Latest / Magic Divorce Club Podcast / Ep 16: Secrets, Divorce & Turning Pain Into Art - Lessons From Lily Allen
Transcript
- 0:01SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the magic divorce club podcast.
- 0:05This is your space to successfully navigate your divorce with
- 0:10confidence and create
- 0:11SPEAKER_00: a roadmap to the life of your dreams.
- 0:15SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Hannah Harvey.
- 0:16SPEAKER_00: I'm the author of How to Divorce Sober,
- 0:19and I have helped thousands of women to process the trauma of
- 0:22divorce and step into
- 0:24SPEAKER_00: an exciting future.
- 0:27Please like and subscribe because this really helps my little
- 0:31podcast to grow.
- 0:33SPEAKER_00: And if you would like more from me,
- 0:34you can subscribe at magicdivorceclub.substack.com for a host
- 0:41of other support
- 0:42SPEAKER_00: tools.
- 0:44Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Magic Divorce
- 0:49Club podcast.
- 0:51It's me Hannah and I'm gonna be honest this is gonna be a
- 0:56little bit of processing
- 0:59out loud because last night I listened to Lily Allen's new
- 1:04album West End Girl for
- 1:06SPEAKER_00: the first time and I listened to it in full
- 1:10SPEAKER_00: like it's the 90s.
- 1:12I don't think I have done that since I had a record player and
- 1:16I sold my record
- 1:16SPEAKER_00: player quite a while ago because it was given to me by my ex.
- 1:22So in true cleansing style I got rid of it and yeah I don't
- 1:26think with the age of
- 1:27SPEAKER_00: Spotify I've ever listened to a full album in its entirety and
- 1:34oh I wasn't going to listen to the album because I'd read a
- 1:38little bit about it I'd
- 1:39had my brother email me I'd had my one of my best mates message
- 1:43and say talk about
- 1:44it and um my boyfriend Dan had done a little bit of digging
- 1:48around the story and I
- 1:49was like I'm gonna find that really triggering um and it was it
- 1:57definitely is a
- 1:58triggering lesson so if you're going through stuff right now in
- 2:01your divorce it's
- 2:02SPEAKER_00: really fresh and
- 2:04SPEAKER_00: I would maybe give it some space before you dive in.
- 2:09SPEAKER_00: So with that in mind,
- 2:10that is your trigger warning that we'll be talking about
- 2:12infidelity and things like
- 2:13SPEAKER_00: that in this episode and addictions.
- 2:17SPEAKER_00: So I'll tell you where I'm at with it.
- 2:22SPEAKER_00: As someone who wrote a book with some details of what happened, I...
- 2:34i'm quite in awe of what she's done like i was so scared last
- 2:43august when i was you
- 2:45know doing the finishing touches of the book and really delving
- 2:49into um what my ex
- 2:52was gonna make of it because i do talk about uh drug taking
- 2:57alcohol addictions not
- 3:00SPEAKER_00: just his mine as well and um
- 3:04SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I didn't want to get sued, basically.
- 3:06So it was also quite a triggering experience because you're
- 3:13going back into the
- 3:14SPEAKER_00: whole thing and trying to make sense of it all.
- 3:17SPEAKER_00: And it's cathartic.
- 3:18SPEAKER_00: So in writing the book,
- 3:20SPEAKER_00: I was able to kind of process what had happened and really look at like,
- 3:25SPEAKER_00: what was my stuff?
- 3:26SPEAKER_00: What was his stuff?
- 3:29SPEAKER_00: And
- 3:31pull out the really beautiful threads that meant that I could
- 3:34heal properly and
- 3:35move on and learn the lessons that I needed to learn because
- 3:38there have been times
- 3:39SPEAKER_00: when I have been a massive dickhead and,
- 3:43SPEAKER_00: you know,
- 3:43SPEAKER_00: I needed to learn certain things so that I could stop doing it.
- 3:50SPEAKER_00: It was like proper sabotage.
- 3:53SPEAKER_00: So that is...
