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Episode 49: Wounds of the World
44 Plays10 months ago
This episode is dedicated to the memory of all who lost their lives in the global events that have shaped our lifetime, and the lifetimes before us. We share our memories and thoughts on a few events that shook the world, and also discuss how globally traumatic events leave a lasting legacy for those who come after.
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Transcript
Introduction: Wounded Healers Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Wounded Healers podcast.
00:00:10
Speaker
I'm Janessa. And I'm Amy. We were brought together by our shared wound of an autoimmune condition in our early 20s. This is a place where we explore our wounds with our listeners and guests who recognize the challenges of being human in hopes of helping all of us let the light in.
00:00:29
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Wounded Healers podcast. I'm Janessa and I'm here with Amy. Amy. Hi everybody. We thought we'd mix it up today. Have Janessa speak first. Hope you liked it. Yes. Yeah. So that's... That's what we're doing. Smooshing it up, you guys. Well, I hope you all have been well. And I literally, it's so funny. I'm just going to tell them we had to restart this. i said I literally just had word vomit on the first recording of this. And it started to sound like a SoundCloud rapper. um so So we deleted it and we're back now. so
00:01:08
Speaker
We're back. We're gonna try and be normal, but we've yeah for some reason just got the giggles. Don't know why. Yeah, no
Extravagant Weddings: Hot or Not?
00:01:14
Speaker
promises. So so for our hot or not topic today, we'll just dive right into that. um We would like to talk about extravagant weddings. um Are they hot? Are they not? I don't know. What do you think, Amy?
00:01:32
Speaker
and Okay, so it's interesting. I think, listen, I think if you've got a shit ton of money, everyone's gonna wanna have an extravagant wedding. Like if you can, you would. Like I get it, I get that. and But I do think having an extravagant wedding is getting a little bit like basic bitch.
00:01:56
Speaker
Do you know what I mean by that? Like it's a little bit overdone now. It's like a little bit, everyone's doing it and it's a little bit basic. Yeah, give me a minimal wedding. yeah yeah ah kind of ah like i just don't you don't see it's just yeah It's like the same cookie cutter, cut and paste, like resort. I don't know. I don't even know everyone know. Everyone has it different. But no, I think the big fancy weddings with the wedding video that looks exactly like the last person's wedding video you saw, but with different people featured in it.
00:02:33
Speaker
Yeah. It's kind of boring. So I've been tempted to say extravagant weddings on haul. Okay. Yeah. I have like a split feeling about extravagant weddings because part of me is like, yeah, if you, if you had a lot of extra money and you could like, I don't know, just like do florals, just like crazy florals everywhere. Because one thing that no one, no one warned me about is how fucking expensive expensive weddings were, one, and then two, how fucking expensive flowers are? The florals, I was like, I'll just pick some flowers, don't worry. I didn't do that. We did have a really amazing florist, but these flowers, gosh damn, for things that are already dying, I was like, what are we paying for? What are we paying for? Can you share? Oh yeah, I think we paid like, oh gosh, I don't even remember. It's a couple grand. I think we paid three grand on our flowers. Oh my gosh.
00:03:31
Speaker
Yeah and so what made me feel good about those we went with a local florist who we actually met who does pottery so um we were really happy that at least our money was like going to someone you know not just like a huge corporation um and she did deliver she did such an amazing job so I give her that but I will I will say to all the fairy tale books out there shame on you because it's a happily ever after it's not like a and then they saved and had to you know get their family to help pay for a wedding. so That's the reality. yeah yep but Back to the topic. I would do crazy florals if I could.
00:04:10
Speaker
and I don't know that's all I can really think of but yeah overall I think you're right it's a little overdone and it almost feels sometimes whenever I see the marriage videos like I contemplated doing that and then I was like no like I don't think so um but every time I see those videos that are super curated It just feels like everyone's trying to make their life a movie. yes And um that's not it. That's not it, babe. Like we are not actors. Like us being in love, getting married is very real. It's very unique. It's a one-time experience for hopefully the situation. Some people have multiple times, but it would be like a one-time experience. So I don't know. There's something sacred I think about having to have been there and having to have
00:05:01
Speaker
lived through that to really understand and know it and I think photos can elicit feelings and memories around what happened that day so I don't know the videography it's cool but like Like why are you trying to become a movie? What's going on? I can, why you're trying to produce your wedding so that it's fit for pictures, probably future on social media, let's be real. Like it's just, yeah, I feel like the life and soul has just been sucked out of weddings with the like, like you're gonna be fucking mic'd up while you're saying your vows. For what? Like the only person you're saying those vows to is the person standing in front of you.
00:05:46
Speaker
I do have to say I do love hearing the vowels out. If I'm at a wedding, I have to slightly disagree because I want to cry. I want to cry at a wedding. I'm there to look hot, I'm there to appreciate your love, and I'm there to cry. Look hot. Yeah, I don't get dressed up. Weddings, I'll get dressed up. Yeah, I love that. It's fun. But that's not the hierarchy of needs. It's really I'm there to support you, I'm there to cry, and then I'm there to look hot. So that's Janessa's shallow hierarchy of weddings. But no, I do want to cry. I want to hear these vows. And I always do feel for people when one partner has written their soul out and the other person like halfway wrote their soul out. And you're like, fuck. But then you're like, bless the spirit. You guys are good.
00:06:34
Speaker
yeah So yeah, I've seen it go both ways. Zach and I did have microphones for our best. Oh, sorry. No, no, no, no, and no, no, no. Don't be sorry because here's what I'll tell you.
00:06:46
Speaker
Here's the one thing that was not great about being mic'd up for our vows. I forgot we were mic'd up. And when I was reading my vows to him, I was crying so hard that I had so much snot coming out of my nose. So I kept trying to like, you know, like sniff and it was like so gross. It was like, and then I forgot it was mic'd. So I just said, I'm so sorry. I have so much snot in my nose.
00:07:13
Speaker
And it just went throughout the wedding and everybody laughed and I remember, oh shit, because you really zone in and you're like, yeah. you hear it yeah um Yeah. But that lives on because one of Zach's cousins was like, we knew you were cool when you were like, I'm sorry, I was not in my nose in front of like 100 people.
00:07:33
Speaker
Aww, that's kind of cute. That's cute there. That's a cute story. Yeah, dream but um so i i guess I don't but I also don't think you need to mic'd up either. like I also think there's something sacred about it being between you and your spouse. yeah um So yeah, no, i I see it both ways, 100%. Yeah, fair enough. and I also kind of forget, I haven't really been to that many weddings. I've only really been to like three or four weddings. I kind of forget that there's, maybe it's not such a big trend in the UK, but the whole writing your own vows thing. Like I don't think I've, I actually don't think I've been to a wedding where they've done that.
00:08:15
Speaker
Really? Yeah. Oh my gosh, yeah we yeah. We wrote our own vowels and my grandfather got ordained so he could marry us. Oh wow. And then he like led in with the whole poem and I didn't want to do the tradition of vowels like I, you know, like your wife will serve you, like but blah blah blah. There's all kinds of weird shit at the church row that I was like, no. um So we left that out.
