Here we have Episode 3, featuring @charlotteemilymusic4 as our main guest, who we’re massively thankful for in general, but in particular for speaking to a couple of men in their early (Rowan) to mid- (Al) 30s about what it’s like growing up in the modern world.
Charlotte told us beforehand that she was an ‘open book’ and certainly didn’t hold back, providing us with a brutally honest and frank window into her world as an adolescent.
While we can all be consumed by our adult existence, it’s easy to forget sometimes that there are a whole host of worries and fears in different age brackets too. She mentions suicidal thoughts and feelings, as well as self-harm, and while we, as a podcast, don’t encourage suicide or deliberate self-harm, we do encourage talking about both topics in order to help ourselves and others.
Charlotte spoke confidently and assuredly about her thoughts and feelings, and even recorded a lovely song for us at the end; she is proof that we can all move past suicidal ideation if we have the support, the optimism and the belief in a brighter future which Charlotte possesses. Much appreciated, and of course you’re welcome back! The video of Charlotte owning her self-harm scars and turning them into art can be found here: https://fb.watch/3-lFv75ZHo/
Thank you also to @therapoet for providing us with his poetry, which will form some Dark Interludes over the next few weeks. When he speaks, we listen, and hopefully you will too; he writes from experience and his passion drips from the typewriter. We’re immensely grateful he has allowed us to use his work.
The book Rowan mentioned at the end was Blame My Brain: The Amazing Teenage Brain Revealed, which is written by Nicola Morgan (@nicolamorgansbrain), while another Nicola - MacDonald (@bathmindfulness) - has also penned Resilient Teen, which is a mindfulness-based approach to coping with teenage life.
The Simple Guide to Child Trauma by Betsy De Thierry (@betsydethierry) will also come in handy for anybody where trauma may be behind any suicidal ideation.
Finally, Rowan has been wearing some significant shirts over the last few episodes but forgot to mention them/they didn’t appear on camera, so here are some links to the merchants:
Episode 2 featured a Fight Like A Girl shirt by @thesparkdotcompany, a female-founded and female-run organisation who create t-shirts ethically as well as donating some of their profits from sales to charities including Rape Crisis centres and Bloody Good Period (fighting period poverty).
Episode 3 featured a @headsabovethewaves shirt which reads ‘I’m Glad’ on one sleeve, and ‘You Exist’ on the others. They provide lots of self-help advice and even send some to you with every purchase you make.
And finally, in an unseen episode (Rowan and Al figuring out how to use Teams) Rowan wore a @mentalkapparel shirt, a unisex brand which supports men’s mental health and donates 10% of profits to @mindcharity. Rowan needs more t-shirts for future episodes. Take care everyone, and enjoy the episode and the series!