- 3:55that's kind of the story of my book which is called How to
- 3:58Divorce Sober and you
- 3:59know I do go into this stuff and I did find it really scary so
- 4:03to think that she's
- 4:04like properly told the whole story is um yeah quite something
- 4:11because I'm like how
- 4:12does it work legally being able to put all that stuff out there
- 4:18so I'm trying not
- 4:21SPEAKER_00: to rumble too much in this um
- 4:27I guess one of the things that I highly recommend people do
- 4:32when they're going
- 4:33through divorce is to not overly fixate on the story whilst
- 4:41you're in it and don't
- 4:43SPEAKER_00: air your laundry on Facebook and stuff like that.
- 4:48SPEAKER_00: Because,
- 4:48SPEAKER_00: and the reason for this,
- 4:51SPEAKER_00: and this comes straight from Brené Brown,
- 4:53SPEAKER_00: is until we've processed this stuff,
- 4:57uh it's best not to talk about it so just let time be a bit of
- 5:01a healer um but
- 5:05there was also so much healing to be done from like making art
- 5:12basically so what
- 5:13lily has done here is create some like pretty banging tunes out
- 5:19of like utter
- 5:21SPEAKER_00: heartbreak um
- 5:26and you know she's had a bit of a checkered past too so it's
- 5:29easy to be like well
- 5:31she's cheated in the past and blah blah blah but the long and
- 5:35short of it is she's
- 5:36a woman who's been in love and had her heart broken and you
- 5:41know we're all allowed
- 5:42a fresh start so um my point is there's one thing to be you
- 5:50know really slaying
- 5:51SPEAKER_00: somebody publicly when you're
- 5:55very much still in it and processing it because that isn't good
- 5:58for you like you're
- 6:00re you're literally picking off the scabs and the wounds um and
- 6:05then there's
- 6:05another thing to take all of this raw human emotion and turn it
- 6:12into art or
- 6:14SPEAKER_00: something that's going to help you process what you're going through um
- 6:21SPEAKER_00: And they do say heartbreak really makes an artist.
- 6:26SPEAKER_00: It cracks us open creatively.
- 6:32And I guess it forces a kind of honesty that we've not
- 6:35necessarily allowed
- 6:37SPEAKER_00: ourselves to really explore before because we've never really needed to.
- 6:43SPEAKER_00: But yeah, this album literally feels like you're reading her diary.
- 6:47SPEAKER_00: It's like Technicolor...
- 6:51movie of exactly what happened um yeah so I you know I guess if
- 7:02you're taking
- 7:03anything from this it's that it is possible to channel what
- 7:08you're feeling into
- 7:09something creative whether you're an artist a poet you want to
- 7:13write stuff down you
- 7:14want to journal things out you want to make some music you can
- 7:18really go there and
- 7:20be you know properly honest you don't necessarily ever have to
- 7:24show it to anyone um
- 7:30but yeah this album i guess i'm just like she has said herself
- 7:35that it isn't
- 7:35SPEAKER_00: intended to be a cruel album like i don't think
- 7:40SPEAKER_00: she's necessarily throwing him under the bus.
- 7:43SPEAKER_00: Um,
- 7:45SPEAKER_00: it's,
- 7:46SPEAKER_00: it's that balance between,
- 7:48SPEAKER_00: I talked to someone,
- 7:50SPEAKER_00: um,
- 7:50SPEAKER_00: a lady called Penny,
- 7:51SPEAKER_00: um,
- 7:53SPEAKER_00: on my old podcast,
- 7:55SPEAKER_00: which I'll share a link to the happily ever after podcast.
- 8:00SPEAKER_00: And it's a little bit what she called, um, what did she call it?