00:08:40
Speaker
yeah And we just rolled with it. It was so customized and individual. Yeah. um But yeah, we loved it. But I have been to a few very Catholic weddings. And those are, I mean, they're kind of beautiful in their own way because there's ritual around it. But I want to sleep because it's a really so long long yeah service and you're like please just take your communion please just you know like so um yeah no that's it we did not want a long service cute but I guess I would say you know after all that rambling bringing it back again I think an extravagant wedding uh
00:09:22
Speaker
I don't know. I think if you have a lot of money, good for you and go for it if you want to, but there's better things you could do with that money. So i don't I don't know. I'm really torn. I'm going to say I'm like lukewarm.
00:09:34
Speaker
and i formm yeah I'm lukewarm. I'm still very pro, like getting married in Vegas or like eloping and getting married in like Mexico, that vibe. Like I think that's hot. This is the thing. The question is hot or not. The question isn't like, are they okay? Like it's hot. I don't think a big extravagant wedding is hot. It's not hot. It's not cool. I don't know. I feel like it could be. I don't know. Okay, fine, fine. I'm gonna go there for some way.
00:10:08
Speaker
Oh my gosh, okay, I'm gonna say it's hot. Ew! I chose the side. Well done. I'm actually happy. I'm actually happy. Thank you. Good for you. Yeah, fine. Good. They're hot for you. Yeah. They are hot. Because they're fun to be guessed at. They are fun to be guessed. That's so true. That's so true. Yeah. Yeah. We went to Edouard's cousin's wedding last summer that was at a French chateau and that was like extravagance if you've ever seen it. Like they had someone like chopping up bits of like raw sushi at the drinks reception to like give it to us. she
00:10:42
Speaker
the bride bought the groom a fireworks display. And I shit you not, it went on for like 15 minutes. ah You know, like i where I thought it was gonna be like a few fireworks. Like, oh, cute. It went on for minutes and minutes and minutes. It must've cost her. I can't even fathom. um And it was, I have to say, it was so fucking fun to be at that wedding. Very, very fun. Yeah, same. yeah They're hot as a guest for
World Wounds: From 9/11 to Global Impact
00:11:10
Speaker
sure. um yes yes yes oh wow wow i really did something the day i chose a side how are you feeling i'm gonna write about this one it's good oh good okay anyway well we need to tone down the humor now yeah we do unfortunately the topic of today's podcast isn't very humorous but i'm glad we were able to have a bit of fun then to start it off with
00:11:38
Speaker
ah home But the topic we set it on for today's podcast is wounds of the world, or world wounds, um because we are recording this on the 13th of September, and obviously we've just had lots of memorial stuff, or I have i assumed she nested it as well.
00:11:59
Speaker
lots of memorial stuff about the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers that happened on the 11th of September 2001 and anytime that rolls around obviously it's very um impactful and it makes me realise how many people were impacted by that event And it just got us thinking about all the other and events that have happened in the world that have left a wound on everyone um globally.
00:12:31
Speaker
Um, so that's what we're going to make today's topic. We're going to talk about all those kinds of moments that I've left, we think have left the world wounded and our memories or experiences of them. And yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll roll with it. I feel like it's only natural to talk about September 11th. It was the first example, but yeah. Um,
00:12:57
Speaker
Okay. So as an American, I feel like they never say that. Um, but as an American citizen, um, September 11th definitely has had serious reverberations on our entire nation. And I guess I would start out with saying, so at that time in 2001, I was pretty young. I'm not going to do the math right now, but I think I was like in first grade. Yeah. um i and I was eight. So I think you would have been late six.
00:13:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think yeah, I think I was just about in first grade because I remember waking up um and I knew that I had slept in and it was a school day, which is weird. um And my mom was like crying in the living room and she was watching the TV.
00:13:39
Speaker
And when I came in, she like put her hand out like to cover the TV. But she was like crying, and I couldn't quite understand it. and she My mom did really well, because my mom was a very young mom. And she said, um something really hurtful and upsetting is happening in our country right now. And people are are feeling very scared right now. And I was like, OK.
00:14:03
Speaker
and so it was strange because then I went in my own room because I kind of couldn't comprehend what was going on and then I heard my mom on the phone with my grandma asking do you think they're gonna blow up San Francisco next ah because I was born and raised in Palo Alto and that's very fairly close to San Francisco. um So yeah, so I remember that being like, oh my God. And I wasn't supposed to hear that first of all. And my mom definitely stepped away, but we lived in a really small apartment.
00:14:37
Speaker
I could hear it and so I was like whoa and I didn't quite comprehend what that meant um and then that day my mom actually did decide to take me to school which was very controversial at the time because when I got to class there were only three people in my class where there's usually like 20 So a lot of parents chose to keep their kids home but my mom thought for making it more of a normal day for me it would be good to go to school and like be around other kids and probably because she needed to decompress because she and really understood the full impact. yeah But at school it turned into a lesson on what was happening and that was interesting and
00:15:22
Speaker
I got to understand it more like I learned the term like terrorist in hijackers like I didn't know what that was and I didn't I had seen the World Trade Center the towers um when I like the year before I think we went to New York and we saw them um but I didn't quite remember them so I couldn't quite comprehend that's what was happening But that's what I remember of it. But as the years went on, like the following year and then the following year after that, I really started to understand what had happened. And then it became a part of our history class in middle school and in high school where they showed like the footage from the news and then they showed like rescue footage. And we learned about like the, I think there's roughly, but certainly probably more 3000 deaths and like,
00:16:12
Speaker
that you know a lot of firefighters died. a lot of you know ah I think the haunt most haunting thing in high school was like watching a documentary on it and seeing like women and men jumping out of a building that's on fire because there's just no other option. like You like couldn't make it down, so that du that sticks with me because I'm like, that's horrifying that that is the best option you have is to jump 40 floors down or whatnot. um So yeah, it's a sad day. That's a really sad day. yeah And there's a lot of suspicion around it in our country, I will say. like People are a little bit divided on what really happened in order for it to be hijacked. um So there is that. And I'm not going to talk much more about that, because that's not what the purpose is. conspiracies. Yeah, there's a lot of conspiracy theories in our country about what
00:17:08
Speaker
9-11 really was, or if we made up you know these terrorist attacks or whatnot, or like if they were hired by the government. I really don't wanna speak to that because it just takes away from like all the lives that were still lost. like That doesn't change. you know um But yeah, so that's what I personally remember. um But it really, it shaped,
00:17:33
Speaker
long-term for our country and for I think almost all countries really shaped security. yeah Because after 9-11, it was horrifying going to the airport. and like it automatically felt like you were guilty until you were proven not guilty at an airport, like going through TSA. So I do. So it still feels like that in America now. Oh, absolutely, yeah. Your airports are like fucked. Yeah, oh, absolutely, yeah. I don't know if you experienced it at San Jose Airport, but they sometimes have dogs. Yeah, I'm, yeah. Did you see that? Okay. No, I've seen that in New York. I didn't see it at San Jose, but I've seen it, yeah.
