Latest / In Real Life With Holly B. / Why Real Human Connection Still Matters, Theo of Golden, and 30 Days of Pet Letters for NaPodPoMo
Transcript
- Holly B.: Hey friends, welcome to In Real Life with Holly B. I'm your host. This is a solo podcast that I've chosen to do on my own. my gosh, I can't even believe that I'm saying that. Almost a year into creating our other podcast, my son and I, we co host Ramblings from the Little Shed podcast. But I really wanted to try something different and on my own for the sake of Relaying to you what I've learned over the last, well, 50 years or so, but mostly in the last couple of years with my book on how to develop these relationships, collaborations with other people in real life. And so here I am. I want to apologize, first of all, because I do have a cold. My voice is scratchy. So I'll try not to talk too long or hurt your ears too much. But thanks for joining me. This is a podcast where, each episode will run about 15, 20 minutes. I'll do a little chit-chat and I may talk about some books that I've read or some occurrences that have happened in my life that really make me sit and think about what's going on in real life. How are we connecting with real people? What I've done with my own self-published book to create these. collaborations with businesses or how have I gotten my book into the hands of the right readers? which brings me to I really want to talk about a book that I read that for me is the epitome of this podcast. And I thought, how ironic that this book has fallen into my hands. And this is exactly what I want to talk about. Now, there have been other p opinions on this book. This is just my opinion. This book is Theo of Golden by Alan Levi, No S on the end of Levi. I devoured this book. It is the book I wish I would have written. In fact, my writing style in the very beginning was very much like Alan Levi's writing style. And it has been criticized because it third person omniscient, but I really like that. He's head hopping, he's all over the place. But Theo is the protagonist of this book. And he is developing relationships in his calm, quiet manner, is absolutely beautiful. Alan Levi's descriptions are beautiful, but it's the way he weaves the relationships together. And I don't want to give away too much about how Theo, the character, develops these relationships with people. But when you get into the book it it doesn't take very long to for that to become very clear. And so as the book builds, yes, there is some conflict, but it's really a book that I enjoyed in many quiet spaces, drives, into town, down to Toronto, wherever it was I was going. The narrator's voice just lulls you into this space of calm, peaceful, and it makes you reflect on the relationships that you have. This book really did solidify the reasoning why I wanted to record this podcast. Because I feel like we've come away from having relationships with people. I'm super grateful for having Zoom meetings, Google meetings, and meeting people all over the world across this video screen. But there's nothing quite standing in front of another person looking into their eyes and seeing more than just what. Coming out of their mouth. It's having a sense of how they feel, what their energy is like. And that's not, I don't think, frou-frou stuff. It's just being human and having those human interactions. So for me, reading this book, and there was actually a piece on when a baby looks into their parents' eyes, they're looking at faces in a way that has so much meaning. And I don't know that we look at each other's faces that way anymore. I think we judge each other's faces, the lines on our faces, the lines around our eyes. But do we really look into people's faces? I'm not so sure about that. this book has changed my perception of that. And although I do think that I've always had a special way to connect with people, this book really just makes you pause and think. Now. I can honestly say, and this is not an ego boost. It's not me bragging because I was taught never to brag. But I I do believe that I have had a way to connect with people. I do try to find ways to make conversation, to find that link between myself and the person in front of me or the group of people. Maybe it's, cracking a joke Maybe it's sometimes because I'm nervous, but it's also to find common ground with people. I remember watching my father time and time and time again. He would walk into a room and he would own it. And within minutes, he would have people laughing. So for me, I think it just came natural, probably because I watched my father do it. But I never really saw it as something other than who I was until recently. when more than say three people have mirrored my own actions back at me and have commented on what they've seen and how I interact with people. So I take notice. It's like when I hear a word more than three times, I take notice of that word. And I've got a couple. So we'll talk about those words a little bit later. But I think I've just really reflected on the way that I've connected with people and I could see that I could make more connections. And that extends out beyond just people, right? It's it's in our actions with how we work. my book, for example. I have created these collaborations with different stores, different venues, so that it's a way for me to get my book out into the world. But these connections are not tangible. And so I think we don't put a lot of weight on them. We want something in return instead of just having a pretty amazing sharing of space, sharing of words, storytelling. We've lost the art of how to do that. All right, all of that to say, here's what I'm doing in the month of November. There is a woman, her name is Jennifer, and she has created what is called Napod Pomo, and it is 30 days of podcasting. Yes, a little out there. I've taken that challenge on for myself. So how am I going to achieve that? Well, here's what I've done: I have asked individuals to submit a letter. A story, an anecdote, whatever they wanted to, from them to their pet. Or conversely, from their pet to them. I'll be kicking things off by reading you a letter that I wrote to my dogs, Cash and Sully. And every day after that, I'm gonna read another letter that was submitted to me. I will dedicate that episode to that pet, that pet parent, and hopefully bring some smiles to your face. And maybe chat a little bit about some of the connections I've made. So I hope you'll join me for that. there will be tears, absolutely. And will I be sorry for that? No. I'll try not to, have too much Kleenex going on. And hopefully, my voice will slowly come back to me here. It's amazing how you you miss something when it's gone and when you really appreciate it when it's back. So stick with me. Episodes will be 10 to 15 minutes, not too much of your day. Hopefully you'll carry me along in the car or on a walk. And I get to share some pretty amazing thank you for listening. Thank you for being here. And I hope to make a whole lot more connections down the line. All right. This is In Real Life with Holly B. And let's see. We have a little guest here. Can you see him? Hey Cash. you probably can't see him. All right, folks, thanks for hanging out with me in the little shed. Bye for now.