- 8:06SPEAKER_00: Something honesty, like,
- 8:10complete raw honesty about what you've been through because
- 8:16there are so many women
- 8:21in the magic divorce club you know there's over a thousand
- 8:24women in this club so i
- 8:27SPEAKER_00: can guarantee you
- 8:29that there will be women in this club who have had their
- 8:33boundaries crossed,
- 8:34who have had to keep secrets because they wanted to keep their
- 8:38family together and
- 8:39SPEAKER_00: to protect their marriage,
- 8:41SPEAKER_00: and who have lost themselves in the process of keeping these secrets.
- 8:49And what she is describing in this album is triggering for a
- 8:55lot of people because it's true.
- 8:57SPEAKER_00: We've lived through this kind of thing.
- 9:03and that's quite confronting I guess as a society to have
- 9:06somebody go this is the
- 9:07kind of thing that women live through all the time all the time
- 9:12they've had
- 9:12children with somebody then things start to change and you know
- 9:17it's not just women
- 9:17I know some men go through this too I think if we're honest it
- 9:23happens more to
- 9:24SPEAKER_00: women than men and
- 9:30you get to a point where you're so thick in all of it and the
- 9:33shame and the secrecy
- 9:35and the lies and the trying to keep everything together that
- 9:39you forget that this
- 9:42isn't normal and it's not pleasant and you know what she's
- 9:48actually done is
- 9:49SPEAKER_00: highlighting to a lot of people who may be living this right now that
- 9:55you don't have to you don't have to you can get out of it and
- 9:59um you know there's
- 10:00going to be some quite a lot of healing i think for some people
- 10:04to to be able to
- 10:05SPEAKER_00: listen and go oh yeah
- 10:07SPEAKER_00: Like,
- 10:07SPEAKER_00: yeah,
- 10:07SPEAKER_00: maybe there were some agreements around,
- 10:09SPEAKER_00: oh,
- 10:09you can have sex with other people as long as I don't find out
- 10:13or as long as you've
- 10:16SPEAKER_00: paid for them and it's a stranger.
- 10:17SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, transpires, it's not that at all.
- 10:21But the chances are you maybe didn't make that arrangement in
- 10:24the first place
- 10:24SPEAKER_00: because you wanted to.
- 10:25You did it because you were stuck between a rock and a hard
- 10:28place and you were
- 10:29SPEAKER_00: hoping that that would keep your partner happy.
- 10:32SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
- 10:34SPEAKER_00: But my experience of keeping secrets,
- 10:36SPEAKER_00: trying to protect your marriage,
- 10:40SPEAKER_00: carrying shame around,
- 10:43SPEAKER_00: it's incredibly damaging.
- 10:47SPEAKER_00: Like it has to live somewhere and it stores itself in your body.
- 10:51SPEAKER_00: And having that in your body,
- 10:54SPEAKER_00: for me,
- 10:55SPEAKER_00: then started to cause panic attacks,
- 10:58SPEAKER_00: massive anxiety,
- 11:01SPEAKER_00: and then ultimately dipping into depression.
- 11:04SPEAKER_00: And I would do a lot of numbing.
- 11:06Like she has this incredible song in the album about not
- 11:11wanting to relapse and...
- 11:14Like desperately needing a way to numb because she didn't want
- 11:17to feel all the
- 11:17SPEAKER_00: stuff that she's feeling.
- 11:18SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, yeah.
- 11:20SPEAKER_00: Like I relate to...
- 11:24you know having so like having all of these negative emotions
- 11:29and not really
- 11:30knowing how what to do with them and having no way to um turn
- 11:35to the thing that I
- 11:36used to turn to which would have been alcohol and instead I
- 11:39have to feel it I mean
- 11:41I did I can feel it in my shoulders as I'm talking about this I
- 11:44did uh numb with
- 11:47SPEAKER_00: things like food or um you know sugar that kind of thing but
- 11:53not quite the same as being able to knock yourself out with
- 11:56booze um so yeah a lot
- 12:02of what some of you will be working through now is working
- 12:07through letting go of
- 12:11SPEAKER_00: that need to protect and to keep secrets um
- 12:17SPEAKER_00: And I guess acknowledging what it costs you to keep those secrets.
- 12:23SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it's tricky.