00:18:15
Speaker
every once in a while in san jose they'll bring dogs yeah and they have two lines and you have to stop and when you get the okay you walk past these dogs who are basically sniffing you for drugs explosives whatever um and if they bark then you get pulled aside and stuff so anyway i just am like and the the weird thing is this is really random that i don't have i'm not bringing anything wrong on these trips and i have no mal intent but i am so afraid of these dogs barking at me i'm literally like can they sense i'm freaking out like I don't know um but no I've never had a problem with the dogs they're very very cute yeah um but you know it really shaped security for us and I know that my mom has felt this and my grandma way more than I have because they traveled a lot in the 80s and in the 70s and so well my grandma mostly in the 70s but
00:19:09
Speaker
it used to be way more laid back and um yeah so now it's just you know you got to take it seriously now and i don't know i also think another thing too that's coming to mind is like the stories of like the people who tried to take out hijackers is really yeah noble and like I know they made like a lifetime movie about it that'll just make you cry forever but it was like this one guy who was able to get a call through to his wife when it was happening from the plane and then like later they found his wedding ring amongst all the burned stuff um where the airplane crashed and it was just like oh my god I don't know anyway so brave brave people in terms of like
00:19:51
Speaker
I think one thing that is you know something to bring up here is like I think no matter what your nation is, no matter like what your race is if you're in a life or death situation and it's someone coming at the masses, that it's pretty impressive when the masses decide to come together and try and stop that. Yeah, so I don't know. I think that's pretty cool. And um yeah, that's all I have to say about that. I mean, what what did that look like for you guys in the UK? Because
00:20:22
Speaker
it's you know it's interesting the world knows about it but i just don't know like if it impacts the the rest of the world yeah i don't know i mean definitely nothing as um like the way your country experienced it obviously um but i obviously i remember very vividly how i found out about it so it was obviously afternoon our time so we were home from school i already said earlier that i was eight when it happened So we'd come home from school and our neighbour, like our neighbour's son ran round and knocked on our front door and was like, put BBC News on now. Because this was like prior, like there was no social media, like none of that. Like my, like, yeah, we actually had someone like back in the Victorian times, like a messenger came around like, we have the news. um Yeah, so we put the news um on and obviously it was just like the image of the
00:21:17
Speaker
yeah, the plane going into the, I assume the first tower, it would have, the news would have broke around the world, like just after the first one, wouldn't it? So yeah, I remember that that's like where I was and that's, um yeah, what I saw for the first time. I don't think my, I don't remember like my parents having a specific reaction to it, I think, but they were probably saying like, this is like happening in America and this is really bad, like, you know, um but yeah, and then I,
00:21:47
Speaker
I don't think we really got like told about it at school or anything, of because it wasn't really impacting, obviously, us in the same way it did you guys. But I definitely vividly remember it happening. And I remember, as you alluded to, the changes with travel and airports and stuff. um And since then, I've watched a lot of stuff about it as well, particularly like first responder documentaries. like That just blows my mind that there's like still people that were like willing to enter that building. I know that sounds, I know that's literally their job, but I would just be like, come on. yeah They're gonna die. why do Why should I die too? I know that's awful mindset, but like they really, a lot of them really like acknowledged that they had like a basically impossible task and they still had to go in and do it, which and is crazy and yeah, brave.
00:22:36
Speaker
um So yeah obviously and yeah I've seen lots of those things of the people that like made the phone calls from the plane and that's really heartbreaking. yeah um So yeah really horrendous, um incredible but not in a good way what like seven men are able to achieve.
00:22:57
Speaker
like Because it was just like seven guys, wasn't it? Or something like that that like hijacked the planes and like the knock-on effect that that can have around the world just from a small group of people making such a huge impact is very incredible in a bad way.
00:23:13
Speaker
um And then, yeah, so going on from that, obviously the war in Iraq and and Afghanistan was a um symptom of that. I don't know if the symptoms are the right word, but I do know people that like lost their sons in that war, because obviously the UK was a huge part of that, with that we were like a um allies in that war right so yeah I do know people that lost their sons and that whole war is just unbelievable because we now know that the Taliban have regained control of Afghanistan so that any of those soldiers that died in Iraq Afghanistan their deaths were pretty much in vain and that is horrendous and I do think
00:23:56
Speaker
our governments owe a lot to people that have lost loved ones through that war because it was for war in the end. I feel like terrorism is like just, I feel like that even, I feel like the Middle East are even angrier with us when they left before September 11, to be honest. I feel like they hate us even more now. So yeah, that was, yeah, I do always think that.
00:24:23
Speaker
people that, yeah, people that lost their lives in the war that preceded it, because I know obviously an absolute ton, ton, ton of Americans were lost in that war as well. Definitely. And that, so that going to like that wounds or repercussion of it was very cultural as well. And and what I mean is like,
00:24:47
Speaker
It's sad to say it, but at the time, the way it was publicized in the U.S. really showed these men. And I think the when you have someone or something to focus your hurt and hatred on, it becomes very dangerous because then you associate the culture of those people their skin color their actions with terrorism and Some people may say, you know, some people may hear them say their actions or whatever. Yeah, they did that like yes, they did but When a few people a small small group of people really fuck things up for an entire culture Yeah country of people that's really really sad and it's so detrimental because
00:25:32
Speaker
i understand collectively that i believe the us we already had deep deep wounds that were still gushing and hardly healed around slavery but like the fact that it just added salt into the wound of like how we viewed people in the middle east was fucked up and i do know that like you know we in this country after that like violence towards people from the middle east increased and employment decreased people didn't want to hire them and it's like that's heartbreaking itself that a country built off of immigrants you know and built by immigrants sadly yeah both ways you know is just shedding
00:26:14
Speaker
people out because of the actions and decisions of seven people more and i'm sure there's other times that people of those cultures have done things but it doesn't mean that you don't you don't judge an entire race or an entire country off the actions of you at least i don't so yeah that was a huge impact of that wound was the way we looked at people from the middle east in our country and the way that we still do and we still are suspicious and i ah I feel like it has to be said but like I'm definitely guilty of this because when I've
00:26:50
Speaker
flew in college, I was next to somebody who looked, ah you know, like they may be from the Middle East and this was the extremely racist thing of me. I felt nervous. I felt nervous and not, and but I have to call myself out because you have to ask yourself, what am I nervous about? And then you have to really be open to exploring that because it's the only way we start healing these personal wounds left from big events because I don't want to pass it on to my kids. I don't want to pass that on to people around me because that's not right. I don't know this person. And it turned out I did end up talking to him. He was so sweet and he just was really scared of planes. And I think what I was doing is mostly picking up on his nervous energy. And I was like, oh no. you know But he was really afraid of planes. like I'm just afraid of planes. like He was so cool. So I would say you don't question the way you feel about people and things, especially if your country has
00:27:46
Speaker
you know persuaded the way you've thought of them before. Yeah, great advice. I think we all feel like we all feel like that sometimes. um I think it's also being women. I think it's just really easy to be scared when you're out and about. There's a lot of times I'm just scared of my life sound next to a normal white man that like talks my language. I'm still scared. I'm like, like, it's never a lady. It's never a lady I can sit next to. you and But yeah, no I think you're, yeah, I have nothing more to add. That was brilliantly said.
