This conversation is with my friend Elizabeth and it was so, SO much fun to catch up with her. Elizabeth and I went to high school together (and grade school and junior high – small town) but, we haven’t spoken since. I think we’ve determined it’s been over 25 years! With the blessing and the curse that is social media we’ve stayed connected but haven’t actually spoken.
When I initially dropped my first podcast episode, I heard from many people I’d known at various times in my life; some of whom I didn’t even know that well when our paths were crossing. And I loved it. It was so heartwarming and wonderful that people took the time to send me a note and their thoughts and were vulnerable enough to connect. Most of the messages started out with some version of “I know this is random,” or “I hope this isn’t strange…” And I have to say, if there were ever a time to reach out to someone you haven’t actually seen or spoken to in 20 years, is a global pandemic not it?!?!? We are all bored and weary and have been stuck in the house with the same people for far too long. Do it! We are all wired for connection and we are missing it right now. Reach out. Send the message. Say hello. Connect. Connect. Connect! They won’t think you are a weirdo (unless you are actually that person not so subtly stalking them — you, they do not want to hear from), I promise.
Okay, enough of that soap box and back to my conversation with Elizabeth, who doesn’t think she is interesting. Elizabeth is a Mom of 5, she homeschools her children and the whole family just took a trip to Europe for 8 weeks (right before the pandemic) when their youngest was 4 weeks old. Now, I call that interesting.
When I started this podcast, My mentor (Jen Pastiloff in episode 13) told me to develop a list of dream guests, not to think about how I would get them on the show, but to just write down anyone I wanted to be on and worry about the how later. And I did. But, the thing about the big names I put on that list is, their stories have been curated and told in many different ways to many different people. I found myself more interested in the stories and the lessons that came from people closer to me, people just out there doing their thing and living their life out of the spotlight every day. I have learned that EVERYONE has a story, but most people don’t think they do. They are too involved the minutiae of the day to day to think they have something to share.
Elizabeth and I dive into the reasons they chose to homeschool, how it fits into their lives and how it has evolved. There is a lot more community and resources available, not to mention less stigma surrounding homeschooling today than there used to be. We also talk a lot about what it was like to travel to Europe with five children — what getting from point A to point B to point Z was like, where they visited, how they worked in their homeschooling — all the things!
Again, so fun. So refreshing. I enjoyed this conversation, I hope you do too.