- 12:26SPEAKER_00: It's really tricky stuff.
- 12:27And this is why I'm so dedicated to this kind of somatic work
- 12:34that we do in the
- 12:35SPEAKER_00: Magic Divorce Club is all around helping your body feel safe again.
- 12:42SPEAKER_00: Because we get so used to feeling safe when you're up against it,
- 12:46SPEAKER_00: when you're putting out fires,
- 12:47SPEAKER_00: when you're holding secrets.
- 12:49SPEAKER_00: That becomes the safe place for your body and your brain.
- 12:53SPEAKER_00: So when you're not and when you're starting to feel calm,
- 12:55SPEAKER_00: that's when sabotage can really come in because you're like,
- 12:59SPEAKER_00: oh,
- 12:59SPEAKER_00: this calm feeling does not feel safe anymore for me.
- 13:03SPEAKER_00: And I need to learn.
- 13:04SPEAKER_00: I need to relearn.
- 13:06SPEAKER_00: Or maybe even learn for the first time if this is,
- 13:08SPEAKER_00: you know,
- 13:08SPEAKER_00: your whole life has been quite chaotic.
- 13:11It's like learning for the first time how to release the chaos
- 13:17and feel safe being
- 13:18SPEAKER_00: calm and being...
- 13:21SPEAKER_00: you know,
- 13:22SPEAKER_00: in a steady new relationship,
- 13:24SPEAKER_00: if that's what you're going to try and call in next,
- 13:27SPEAKER_00: which I highly recommend.
- 13:28SPEAKER_00: But that in itself is tricky because you're used to chaos.
- 13:33So it takes this whole process to get used to feeling safe with
- 13:39somebody who's not
- 13:40SPEAKER_00: kicking off with you or making you keep secrets for them.
- 13:45SPEAKER_00: Um...
- 13:49SPEAKER_00: So,
- 13:50SPEAKER_00: you know,
- 13:50some people are obviously criticising her for airing her dirty
- 13:55laundry or saying
- 13:56SPEAKER_00: too much.
- 13:57SPEAKER_00: And I guess for you and me,
- 14:03we need to consider how much we share publicly and if it's
- 14:08actually healing for us.
- 14:11SPEAKER_00: So you get to choose that.
- 14:13SPEAKER_00: I personally...
- 14:17I mean obviously I've written a book but like as a rule I try I
- 14:22did my best to
- 14:23share the story that was my bit and not throw my kid's dad
- 14:29under the bus because I
- 14:31still want to have a working relationship with him and he was
- 14:34struggling as well
- 14:35SPEAKER_00: like we both had our issues and you know when there's things like um
- 14:43SPEAKER_00: I want to say addictions,
- 14:44SPEAKER_00: but I say this from the point of view of being like,
- 14:47if you repeatedly do something that causes a negative impact on
- 14:50yourself and others
- 14:51SPEAKER_00: around you,
- 14:52SPEAKER_00: that's what I mean by addiction.
- 14:54So when there are things in your relationship that repeatedly
- 15:00happen despite
- 15:01SPEAKER_00: promises being made and your boundaries are getting crossed,
- 15:05SPEAKER_00: that's what I'm talking about.
- 15:08SPEAKER_00: And it
- 15:11SPEAKER_00: However much you want to talk about that is up to you,
- 15:14SPEAKER_00: but I would say do your best to process it privately first.
- 15:20SPEAKER_00: Do a Brené Brown on the situation, and then when you're ready...
- 15:27And feeling strong enough that if you do get criticised,
- 15:32you're going to be okay.
- 15:34SPEAKER_00: That's when you can show your arts to the world.
- 15:37But I would say always protect the little version of you before
- 15:42you go and air it,
- 15:46I guess.
- 15:49SPEAKER_00: And just make sure that you feel like you are...
