Me, Myself, & Isla - Lifting the Lid on Loneliness

Episode 11 - The Loneliness that can come from Moving to a New City

Hello, and welcome to the next episode of Me, Myself and Isla – Lifting the Lid on Loneliness. Today, I’m chatting to Matt Wallace, a super talented comms and media professional, who moved to Aberdeen with his family, from Canada a few years ago. Matt offered to speak on the loneliness of moving to a new town - or country in his case - and the difficulty of trying to make new friends, whilst also looking after your family, and going back to university (or school as it is for Matt). Matt speaks about his great love for ice hockey, and how joining a team in Aberdeen helped to open up a new circle of friends for him, spending time with people who are as passionate about the sport as he is. Matt also speaks about the loneliness of job hunting, especially in a city where you don’t know so many people, and easy it can be to overthink and get stuck in your head. I loved this chat, Matt speaks brilliantly, kindly, and openly about his experiences, and I know you’ll enjoy listening to this one too.

Episode 10 - A chat covering everything from the loneliness of divorce, to the joy of solo travelling - but know your limits.

Hello, and welcome to the next episode of Me, Myself and Isla – Lifting the Lid on Loneliness. Today, I’m chatting to Lisa Ironside, Managing Director of The HR Dept Aberdeenshire. Lisa is someone who knows a thing or two about connection, and what it feels like when it’s missing. She has worked in HR for over 20 years and until 2022, she led culture and inclusion for a global company of 60,000 people, but despite being surrounded by colleagues, she often felt deeply alone. So much so it prompted her to start her own business 3 years ago.  At the same time, after 25 years of marriage, she found herself single and starting over, which meant a journey of learning how to truly be alone, and be okay with it. This is a brilliant chat that covers everything from what loneliness actually feels like in your body, to advice for solo travelling and adventures, and I loved every minute of it. I know you will too.

Episode 9 - A Chat About the Loneliness and Isolation Associated with a Chronic Illness

Hello, and welcome to the next episode of Me, Myself and Isla – Lifting the Lid on Loneliness. Today, I’m chatting to Susi McWilliam, a spiritual teacher, best-selling author, meditation teacher and trainer, podcaster, spiritual coach, and owner and founder of North East based business Spirit and Soul. Her business was built over the years based on her own experience of overcoming anxiety, depression, and chronic illness - all moments in her life when she felt deeply isolated and lonely. In our chat we talk in more detail about Susi’s experiences of loneliness, and how she found her way through by reaching out to close friends, building a strong online community, and taking time to remember what her true values and passions are, and doing more of them. This chat is uplifting and inspiring, and gave me lots to think about, and I know that you’re going to feel the same, so enjoy your listen.

Episode 8 - A Chat About Running a Business on Your Own with Suz Bird

Hello, and welcome to episode 8 of Me, Myself and Isla – Lifting the Lid on Loneliness. After another break, because life gets in the way sometimes, I’m so happy to be back doing my favourite thing, talking to people, listening to their stories, and then sharing them in case they help other people. We’re kicking off, what I guess is a new season, with the wonderful Suz Bird, who I have known for a long time now. We’ve been trying to set this chat up for over a year now, and I’m so glad we got there in the end. Suz has been running her own business for almost 10 years, and in this chat shares her experiences of self employed life, including building your own community and the pitfalls of comparison and social media She also gives us an insight into the importance of her solo dates, solo networking, and her strong belief we are all just figuring out life as best we can There’s even some strategy tips for online dating for those looking for love! I enjoyed this refreshing, insightful and fun chat with Suz, and I really think you will too.

Episode 7 – A Chat About How Big Life Events Can Lead to Feelings of Loneliness

Welcome to episode 7 of ‘Me, Myself, and Isla – Lifting the Lid on Loneliness’. It’s been a little while since I recorded one of these podcasts, life gets in the way sometimes, but I am very happy to kick off again with the wonderful Sandra Mclennan. I’ve known of Sandra for a long time through work, so I already knew she was awesome, smart, switched on, and super professional, but it’s only recently that we’ve started to talk a little more and realised we should have been friends long before now. Sandra is a force for good, and it says everything that it makes her nervous when I say that, because she’s very humble too. Sandra got in touch a couple of months ago and told me she’d like to join me on my podcast. I was surprised, because as if always the way, Sandra is not someone I’d have ever expected to feel lonely. By her own admission, she has incredible family and friends around her, but was keen to talk about how situations and curve balls can cause feelings loneliness. Sandra talks passionately about how she handled these feelings, and how she also makes it her mission to make sure that other people don’t feel alone. A chat about incredible amount of charity work that Sandra does led to us having a nice conversation about volunteering, and how this is an ideal way to help people and form your own socials connections at the same time. It was an absolute delight to talk to Sandra, who is kind, compassionate, and very smart. I learned a lot in our chat, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. I have a feeling you will.