Royal Reflections: Princess Diana's Legacy
00:28:20
Speaker
Anyway, let's hop to a cultural event from the UK. Yeah, it's okay. Well, my next one, let's maybe talk about, it feels it feels like kind of like too light hearted, it's not light hearted, I'll just say it. The death of the Diana Princess of Wales. So for anyone, I feel like everyone would know that's this thing, but for anyone that doesn't know,
00:28:49
Speaker
um Our current king, Charles, um in the 80s he was married to a woman um who started her life as Lady Diana Spencer and then became the Princess of Wales when she married and Charles, who was the Prince of Wales at that time, and she was Beloved. Like when I say the word beloved it goes beyond like people were fanatical about her but yeah it really admired her. She was a little bit of like a black sheep in the royal family so the royal family are supposed to conduct themselves in a certain way in public. There's like a whole thing about how they
00:29:30
Speaker
have to appear like a different entity to a normal human being is the whole thing. Like they're supposed to seem royal. It's whole the whole, the thing comes down from long ago in our history where the royal, the king or the queen was like God ordained. So they're supposed to be like a little bit like godly. So that means that they like, they don't, they do now, but like back in the eighties and nineties, they like didn't hug people. They didn't really touch people. Like they didn't like,
00:30:00
Speaker
really get into deep conversations with people. But Diana really broke the mold and did all of that. She was like very overly friendly. She made history by shaking hands with an AIDS patient back before they, like before, you know, cause people with AIDS were very ostracized. Even when they'd really established that you couldn't transfer it through just touch, people still like refuse to touch people with AIDS and stuff. so Yeah, she was really just a very heartfelt person that people loved. Charles divorced her and because he was having an affair with someone called Camilla, who is now our queen consort. um You didn't know this, Janessa? No. No. So that's how their relationship ended, but that just made the country fall more in love with Diana because
00:30:53
Speaker
She was the top girl anyway, and then she'd been kicked out of the royal family. um So everyone loved her. She was adored by everyone. She had two sweet sons that she loved, obviously now Prince William and Prince Harry. um Well, they were princes then, but they were just little kids then.
00:31:08
Speaker
But anyway, so on a fateful night, 31st of August, 1997, she was in Paris with her boyfriend Dodie Something. I can't remember his surname, but he was the son of the person that owns Harrods, a really famous department store in the UK.
00:31:27
Speaker
um So she that was her boyfriend at the time. They were out in Paris and they had a driver driving them and he was drunk and he crashed the car in a tunnel. and Princess Diana died in Paris.
00:31:41
Speaker
and And this was kind of like a little bit of a, I can't say like 9-11 moment, because it isn't comparable. Like one person dying isn't comparable to the thousands that died at 9-11, but it was definitely like a mark on the country. um Yeah. And there was mass mourning, like people putting like, filling up the whole of London outside Buckingham Palace with flowers. And I remember I was only four at the time, so really small.
00:32:10
Speaker
but I actually have memories of this time which is insane. I remember on the day of her funeral my mum shot me and my brother in the my parents' bedroom and put on like something on their like shitty little bedroom TV so my mum could watch the funeral in peace. She literally like locked us away so she could have her time to watch Diana's funeral without us like causing a ruckus.
00:32:37
Speaker
and But yeah, i it really was, in terms of a wound, I feel like that is the the biggest like mass grieving event I've ever experienced. like People who didn't really know her, who but felt like they know her.
00:32:54
Speaker
were literally and physically grieving her all around us, where we were seeing it everywhere. So, yeah, I feel like it is a bit of a wound of the world. Now you, Janessa, probably aren't going to actually remember it happening because you were only absolutely tiny, but do you see? Yeah, I was just saying, I do not remember, but I do know that Princess Diana, I was telling you before we recorded,
00:33:20
Speaker
But the U.S., I think we're just obsessed with her. yeah Like literally, she's still in tabloids. Like when I go to Safeway or I go to Whole Foods or wherever, it's like Princess Diana and like it's like Life magazine or something. And then we have so many shows and like films we've made. And I'm like, wow, we really, this woman really, she's got us, you know?
00:33:41
Speaker
We're in it still, like 20 plus years after her death, which honestly, that's pretty an impressive legacy, like truly. And I guess I would say I honestly didn't know that like, Charles or Prince Charles or whatever, Prince Charles, is he Prince or King? I'm sorry. He came now, he was Prince then.
00:34:01
Speaker
King Bob sorry if anyone gets that that's from the minions anyway of Prince Charles I didn't know that they had that he had an affair and I didn't know they were divorced so I really didn't know shit but I did know Princess Diana and died I have heard her referred to as the princess of the people, like the people's princess. And like, it makes sense. But also I just want to say like, you know, that's like, that is refreshing to hear of someone in a royal status who behaves like a a human being and not a godly entity. um So I can only imagine that like people who actually
00:34:45
Speaker
finally felt some i don't know like I don't know what the right word would be, but like some kind of like humanity in that would feel hurt because that is like we say, remember to let the light in that I feel like she really lit the light in. She was the light. She was the light. Yeah. And something that hasn't always been as bright. And so it's really hard when, and and I think this is where I would agree and it's definitely not the same as 9-11 at all, but the impact, the reverberation.
00:35:20
Speaker
It's again, not in a good way, but it's incredible that like one person who just really shown brightly like yeah impacted so many, but it's also very hard when that light gets kind of put out very quickly. It's pretty sad. Yeah, so it doesn't make sense. does It feels like it doesn't make sense that someone that made such a positive impact would be taken so young when she had so much more to to give. yeah And I thought obviously compounds the grief and compounds the wound.
00:35:49
Speaker
Yeah, and so there was actually talk of like, you know, Meghan Markle, that she was kind of gonna be like the next the Diana for the next generation, because she was like a little bit like not the conventional person that you'd see.
00:36:05
Speaker
slotting into our royal family obviously she was like from Hollywood and an actress and mixed race like there was there aren't any black or mixed race people in the royal family so there was definitely talk of her kind of being Diana for the next generation but she decided to sack it off yeah She's like, bye. And then also like super random, but I remember Kate was really big here in the US and I was growing up and everyone, we were all obsessed with her and Lifetime again, what the fuck are you doing Lifetime? Lifetime made a movie about her.
00:36:41
Speaker
And now we're in Prince Charles, or not Charles, is it Charles? William. William! Shit, I'm really sorry. But Prince William and her met. So yeah, it's it's hilarious because it's like a fashion show at her school is going on or whatever. And the way that Lifetime filmed this was so low budget that the album... The she wore in this scene, Amy, I'll send you a screenshot, was horrific. And I was like, what? No, but he's in this scene. He's like, I'm in love with her. She's like in like a bag. No, have you seen what she really wore though? No. Because that's what she wore in real life. Yeah, let me show you. No.
00:37:24
Speaker
um OK, wait, I've got to show you. I've got to show you. OK. All right. Like the reaction to this. We'll make this the, yeah don't bother me, I'm healing. We'll make it this, please. Our Instagram thing. Yeah, this is the real picture.
00:37:43
Speaker
Oh my oh god, it's the same. yeah I always thought it was just Lifetime was low-budget. No, because it's a uni. it was She was at uni, so it was like her fellow students had created this, who were on like a design course, yeah. I owe Lifetime an apology.
00:38:08
Speaker
I always thought they did her dirty. I was like, that looks so bad. No, it's bad. I mean, she's still back to Prince, didn't she? She's still back to Future King of England. He was like, I'm in love with that and I'm in love with that outfit. We'll take it. Yeah, you know he loves you if he loves you when you're wearing that.
