Latest / In Real Life With Holly B. / Lonely Writers and a Sassy Letter From Zoe the Cat
Transcript
- riverside magic episode 01 holly b.'s studio: Hi friends, welcome to In Real Life with Holly B. That's me. And this is episode three. Yay! Made it to episode three. How awesome. So many things, so many great things. Where do I begin? Thank you for being here, first of all. Can't wait to get to the letter of the day. But before that, I just want to touch upon a couple things. This is a podcast about making connections with real people, right? Which will extend into real readers, real listeners, real friends, real family, whatever that means for you, but making those real connections. So some pretty cool things happened this week. I was interviewing a guest for Ramblings from the Little Shed podcast. He's an author of several books, and one of the first things that we chatted about after we talked about the dogs, of course, was that he was just explaining to me how writing can be an isolating event and there's a lot of loneliness. And when he was done talking, I went, okay, I have a question. Because I feel like I'm the odd person out here, I don't feel that way about writing. I don't feel like it's lonely or isolated. I mean it's it's writing. It's meant to be done by yourself unless you're co-writing with someone. And so we unpacked that for a few minutes and he explained his point of view. He understood my point of view. It was a mutual back and forth and I got it. I understood what he was trying to say. It's not that it's necessarily that you are lonely and sad. It's just that you are on your own. It can become lonely if you isolate yourself in doing this. And so, you know, we try to just sort of unpack that a little bit more by saying, but if you go out and you get what you need and you fill up your social cup and you Have your writing groups, or maybe you go to a coffee shop and you make that connection, see, with people, you'll get those real connections. Whether you're an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert, you can still make those connections. And if you feel like as a writer or a creator or someone who works in a field where you're by yourself, that it is isolating, then if connection with people is what you want, You have to go out there and get it, right? It's not gonna necessarily come to you. You can reach people by Zoom. we have so many modalities now to connect with people. So I thought that was really interesting. Another super cool thing that happened was I was having a five minute conversation with someone. I don't typically pre interview people by any means, but in today's day and age, we don't know. When people are contacting us by email, messenger, if they're real. And so for the first time ever, I asked this individual if we could meet beforehand. Because normally that's a way to filter out somebody's bots online. And that person said yes. So I'm like, okay, we'll see if they show up. And I I was fully honest with him when we finally met. He's he's a really interesting fella, funny. I told him he should have his own podcast by the time the conversation was done. But for about two moments, I felt like I was on his podcast because he was asking me questions and I thought, My goodness, I'm trying to think up answers while he's asking me these questions. But he asked me the greatest question. And he said, So what is it that you are trying to relay to people when you're holding these podcast episodes? We are referring to ramblings from the little shed. And right away, without even a hesitation, it was connecting with people. And he says, Okay, that it was almost like kind of like a test question, but he was like, and it's it is authentic. It does come through authentically. That was the highest compliment for me. But it's true. I mean, the purpose for me doing that podcast, it's certainly not for the bottom line. There's no money, there's no exchange of money. I walk away from each podcast having learnt something from every guest. It doesn't matter what walk of life they are from. Everyone brings something so interesting to the microphone that I can't help but learn. As I'm saying this, I need to be writing this stuff down, right? I I can't just depend on my memory because there are so many great conversations that I need to journal some of this. So after I'm done here, I'm going to journal. And that's a shout out to my friend Mary Beth, who's the ultimate journaler, and she is certainly teaching me more about that. She has a great newsletter on Substack. So that was one of the greatest questions because it really did solidify for me that the purpose for me in doing these podcasts is to connect with people, but also to connect the guests to listeners, readers. There are so many people out there, not everybody necessarily likes dogs, cats, animals. And so for that, rare person who's listening to that podcast and who doesn't have a pet, maybe they're connecting with the guests in their creative modality. And if that's what I can provide, how great. I'm just the conduit. But I'm also benefiting so much personally from these conversations. And my son as well, right? I get to spend time with him. He gets to learn of these people. Amazing. So and so many great conversations. Alrighty. Shall we get to today's letter of the day? Today's letter of the day comes from Brandon Elrich. I just did a live with him on Substack. It was so much fun. If you have not checked out his newsletter on Substack, you must. He is funny. He has a cooking show on there that I think is just absolutely fun, fun, fun. And he makes really great recipes. And I'm going to be sending that Substack newsletter to Rogan and Zane because it will teach them hopefully how to make a meal or two. So this letter is from Zoe to Brandon. And this is dedicated to Brandon, Zach, and Zoe. All right. Here we go. Dear Brandon. You may be surprised to receive this letter as most cats can't write or type, but I have many skills. You already know of my hunting abilities, of course. Speaking of which, I don't appreciate you throwing out the gifts I leave you. Yes, I know you don't eat the mice, I'm always watching. It's a bit insulting, but maybe one of these days you'll develop a taste for them. I also don't know if I'll ever forgive you for bringing Zack into our lives. He's so annoying. When you see us sleeping together, just know that I don't choose that. I only tolerate it. He pushes me away from the food bowl, but I opt to be the bigger cat by merely huffing at him. I only bring out my claws if he becomes too bothersome. Do I groom him? Yes, but that's only when he licks me first. Who does he think I am, his mother? If that were true, he'd be much more well behaved. Okay, enough about him. I want to inquire what When you'll be installing a cat door for me. Waiting for you to let me in is most inconvenient sometimes. I guess I'll admit that you're pretty good at letting me out when I ask, but don't get a big head about it. Anyway, I guess I should say thanks for the soft blankets, pillows, and multiple places to sleep and lounge. Your favorite cat, Zoe. PS Could you do something about that dog that sometimes comes around? She needs a lesson in grooming because she stinks. Super duper cute. my goodness. I met Zoe and Zach online while I was doing the live on Substack with Brandon. They're uber cute. One's a calico and the other one's an all black cat. And they're a big part of Brandon's life. And I think that's pretty cool. So Brandon, thank you for sharing that letter from Zoe. Or I should say, thank you, Zoe, for sharing that letter to Brandon. And I hope you'll join me tomorrow. We'll have another fun letter, another, Holly life lesson, or as I refer to it to my boys, are you ready to get the mom speech? So take it as you will, life lesson, mom speech, whatever. But if you're looking for something interesting to read, I have a couple things for you. I've got my first novel, which is North of Broken and Forever Home. And I've also just launched a novella called Oswald Stop Smiling on a Sunday. Think of a Christmas carol but in Thanksgiving and the dogs are ghosts. So if you want to see any of those two, just head on over to Ramblings from the Little Shed and you'll find those two publications there. And of course, as always, we have Ramblings from the Little Shed podcast, which is where Rogan and I talk to creative people, cooks, chefs, lawyers, people from all backgrounds about how their animals influence their creativity. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye for now.