- 15:53really steady and strong in yourself um because when you're in
- 15:58fight or flight that
- 15:58could really tip you into proper overwhelm and panic attacks
- 16:03all that kind of stuff
- 16:05so if you are feeling like you're just coming out of some
- 16:10proper bullshit um
- 16:12SPEAKER_00: behavior and you want to work out how to channel this um i'm like oh
- 16:21SPEAKER_00: make art like draw some pictures make some poetry like really create safe
- 16:31containers where you can express yourself because you deserve
- 16:37to share your story
- 16:39and you own your story and you are i give you full permission
- 16:45to call out shit
- 16:47SPEAKER_00: behavior um
- 16:50And just do what you can to really help yourself process it in
- 16:54the way that feels best for you.
- 16:57SPEAKER_00: And most sort of, most healing.
- 17:02So it might be you're going to your therapist and you're
- 17:04telling them everything.
- 17:06It might be that you've gone to an art class and you're like
- 17:10black paint everywhere.
- 17:11SPEAKER_00: I don't know, but just...
- 17:14I think the more we can shine a light on the things that we're
- 17:20feeling and the
- 17:20stuff that we've been through and the things that we're like
- 17:23fucking furious about,
- 17:26SPEAKER_00: the more we're able to heal.
- 17:29SPEAKER_00: You know,
- 17:29SPEAKER_00: if we try and shove them under a carpet or let them just fester,
- 17:36SPEAKER_00: that's not going to be good either.
- 17:38SPEAKER_00: And it'll come out in other ways.
- 17:40SPEAKER_00: When you see your ex, you'll be like,
- 17:44SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
- 17:44doing things that aren't necessarily cohesive to a professional
- 17:49co-parenting
- 17:49SPEAKER_00: relationship with them.
- 17:53SPEAKER_00: For me,
- 17:54SPEAKER_00: I did a lot of just sitting and staring out the window,
- 17:56SPEAKER_00: I'll be honest,
- 17:57SPEAKER_00: and crying and letting myself feel all of the pain.
- 18:04SPEAKER_00: And then as I say, I wrote it all up.
- 18:06SPEAKER_00: I wrote my story out and that was painful.
- 18:11but also so healing because I make sense of my thoughts when I
- 18:16write them out.
- 18:17SPEAKER_00: I feel like,
- 18:18SPEAKER_00: you probably know this with this podcast,
- 18:21that sometimes I can kind of go round and round in circles
- 18:26unless I've seen it
- 18:27SPEAKER_00: properly written out.
- 18:29And I do feel like when I speak sometimes that helps me process
- 18:32what I'm feeling as well.
- 18:33SPEAKER_00: Um...
- 18:38SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't worry about oversharing too much.
- 18:40When you've got to the point where you're feeling ready to
- 18:42share this stuff and you
- 18:44SPEAKER_00: want to write a book or whatever it is you want to do,
- 18:48SPEAKER_00: say it how it is.
- 18:55SPEAKER_00: You're allowed to have your story.
- 18:56SPEAKER_00: You're allowed to tell your story.
- 18:58SPEAKER_00: You don't have to keep hiding behind other people's bad behaviour.
- 19:04And also,
- 19:05you don't have to tell every detail when you do finally share
- 19:09it.
- 19:09SPEAKER_00: My friend Caro Giles,
- 19:12SPEAKER_00: who has written some amazing books,
- 19:15SPEAKER_00: and I'll share them in the,
- 19:16SPEAKER_00: what's it called?
- 19:19SPEAKER_00: The notes, the show notes.
- 19:22SPEAKER_00: She talks about
- 19:25SPEAKER_00: the ghosts on the page.
- 19:27SPEAKER_00: So if you are interested in memoir,
- 19:30SPEAKER_00: her first book is all about her divorce and going through it over,
- 19:37SPEAKER_00: it was kind of lockdown time.
- 19:39SPEAKER_00: So, you know, that brought its own stresses.
- 19:42She's got four children with,
- 19:45you know,
- 19:45specific needs that require a lot of her attention.