00:38:30
Speaker
Yep, 100%. Wow, thank you for cleaning that up. Okay, good to know. I love that. Honestly, our Wounds of the World episode is going to be the Instagram cover is going to be her wearing that. It was a wound for me. I don't know if the world... I was like, no. Okay, give me one. Give me one of yours.
00:38:53
Speaker
All right, let me go back here. We're like, there will be no laughing. I'm just dying over here about her outfit. Okay, so this one's very general, um but In the United States, as I'm sure the world knows, like we experience gun violence like on a mass
Gun Violence in the US
00:39:15
Speaker
scale. It's like actually so stupid and ridiculous um that our country experiences gun violence on the scale that it does. But one that I wanted to point out that I was alive for was the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, which happened in 2012. And then the Las Vegas shooting, which is in 2017.
00:39:37
Speaker
Um, I was alive for those and more. There's other shootings that have happened. Um, but I was not alive or I was alive, but I was not aware of the Columbine yeah shooting. I just was too young. Um, which I believe happened in 1999. So yeah, I would have been like, wow.
00:39:56
Speaker
three, or four, something like that. I don't know. Math. Who knows? Math with Janessa. Math and Janessa. So yeah, I guess that Sandy Hook Elementary shooting was really devastating and sad because ah like, I mean, what more do I have to say? Like literally the name is devastating. it's devas fair can really little kids. Yeah, they're little kids. and And this is something that I think is a huge wound for the US is that you know schools should be somewhere where kids of all different backgrounds and you know experiences can come together and learn. yeah Schools should be a place that's safe for exploration. But in our country, like I'm just going to say it how like it is. It's not safe. It's not safe in our country school. like It's not guaranteed a safe thing.
00:40:47
Speaker
um there are often shootings in schools it seems to be one of the most common places um but this one really stood out to me because these kids were in kindergarten most of them and the teachers who passed away like protecting the kids like i just can't imagine like one our country doesn't pay teachers for public schools very well like They're not often some public schools do depending on the district, but they're like one They're they're getting paid to to teach and not enough to teach but to they're putting their lives on the line like Always at this point, you know
00:41:26
Speaker
And so one, they should get paid for the quality work they do in teaching and shaping young minds. But two, and we should recognize at this point that teachers are quite literally heroes like in our country. like They have literally put their bodies between an active shooter and children, like always. like I've never heard of a teacher who didn't jump between the gunman and the students. and like that That's sad and depressing to me because those are people with big hearts. I don't think everyone would just jump in front of a gunman and tell kids to like run. so yeah It's pretty sad. um
00:42:01
Speaker
and i think it just globally i feel like It's embarrassing at this point as an American citizen of like how often we have mass shootings. Like I am embarrassed for us and I have friends who feel the same way. There's a lot of people in this country who feel that way. um There's just really no in my mind and in my heart excuse for us not taking better action on this. And it's been years, like years. ah So, you know, I just, it, it keeps coming up and that's something that like, I think what that wound can do to generations is like, now when I have my kid, it's something that you have to actually think about is like, when you send your kid to school, the last thing you want to think about is like, you know, is my kid going to be inactive? Yeah. Is they going to come home? Yeah. And, um,
00:42:57
Speaker
You know, not saying that parents have to think that on a daily basis, that's not healthy, but it's a concern. So like just knowing that having a kid is already super anxiety inducing, but in the US, like you could have a kid send them to school and not see them again. And that's way, way worse. And so.
00:43:14
Speaker
up That's a huge, huge wound that has our country in a huge divide, quite honestly. um And between people who believe in the right to bear arms and people who believe that we should not have these weapons and then people who you know are all over the spectrum, some people believe we need to just have better evaluation and stricter laws for gun owners. ah So this, it's a lot divide.
00:43:42
Speaker
Yeah, I saw a thing the other day that was like, it was on TikTok, but it was saying that gotten you should have to have gun insurance. So you're like you're paying insurance on your gun and like anything that happens as a result of your gun being discharged, you're findite you're like liable for it.
00:44:07
Speaker
So if someone takes your gun and kills someone, you're liable as well for the death of that person. And I'm like, I think people will be taking better care of their guns if that's the case, won't they? Yeah, maybe. I hope so. I mean, it's it's crazy. It's crazy. And it also has like...
00:44:26
Speaker
A big divide, too, that I've heard come up recently in our country on gun violence is like we have more laws against women's rights to reproductive health than we do against a literal weapon designed to kill. That's literally what it's designed to do. So it's like easier to go get a gun than go get an abortion if you want, which is super disgusting. And like literally when I say I'm embarrassed for my country,
00:44:56
Speaker
Like I literally mean like, I can only imagine people watching this from the outside and saying what kind of fuckery is going on in the US. And truthfully, I don't know, but we's you know we're just trying to make change. My generation people in it, we're trying to make change. We really need policy. It's just disgusting. The craziest thing about it as someone from the outside looking in is not, it's that.
00:45:18
Speaker
people of the country double down on it like it's correct it's not even like your government just sets it and we're like oh god the poor people that live in like in their country like they live under a communist regime where these things are the law like you're fucking voting for it like that yeah you have more And then like, when you talk to an American on the street where they're like, do you think a woman should be able to have an abortion? Like if she's a victim of incest, the person on the street that they're interviewing is like, no. I i believe she should have that baby. You're like, okay. That is what's insane about it. Is that a many, many people back it as an idea.
00:46:06
Speaker
It's sad and it's scary and um, yeah, there's I I always like to think um, not to excuse any of it, but america is like we're slightly over close to 300 years old now, I think we're like 280 something just a baby just a baby we're just a baby and and honestly And honestly, we are like in our pre-teen era of just like being horrific as a country We're just we're terrible. We're terrible So I'm really looking forward to the day and I won't be alive for it, I'm looking forward to the day where my ancestors are in a bit more hopefully of a peaceful America where we've matured a bit around these topics and done what's right for like the whole of a country instead of like what some people want in the country and like, yeah, we'll see. I mean, in the UK, have you ever heard of the term Cascadia?
00:47:01
Speaker
Okay, so maybe some of our listeners haven't heard it but Cascadia was an idea I think someone came up with it in like the late 70s early 80s, but it was the notion that Washington State, Oregon State and California should break off and become their own country because those states votes are Fairly in alignment with each other and then like the middle of the country kind of is a little Bit of a twang cost some twain twain coin toss. I can't talk coin toss sometimes Whatever the middle is and then the East Coast is pretty aligned with the West Coast on certain ways of voting um Not all of it. I shouldn't say all of it, but like New York area. yeah Yeah, so I mean Cascadia I've always felt it would be brilliant to just have Oregon Washington, California be its own country because
00:47:50
Speaker
What a rad country that would be. Anyway, but no, but no, here we are. We need to make sure everybody. But you can still, that's the whole Roe v. Wade thing. Individual states can, it's still legal to get an abortion in California, isn't it? So you can still get an abortion in California. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like there's certain states where it can. So you're kind of doing Cascadia just on your own state level. Just on your own. Rather than, yeah.
00:48:19
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah, that's a big wound. I don't know how we're healing that yet, but I guess you just keep showing up, keep making noise around the things that matter. You vote in November. Keep voting. I'm sorry. Yeah, that is the main one. Keep voting. You registered to vote. I'm like, I don't know how you fix these things. Keep waking up in the morning.
