*Exciting announcement alert!* Say hello to The C Word podcast!!! Yes, that’s right – I’ve started a podcast! Wanna know a bit about it? Look no further than this post:
This is a podcast that’s come about in response to the myriad effects the Coronavirus outbreak has had on our societal psyche, our lifestyles and our well-being. This is a podcast for ordinary people, living ordinary lives in this extraordinary time – and aims to bring you, the listener, a little sunshine.
I started The C Word series back on my blog a few weeks ago, and you can read all about my inspiration for the series, which has spun off into its very own podcast, too, here. But in short, I felt that during this crazy, challenging period, there’s been plenty of advice and support for your physical health, a package of financial support for individuals in this country, a plethora of up-to-date scientific information online, and, of course, plenty of scaremongering has been going on in the media. But what I felt had been missing from the table was clear well-being support to help us transition to this new ‘normal’ and real stories from real people trying to adjust to the world we now find ourselves in.
The FIRST FOUR EPISODES are now available over on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Anchor, and hopefully on all your other fave podcast-listening platforms in the next few days! A lil info about the episodes:
Episode 1: It’s called ‘Couch Potatoin” and deals with the complexities of being told to just ‘stay at home’ – a simple instruction, but one that has 360’ed our lifestyles and affected our well-being heavily. Speaking to two NHS nurses to hear their personal stories, this episode strives to delve into the fact that it’s okay to be struggling with ‘staying at home’, whilst exploring the emotions we’re all facing right now – to offer some positive tips to bring some sunshine into this tricky time.
Episode 2: It’s called ‘Riding the Waves (quite literally) and it’s all about emotions and le guest is my pal, Chloe, who has been stuck on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean for months due to the coronavirus outbreak. We’re all experiencing an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions at the moment, and each day brings new waves of feelings to process and deal with. Life is surreal for everyone at the moment, but it’s particularly surreal for Chloe Brown. Chloe has been working on a cruise ship travelling the world for five months, but has spent the last two months of her voyage in lockdown. We speak to identify what life on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean on lockdown is like, and how she’s been riding the waves of her emotions at this turbulent time. This episode strives to look at how we can ride the emotional waves, come out the other side more positive and hopeful, and includes different strategies and experiences on dealing with the myriad, challenging emotions we may be experiencing at this unprecedented time.
Episode 3: is called ‘Life in Lockdown… Before it even began’. For many people, the difficult reality of life before this ‘new’ normal meant that the Governmental lockdown hasn’t made life feel all that different. For those struggling with many physical and mental illnesses, the life of daily lifestyle restrictions, paranoia and overwhelm is unfortunately the always ‘normal’ for many. From sufferers of chronic illness, to those living with anxiety and many more difficulties, living with a body or mind that’s been on lockdown, long before lockdown began, has raised many questions about how our society often casts aside vulnerable people, how as humans we can learn to become more understanding and empathetic of others, and what we can do going forward to make the world a more inclusive place. Speaking to Kate Lowther, who suffers with the chronic illness, IBD, and writes honestly about her experience at howitbewithibd.com, and sharing my own experience of anxiety, we’re hoping this episode offers an insight into life in physical and mental lockdown – whilst offering some sunshine and hope for a more positive world after coronavirus.
Episode 4: is called ‘Let’s Make Gratitude + Hope the New Normal’. The fourth episode of The C Word podcast aims to bring a rather large dose of sunshine, a generous helping of gratitude and a bountiful dusting of hope as a recipe for living as positively as possible in this new ‘normal’. We’re living in incredibly challenging times – and now is the time to cling to what we’re grateful for and look forward to how we can shape society to be a more inclusive, positive and inspiring place once all of this is over. Each week, we aim to explore myriad ways the coronavirus outbreak has affected our collective well-being and societal psyche, and we try to look for positive outcomes, tips and advice at the end of each episode. Today, we’re taking a little interlude to bring some much-needed positive vibes your way. Let’s celebrate the positive lessons this unfathomably difficult experience has so far taught us, and speaking to Chloe, a University student, blogger and advocate of positivity and gratitude, this episode strives to celebrate the positive lessons this difficult experience has so far taught us, and explores how we can invoke positive change after this is all over. We chat seagulls, time being a big, beautiful blob, the pick-me-ups (and 100% non-guilty pleasures) of High School Musical and ABBA, and get pretttty deep and spiritual about positivity and gratitude. I was laughing from start to finish recording this episode, and it lifted my mood immensely. I hope it brings a 😊 to your face, too!
Episode 5: is called ‘”Help, I want to self-isolate from social media, as well!”‘. We’re delving into the weird and wonderful world of social media. For all its many flaws – and the surprising fact that it has become an absolute lifeline to many of us in this locked down period. Social media has literally become our social life (gulp) and how we navigate this new reality can be tricky. Speaking to Jade, a beautiful soul and successful lifestyle blogger, we try to unpick how exactly to distance from the s*** on social media, how to stop the dreaded, endless scroll and how to instead curate a positive virtual space for yourself at this challenging time.
Episode 6 is one that I believe is so important. 2020 is teaching us many things. In a year of heartbreak, it’s very possible to believe we were sent these lessons to teach us all some glaringly obvious things society has been ignorant to for a very long time. The Black Lives Matter movement has gained further momentum as people wake up to the terrifying reality that racism is still prevalent in society in 2020. There is so much to say, so much that one podcast cannot go into, but speaking to Alice Oluyitan, founder of incredible, empowering online community, GBEMi, fashion developer for Fiorucci, member of the BAME community and devout Christian, we want to offer a safe space to explore the paramount importance of talking about race in 2020, and the things that listeners can commit to doing to make a change. From personal experiences of race in the UK and support for the BAME community, to petitions to sign, shows to watch and advice on allyship, this episode aims to sensitively explore the importance of taking action. We hope this episode does the movement justice.Â
And Episode 7, the penultimate C Word Podcast episode (craziness) is all about Confidence Crisis in Lockdown. We’ve probably all dealt with a confidence crisis (or five) over the last few months. I know I have. The overthinking spirals thanks to more time on my hands; the furlough life making me question every single life decision I’ve ever made; the crippling lack of confidence when it comes to being in a group social situation with people I don’t really know again, or attempting to make small talk in the kitchen at work when office working becomes the norm yet again. A year of uncertainty has undoubtedly led all of us towards a confidence wobble. When things are uncertain, we get uncertain. Life feels uncertain. In every aspect. So, let’s tackle this wobble with Episode 7. Speaking to Chloe, the incredible mid-size blogger and H&M Ambassador who goes by the name of @unwrittenchloe online to her 15k followers, we aim to work out how to stop the overthinking spiral, handle confidence crises and grow comfortable in the skin we’re in. Let’s work on this confidence thing, together, have a good rant about how we’re feeling and find some solutions for upping our self-belief!
I’d love it if you fancied having a listen to the episodes – I wanted this podcast to be a positive resource at this difficult time for anyone trying to get to grips with this new ‘now’ – and I hope it does that for you. 🙂