
606
00:52:51,693 --> 00:52:56,036
Thank you so much for joining me today for the podcast.
607
00:52:56,036 --> 00:52:58,818
This season is just exploring joy.
608
00:52:58,818 --> 00:53:09,580
And it's been really interesting to chat to you about joy in change and move, and also
routine and what we can learn about our routines and...
609
00:53:09,580 --> 00:53:14,014
habits, I suppose, when we move from one space to another and how that moves on.
610
00:53:14,455 --> 00:53:15,698
thank you so much for having me.
611
00:53:15,698 --> 00:53:21,974
It's been a joyful conversation and I look forward to hearing what else you explore.
612
00:53:22,902 --> 00:53:27,755
If people want to get in touch with you, what is the best way to get in touch with you?
613
00:53:27,755 --> 00:53:29,080
What's your website name?
614
00:53:29,080 --> 00:53:44,546
Yeah, so I have um beautifuluseful.co, and then I'm on Instagram and pretty much
everywhere else at at angfriesen, A-N-G-E-F-R-I-E-S-E-N, and that's where you'll find me.
615
00:53:44,930 --> 00:53:49,880
I'll add all of this into the podcast links so people can connect with you.
616
00:53:49,880 --> 00:53:51,322
Thank you very much.
617
00:53:51,620 --> 00:53:52,627
Thank you.