00:48:42
Speaker
Keep waking up, drink your coffee, cry a little. And vote. And vote. Yeah, please vote. I'm not gonna tell you how to vote, but just do it. Um, yeah, so... So, yep, that's pretty much that. I'm like, I don't know, we're fucked.
00:49:06
Speaker
ah Just kidding. Sorry. Sorry US. Anyway, back to you Amy. A lot of laughter. This is just because we're so traumatized guys. This is why we laugh like this. like This is yeah that's why we're getting through this. and Okay, so my next one. Isn't UK exclusive?
00:49:26
Speaker
Nor is it actually Europe exclusive, although I feel like Europe did take a brunt of this, but I wanted to talk about and the world wars that happened in the 20th century. So the first world war, um which happened in the very early 1900s, mainly, and then World War II, which happened more towards the middle of the 1900s. So I just, I need to talk Janessa through, because you may not know. I don't, sorry, i if I'm assuming. No, please talk me through. the I wasn't really sure on the exact numbers, but this scale of death in these wars,
00:50:09
Speaker
is like incomprehensible to to you and me so world war one 20 million people died and another 21 million were wounded but can you imagine the world being like 20 million people leaving the world in the space of like five years, approximately. And what how that would actually feel like for the World War One was mostly UK, France, Germany, like very, it was a little bit more um ah set to Europe. Obviously, World War Two was when
00:50:47
Speaker
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the US really, like there were, there were US infantrymen like in World War I, but it wasn't like the same level as worldd war two World War World War II estimates of the number of people that died range from 35 million to 75 million.
00:51:11
Speaker
Oh my gosh. 20 million military personnel, 40 million civilians who weren't even fighting because of bombing. Obviously there was a lot of air bombing like in London and I mean, Berlin and France, like Germany and France, which just got absolutely like wiped out.
00:51:34
Speaker
um But of course, there was also a little bit of genocide in there. So World War II, Hitler was doing mass ethnic cleansing and rounding up Jewish people, gypsy people, disabled people, anyone that he didn't think had a strong gene pool, and was putting them in death camps and killing them. So, I mean, I don't think a wound of the world gets bigger than these two world wars. Like we, you and I can't even begin to comprehend it. Anyone, most people alive today can't even begin to comprehend it.
00:52:18
Speaker
um and Yeah, in terms of living through it, like i want to cry I genuinely want to cry right now just thinking about that many people, that many souls like leaving the earth because it's just insane. and But obviously our grandparents' generation were those that participated in this war, so whatever way that they did it. um we as a generation are somewhat feeling the effects of their trauma because they, you know, were we can't even begin to imagine how traumatized they were, especially if they were in like
00:52:53
Speaker
active service, like fighting that had knock-on effects of how they went on to parent in later life, like how they expressed their trauma to their families. And then those people had us. And here we are dealing with the way that their parents traumatized them. So I really think this is a big, and the the imprint of this, like can't, yeah, is beyond in terms of a wound.
00:53:19
Speaker
that's devastating that's it's also strange too because like so my grandparents are still alive my grandma charlotte and grandpa patrick are and um they both had fathers who fought in world war two and one of them was for um england so my grandpa yeah patrick's from london and um his grandfather fought in world war two And my grandmother's from the U.S. from Maryland and her, her my great grandpa, wow, can't talk anyway, her father, um her father fought in the World War II as well, but he was actually a doctor. wow So he, I don't know, there's a lot of stories of like the wounds he had to dress and like
00:54:05
Speaker
being out there and I just know that my grandmother has mentioned that when her her father came home from war he was deeply depressed like he wasn't even the same person anymore like there just was a lot of vacancy there even though she was very young she observed that like he just was never the same after he came back. um And then he ended up actually dying really young um and same with her mom. So she became pretty pretty young, like 14, 15 without parents. So just kind of crazy. But yeah, so I have heard stories from my grandparents on
00:54:46
Speaker
You know their dads and like how their dads came back just like genuinely not okay like and not just speaking just like they Couldn't they like couldn't didn't even look the same. They just looked deeply gone. Yeah um Which is just really sad because then that is another way it gets passed down to your kids too That if you're not able to be emotionally present like your kids will be like what's happening, you know Um, and that's on a small scale, but on a global scale, I agree. I think it is, it's just so unbelievably sad to me. Like when, but when things like, cause if we really, really look at it most of the time, like.
00:55:27
Speaker
It just didn't have to get that big. It didn't even have to get like this. And it's like, why did we, like hate is a very scary drug to, and fear is, fear is honestly terrifying in the sense that it has a choke hold on people to assume the worst of people and to attack without any per like being provoked. Yeah.
00:55:51
Speaker
I mean, yeah, it's fascinating. It's actually fascinating because it was the, what anniversary was it? Like the eight year? It was an anniversary of D-Day not that long ago. And we had a big, so D-Day was like um where the Nazis had got a hold of basically all of Europe. They were like completely occupying France. Allied troops were like on the Western,
00:56:21
Speaker
beaches and we needed to get them out so um yeah there was joint operations between the US and the the allied forces that they landed on the western beaches and tried to get troops out um and yeah it was an anniversary of that so there was a lot of stuff going on about it but it it really got me like researching into like the rise of Hitler because this actually this literally came from one man being able to like get people believing in his way of thinking 75 million people died because one person convinced enough people like how that's just fascinating horrendous and fascinating and so I do recommend looking into that um if you're interested because it's wait we watched um
00:57:12
Speaker
Masters of the Air, a very, very incredible um drama World War II drama featuring Austin Butler and who's the other fit guy that like is, like fit British guy that's Callum, is his name Callum something? Anyway.
00:57:27
Speaker
two fit guys that was what got me into it but by the end of it i was like it's terrifying but it's basically the guys that would go up like us airmen that were based in the uk that would go on these flights where they had like a 50 50 chance of coming home every time they went up there was a 50 50 chance they would die and they would go do a bombing mission come back to england um and they were called the masters of the air but yeah there's some very harrowing scenes about like the Holocaust and stuff like that in there and I'm just like I just can't fathom that a whole country of people
00:58:05
Speaker
got behind the Holocaust, like, ah ah call I I want to think that now, like today, we would never, but it's just, yeah. How are a group of normal people, like you and me, were just like, yeah, okay, you take those Jews. sure You take those Jews, they're horrible. you like it's It's just absolutely unfathomable. um and Yeah, so that's...
00:58:33
Speaker
It's mind-blowing. It's cuckoo-cuckoo. Super fucked up. I would say to you know ah something that came out of that, that I don't think it's necessarily like a wound, but a source of healing that came out of that a little bit in the US was women had to step up and start doing industrial yeah work and I think that's so fucking rad because these women were like at home in the US at least you know and just making sure all the factories were working making sure that the rations like
00:59:12
Speaker
were able to get out to soldiers, like women really, really stepped up and they really slayed. They slayed it. They stepped up for their guys and um and just for each other too. you know so I think that was the beginning of also like women really stepping into a place of work where like men traditionally were and showing that they were just as capable of supporting people in their country and so I think that's something thing that doesn't get talked about a lot because I think you know clearly they're not out on a battlefield right then except for actually the nurses what a horrifying job there were definitely a lot of nurses out there um
00:59:53
Speaker
but But as a small thing that did come about from that I think would be women in industrial settings yes where I think that needed to happen. Yeah. um Yeah. It was like the start of second wave feminism. I think, I think yes and yeah I might be, I might get the wrong wave, but I'm pretty sure, I'm pretty sure. um Yeah. So yeah, that is something great that came out of it. um And I think, you know, medical advancements also came out of it. And then, yeah, go on. I was going to mention, you know, when I did one of my
01:00:29
Speaker
classes on nutrition and the science of nutrition. So the Agent Orange, which is Monsanto, came out around those times and they were actually using it in World War II to basically kill people, like to poison them, to drop it on them, which is insane that we're using on our food now.
