Listener Chat with Louisa

Listener Chat with Louisa - Episode 173 of The Slow Home Podcast

It’s been a while since I’ve had a listener chat on the poggie and after getting the results of our recent listener survey, I realised that many of you were missing the insights of those conversations, so we thought it was time to bring them back. Enter: Louisa!

I met Lou briefly at the Simpler Way event in Perth at the end of 2016, and she was so warm and open and completely charming. I heard a bit of her story that day and learnt a lot more over the subsequent months, so when Lou sent me an email asking if I’d be keen to talk to her for the show, it was a no-brainer.

This conversation is very much a personal story of Lou’s journey to slow and I feel so privileged that she chose to share it with us.

In this poggie Lou talks about her feelings of overwhelm as a mum to a very young family and her experience of post-natal depression, anxiety, and eventual bipolar diagnosis. She also talks about how her experience in managing these issues and getting treatment for them lead her to a place of letting go. Not just letting go of stuff (that actually came later) but letting go of her plans, expectations, ideas and self-imposed obligations, and trusting that on the other side would be acceptance or peace or simplicity, or maybe even all three.

In the end it was an unexpected job loss and a few months spent living in a camper trailer on the remote coast of Western Australia that delivered Lou to stillness, and she and I explore what it looks like to pack up a big family house and go adventuring with no particular outcome in mind. (Sounds utterly delightful, truth be known!)

We also talk about Lou’s life now, after her family took a sea-change late last year. It’s interesting to hear her experience of the sea-change expectations vs reality, and how moving to a slower-paced community doesn’t necessarily mean that life gets slower by itself. I often think we’re sold the idea of sea-change (or tree-change or moving to a farm or insert your grass is greener solution here) as a one-size-fits-all fix for a busy modern life, and I enjoy Lou’s honesty here as well as throughout the entire conversation.

Lou: you’re a gem. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us!

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Or you can listen to the show directly, simply by hitting the Play button above. Enjoy!

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Things to Check Out After Today’s Episode:

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Plastics: Talk to your Butcher