Me, Myself, & Isla - Lifting the Lid on Loneliness Podcast Por Isla Stewart arte de portada

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

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

De: Isla Stewart
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 Hey, I’m Isla. I’m 45 and I work in marketing in events. I’m also a volunteer board member for a local mental health charity. I’m single, which can feel weird to say out loud at my age. I love people, interactions with people make me feel alive and give me purpose, and as long as I have those, being single usually feels just fine. But then came Covid-19, to really mess with everything that made me feel good. When lockdown kicked in during March 2020, life changed for all of us. Everyone’s situation was different, and the impact (good for some as well as bad) was different for everyone. Some felt the pain of living alone, others had the horror show of home schooling, and I don’t have adequate words or experience to even begin a discussion on the people who suffered loss during lockdown, or worked on the front line. However, one feeling I think most people felt to varying degrees was loneliness. And even if you were lucky enough not to feel lonely, I’m sure you knew someone that possibly was. All of a sudden, human contact drastically reduced, with very little exception, and for some it disappeared completely. If I’m honest, I still can’t believe it when I think about it. I think it’s only now that we’re starting to mix properly again, and believe we can now make plans for the future, that I can let myself think about what we’ve all been through. But then I got to thinking, loneliness isn’t a new thing. It didn’t just appear as a result of the pandemic, although for sure levels drastically increased. Loneliness has been around forever, and we haven’t talked about it until now because it’s a bit embarrassing. And that means the people have suffered with this feeling on their own, without knowing that so many people are out there feeling the same, perhaps just for different reasons. Someone who I hope to speak to soon said that loneliness is her “favourite dirty word”, and I love this, because it’s true. We all feel it at some point in our life, but we’re scared to say for fear of being judged. And so came the idea for my first podcast (and possibly last, depending how this lands) ‘Me, myself, and I(sla) – Lifting the Lid on Loneliness. I want to talk to people who are comfortable speaking about times in their life when they have felt lonely, and what they did or are doing to find a way through. I put a call for guests out my own social channels, and was blown away by the responses I got back. People who felt lonely in their marriage, lonely in their new management position, lonely with an illness, lonely living on their own, lonely as a new parent, lonely as children left the home, lonely because they don’t feel heard, and the list goes on… I also heard from people who are extremely happy being alone, and those who make time to be on their own as often as they can. So I hope to speak with some of these awesome people across the next few weeks and months, and find out a little more about their experiences, and listen to any hints, tips and good advice they have to share. The one thing I already know is that if you have felt, or are feeling alone, ironically you are far from alone. And maybe that fact is a little piece of comfort for now.Copyright 2021 All rights reserved. Hygiene & Healthy Living Psicología Psicología y Salud Mental
Episodios
  • Episode 8 - A Chat About Running a Business on Your Own with Suz Bird

    Episode 8 - A Chat About Running a Business on Your Own with Suz Bird
    May 23 2025

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

    Episode 7 – A Chat About How Big Life Events Can Lead to Feelings of Loneliness
    Mar 6 2023

    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.
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    50 m
  • Episode 6 - A Chat About How Spending Time Alone Can Help You Grow

    Episode 6 - A Chat About How Spending Time Alone Can Help You Grow
    Jun 19 2022

    Today my guest is Mark Dalgarno, a Global Talent Acquisition Lead at Minor Figures, and a well-respected CV and Career Coach.

    Mark got in touch a few months ago and offered to join me on my podcast. He suggested sharing some of his experiences of being alone, and also being lonely, which are of course two different things, and how times of loneliness helped him to build strength and resilience.

    On this podcast Mark reflects on times when he was travelling alone, when he moved to Glasgow on his own for work, and of course the impact of the pandemic. He also talks about the feeling of empowerment that comes from having to make decisions on your own, because you are on your own, rather than looking to others for advice or opinions.

    I really enjoyed my Sunday afternoon chat with Mark, and I hope you do too.
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    1 h y 6 m
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