01:00:49
Speaker
and Truthfully, um so that's also another repercussion is like the weaponry that was made to be biological warfare ended up sticking around and it's still being used in smaller portions, of course, but still being used in our agriculture today. um where it started as a very insidious thing and it still has a lot of horrific repercussions and so I know in the UK you guys have better laws than we do on food. yeah We do not have very good laws and so this is still being used.
01:01:25
Speaker
big time so that's something that is yeah that has carried on from that wound whether or not the majority of people recognize that that is straight up from world war ii and was used in combat so that's just really that's really okay america once again thank you yeah thanks so much america go and vote please
01:01:53
Speaker
okay you have another one mm-hmm all right so let's see here okay well I feel like there's been a lot of natural disasters and I don't want to I don't want to like completely glaze over that, but I have to be honest, I haven't really been involved in many natural disasters, so I don't feel like I can speak to this one as much. I mean, I've been through an earthquake, but it wasn't like super significant, which is a little scary. um That's it. um So let's move on to something that I think
01:02:30
Speaker
is a serious wound of our time.
COVID-19: Personal and Global Challenges
01:02:32
Speaker
ah And that is COVID-19 pandemic. Who are we? Okay, I'll tell you real quick where I was and the one here where you were. So I think COVID will always stand out to me because um when it started, I was in the medical field working in a cardiology clinic. And um I remember in meetings, we do like weekly meetings with nurses and doctors and just kind of do a rundown. um Someone mentioned the pandemic and what it was looking like in China and how it was progressing and spreading. And I was like not really paying attention. I was just like, oh, yeah, whatever. And so it won't come here. um And then um it did. And it did come here.
01:03:23
Speaker
I was very wrong, um but why it stood out to me is because all of a sudden my job, which wasn't easy, it was difficult in some ways, and became way more difficult because we started having to create procedures and change the entire way, you know, the cardiology clinic was ever run.
01:03:44
Speaker
and no one had ever done anything like this before there so it was like how do we screen people who are coming in how do we ensure that they're masked that they have hand sanitizer that they're gloved like how do we do this on top of what was really concerning is like so coughing if we noticed any coughing we'd have to like take note of that and you know make sure they're okay but the thing is the problem is like in cardiology there's a lot of cardiovascular diseases where coughing is a large part of them so there's like literally just heart failure sometimes people cough a lot from that there's all different types but like coughing is a very normal thing in a cardiology clinic and all of a sudden our patients are really afraid to cough even though they like
01:04:34
Speaker
had to you know and um and it's all like a lot of fear in the clinic and then the craziest part was like okay like how do we redesign our waiting room so people don't sit too close to each other and we had to start drawing back appointments so there could only be like six in-person appointments in the morning and just so you know in the US like ah cardiovascular disease is like then one of the number one leading causes of death So it's like we have a ton of patients and you're now scaling back on the patients who can come in. um And then we started switching virtual, which got crazy because a lot of our patients were elderly and all over the place, but elderly ones really couldn't figure out. yeah
01:05:17
Speaker
you know how to use online yeah so i just remember this time being really weird and then it just progressed every week we got new directives from the organization on like what we could and could not do anymore and then it got to the point where it was like okay we're gonna change gloves every 30 minutes to an hour or we're going to change our mask outside every hour we have to, or you can't wear your hair down anymore, you have to wear your hair up. So it was really kind of scary because then we opened COVID-19 testing clinics and we had to do it in the parking garage.
01:05:53
Speaker
and I was scared because I was going through my infusions yeah for RA and my immune system was really low and I just kept hearing from all the nurses I worked with like you need to be extra careful because you are more susceptible to it and I was just like oh my god so anyway it awoke a lot of fear in me um that I was gonna get COVID yeah and I do have to say for the amount of people I helped and for the amount of time I stayed in the medical field during COVID, I did not get COVID. But the moment I left the medical job, I got COVID, which was crazy. I was like, what the fuck? Anyway. Yeah. Wouldn't it make sense? Because you were with people that were being super protective. And then you went out and over a world and yeah the super spreaders. You were with the super spreaders. Yeah. So, you know, that was,
01:06:46
Speaker
really big and i just remember too like none of my business i won't mention and anything thinks specific but i know that like people i was around every day were starting to consider a divorce because their partners were now not able to go into work and it was like their first time being around their partner for that long in a really long time So it was, you know, kind of crazy. Yeah, crazy. So there was a lot of like angry couples. I was like, oh my God. um So that was one impact. I do know that like the divorce rate rates went yeah very high up after COVID.
01:07:25
Speaker
When you say the longest time they spent together in a very long time, it's likely that was the longest time they spent together ever. Because like, if you think about it, you could just get married, meet someone, get married, never spend more than a week with them straight, easily. Like when you go on a week vacation. Yeah, shit. That's crazy. Yeah. So COVID, that was where I was at. Where were you at when it all?
01:07:53
Speaker
So I, well I remember we, kind of funny, well it's not really funny, but I was in the Caribbean when it first like February, February 2020 I was in the Caribbean um and you know all those resorts in the Caribbean are very like Americanized, like all the TV in them is like American TV and you know like American news loves to like dramatize everything. I remember like the American news reports of Covid were like very dramatised kind of like you would imagine them if they were in like a parody comedy now like that was actually how they were reporting it and I remember we thought the same thing we were like whoa that's crazy like won't come to England
01:08:36
Speaker
that we came back or that was all fine but we came back um and then yeah the world locked down like a few weeks after we got back from our holiday I think and I was living with my parents at the time I was working at an office job obviously we started working from home so I went from like five days a week in the office to being at home which was the real only like massive adjustment for me, to be honest. And I quite liked it. um i didn't yeah Things carried on as normal. My work got really busy because I worked in food, online food shopping. I worked on the website. So obviously that went from like, no one went to actually to the supermarket more any anymore. Everyone started having their groceries home delivered. So that was like work really like sucked up a lot of my time. Like I had a lot to focus on at work, which was obviously good.
01:09:26
Speaker
and As opposed to some people that got like, we had the thing called furlough in the UK, which was where your job was made pointless. So like, if you were like a waitress, you were furloughed because you didn't have a job anymore because no one could go out. and Wait, wait, I don't even know. We had like complete lockdowns where we weren't un allowed to leave our homes. Did you have that in America?