- 19:50SPEAKER_00: And she just does the most beautiful job of
- 19:54laying the heartbreak out there without just getting nasty I
- 20:01guess and yeah she
- 20:03talks about this writing the ghost on the page so you can leave
- 20:07out details and we
- 20:08know we know what's actually going on and between the lines um
- 20:13so yeah 12 moons
- 20:15highly recommend that and her latest book called unschooled is
- 20:18also out as well
- 20:21So I guess what I'm trying to say is don't ever feel ashamed to
- 20:27own your story and to share it.
- 20:30SPEAKER_00: Be careful when you decide to share it.
- 20:36But you'll know when the time is right and part of it will be
- 20:38incredibly cathartic.
- 20:41SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you...
- 20:44SPEAKER_00: Like,
- 20:45Lily could be helping so many people when you do go on to share
- 20:50what you did,
- 20:51SPEAKER_00: how you recovered.
- 20:53SPEAKER_00: You know, it doesn't have to be some big revenge piece.
- 20:56It can be,
- 20:57this is my baptism of fire and how I finally got to learn who I
- 21:04am and...
- 21:07SPEAKER_00: And know that there's actually so much more beyond divorce.
- 21:11SPEAKER_00: It feels like the end.
- 21:14SPEAKER_00: And when for so many of us, it's actually just the beginning.
- 21:17Like this is the first time we properly get to know ourselves
- 21:20and who we are.
- 21:22SPEAKER_00: And that's really beautiful.
- 21:24SPEAKER_00: So please tell me, are you making art already?
- 21:27Do you have stuff that you are livid about still that you would
- 21:36love to do a Lily Allen on?
- 21:39um a friend of mine suggested that we have a piece where people
- 21:42anonymously send in
- 21:44things that have happened to them and i post it all up for
- 21:47everybody uh what do you
- 21:50think should we do that or is that just crazy i don't know
- 21:52because god knows what
- 21:55has been going on um but you know it's our stories we can be
- 22:00radically honest we
- 22:01can share what we want these things have happened to us we've
- 22:04put up with them and
- 22:07SPEAKER_00: now we're out the other side
- 22:10SPEAKER_00: So my loves,
- 22:13SPEAKER_00: whatever it is that you're going through right now,
- 22:15SPEAKER_00: whatever it is that you're healing from,
- 22:18SPEAKER_00: please know that you can always reach out to me.
- 22:21You can come along to Magic Mondays on a Monday where whatever
- 22:26is going on,
- 22:28SPEAKER_00: we come back to center.
- 22:30I bring you inside the Magic Divorce Clubhouse,
- 22:32which is this amazing protective building.
- 22:36SPEAKER_00: Only we're allowed in there.
- 22:38and everybody else's shit gets fizzled away before you even
- 22:42come in and inside
- 22:44there you are enough you are doing enough and i fill you up
- 22:48with that energy of
- 22:49compassion so that you can then go on and really think about
- 22:53what you want to call
- 22:54SPEAKER_00: in now you get to choose what you do next
- 22:57SPEAKER_00: Okay, I hope you're all right.
- 22:59SPEAKER_00: I hope that wasn't too triggering.
- 23:02SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear what you've thought of this whole thing.
- 23:05I know I'm a little bit behind everybody else,
- 23:08but you know,
- 23:09it was triggering.
- 23:10So I had to take a little while to kind of work up to actually
- 23:13listen to it.
- 23:16don't remember don't remember do remember your heartbreak is
- 23:20not the end of the
- 23:22story this is your hero's journey this is the middle section of
- 23:26the book and this
- 23:28beautiful end of the book is what we're going to do next okay
- 23:33my loves have a
- 23:35SPEAKER_00: wonderful week and i will speak to you again next week
- 23:40SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening.
- 23:42SPEAKER_00: And if you could subscribe and leave a review, that would be amazing.
- 23:46SPEAKER_00: For all of your tips and tools,
- 23:49head over to magicdivorceclub.substack.com and you can find
- 23:58everything that you
- 23:58SPEAKER_00: need there.
- 24:00SPEAKER_00: You've got this and I've got you.