01:09:46
Speaker
ah We did, but the lockdowns never applied to me because I was a medical worker. I actually worked the whole pandemic, so and I personally was never locked down. yeah and My husband wasn't either because he was in a first responder category, so even though so it sounds weird, but he was looking out for electrical and vegetation things. So basically preventing wildfires, which was considered a first responder job. So he and I were not locked down. Wow. Yeah. And yeah, I was fully, I was so locked down, but I was locked down with my parents, with princess treatment the whole time. Like I was absolutely loving life, like getting everything. It's so messed up to say it's like some of some of the happiest times of my life.
01:10:33
Speaker
was no So depressing to say, but like they have a beautiful garden. It was an incredible summer, summer 2020. I was like sunbathing with my mum all the time. My dad was cooking for us. Like we were watching TV. Like it was, I was loving life. I obviously couldn't be with my boyfriend at the time. That's one thing that was different. So I was in a relationship where we didn't live together.
01:10:55
Speaker
and And we obviously we weren't allowed to, yeah, we weren't allowed to like hang out. So that was a bit different. um But yeah, as weird as it sounds, I kind of look back on lockdowns quite fondly. But I will say it was really scary having a chronic illness because they they were literally like sending letters like, do not leave your house. Like other people, healthy people were allowed to go for a walk every day.
01:11:24
Speaker
I was not, they said, like because i was the category was called shielded or shielding, I was like scared to go for a walk, which looking back is absolutely nonsense. like that like Going for a walk in the woods, there's no way you're more likely to catch it. um But that that was kind of scary, but I also kind of, in the way that I do, like I just take most things with a pinch of salt and I was like, I know like what feels sensible and I know what doesn't feel sensible. and But I will say one thing that was,
01:11:53
Speaker
look in hindsight I'm like that's really scary I was one of the first people in the UK to get vaccinated somehow like because it was like ah really old people and shielding people were like in the first category so I was literally yeah like one of the first people which It's kind of nuts that I just lined up and was like, yeah, give it to me. like having yeah like you know like having And I'm not anti-vax by any means. by any means um I would actually still consider myself pro-vaccination for most of the vaccinations that we have. But this one, the COVID one,
01:12:31
Speaker
I am a bit like this. it's a little bit It's a little bit down to the wire in terms of making it and then putting it in loads of people. Oh, absolutely down to the fucking wire. like Literally, I felt that the entire time. and i like I'm also not anti-vax and I do yeah believe in a lot of the vaccinations we have. and um Yeah, I also felt very hesitant with the COVID vaccine. I think ah especially in the US because like we've discussed before, but our country makes the most stupid commercials for your vaccinations and ah for any medication that makes it feel like a fucking movie that you're just about to take this medication.
01:13:14
Speaker
and the commercials that were coming out were highly emotional and it was like I'm saving my neighborhood like I'm saving and like it was a very um like savior compacts and it became a thing where they were like I almost feel like it was a tactic to be like if you don't do this you're killing your whole neighborhood and you're like what the fuck ah yeah um no and the the irony of it is the vaccination didn't even stop you getting it or passing it on it just stopped you having such bad symptoms so the irony of that is you were still passing it on whether you had the wax or not
01:13:52
Speaker
yeah Oh god, I've just realised. We're gonna get flagged for talking about vaccinations, aren't we? I don't know. Who knows? Oh well. No, we don't can, but the it well you you should you know check your own, whatever that disclaimer is. Make your own judgment about last nations. Yes, we'll we'll put it in the show notes. I mean, we trust you all. And it's you know it's funny because it's nothing that a chronically ill person hasn't had to consider. I think that was one of the things that pissed me off during COVID is everyone's
01:14:24
Speaker
Everyone was like, I'm afraid that I'm going to feel ill every single day. And I was like, that's my life, baby. Like, like I don't want it for you. But I also have been living that for a while now. And um yeah, it sucks. But like, yeah, all of a sudden, it felt like everybody very much cared about not being sick all the time. And I was like, that's funny.
01:14:46
Speaker
for a chronically ill person who has felt that way in the past because no one was bothered by it yeah until it impacted everybody, you know? that was though yeah Sorry, go on. oh no no no that that was it yeah i there's load I think that at the time there was loads of comparisons you could draw between like the life of COVID and being chronically ill, like not being able to leave your house and do the things you want to do and like not being able to go to work and like it was really a taste of chronic illness life for the mass population.
01:15:21
Speaker
for the non chronically ill it's so true yeah and then yeah it's just i agree it was a whole it was a mirror on a wound that's been brewing for a long time um and it just it's it was interesting to see it from a chronically ill perspective yeah it definitely was Yeah. And then also the other thing too that was confusing is like how to decipher if you had COVID when you were chronically ill. Cause at that time I didn't have a fever all the time, but my temperature was always high and I always felt really tired. And those were like two of the things to look out for. So I was like, well, am I, do I have COVID or am I just still chronically ill? I don't know. Yeah. No, but I, it's funny. I also didn't get COVID for a long time. Like I didn't get COVID till like 2020.
01:16:08
Speaker
two, maybe. Like, yeah, I, yeah, it took me a long time to catch it as well. That's cause I was all vaxxed up probably. Maybe I hadn't, didn't I? But yeah, yeah. Crazy times. It was crazy. The craziest times. But yeah, but we support whatever you choose to do. I think um something that's interesting with all the events we've spoken about during this episode is how relevant it is that fear is the driving factor. And like, fear is just like a really, it's a very intense emotion, but also it can be remedied with, you know, doing like a reality check for yourself and really asking, okay, what do I need right now? Or like, what are my surroundings? um You know, should I feel this way currently?
01:16:56
Speaker
So I just feel like I don't know. I feel like there's just so much fear mongering today in today's day and age that you just really do have to find those moments of light and hold on to those or else you might just might just ride the crazy train. Yeah. All the way to Crazyville. And that's OK if you want to do that. But you can also get off of it. Yeah. You can also make like Princess Diana and ah be the light. Be the light. Yes.
01:17:26
Speaker
Well, I feel like that's a good amount of worldly wounds. That's enough. No, I think that's enough wounds. I think we were depressed everyone. We didn't want this to be depressing, but I feel like it might have turned out slightly depressing.
01:17:39
Speaker
oh you know It's the reality of of being alive in this day and age, yeah like knowing these things. and yeah we We didn't touch on the Palestine at all or anything like that. and We'll refrain from that right now because it's very tender and still happening. I think it's a little bit harder to glimpse the ways that the repercussions have yeah started to come about, even though there are many.
01:18:03
Speaker
um yeah But you know it's good to talk about these because sometimes we wonder why do I feel so exhausted or why do I feel this way and you just have to give yourself some grace because like you've lived through a lot babe. A lot. And that's not even like the personal stuff. Those are like global events. um So it just reminds us to be a little bit more compassionate to ourselves.
01:18:27
Speaker
Yeah, we're all doing amazing. You're doing amazing. I'm doing amazing. Everyone listening is doing amazing. We're doing the best we can. Yes, definitely. Well, just before we wrap it up, I just wanted to just kind of say, take a second now to think about all the lives that have been lost. Like when you stop this podcast, just like before you move on to do something else, maybe just take a minute to just, yeah,
01:18:53
Speaker
honor all of the the brave souls that we lost in the the events that we've spoken about today and yeah because yeah their sacrifices live with us still and they're the reason we get to do everything that we get to do so yeah we'll see you again in two weeks and until then remember to let the light in bye guys bye