MEMO TO MOTHERS This is a reminder that you are Head of Department in the largest, most complex and vital organisation in the world. Specifically, you are in charge of the people who will ensure the continued success of this organisation. Every day you negotiate peace between warring factions. Haggle over contracts, keep your end of the bargain and make sure everyone gets to bed, clean, fed and with the correct teddy bear in their possession. You mastermind crisis meetings, fundraisers, dinners. On any given morning you can whip up a Willy Wonka or Fantastic Mr Fox outfit in under five minutes. Everyone in the company has the freedom to explore their creativity, knowing you will scoop the mess up afterwards. Forgive me, if I get het up sometimes. I wish you’d stop trying to maintain invincibility and invisibility simultaneously. I wish you'd realise it is impossible to pay you an adequate wage. I wish you’d realise there is no point waiting for others to notice. Your children will only thank you at some indeterminate point in a far-off future. They’re so lucky you don’t just drop everything. But you wouldn’t. You never let this department down, and the only person who thinks otherwise is yourself. In this matter, you are wrong. You will have to take it from me that without you, the world would actually stop. You are Head of Department in the largest, most complex and vital organisation in the world, and sometimes this responsibility breaks you. Let it. There is an even stronger person waiting inside to emerge. A woman you had no idea you could become.

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Last year I recorded this trio of odd little stories about encounters with strangers from call centres. It was supposed to go out as a podcast, but the timing never seemed right. But, after discovering this treasure as I de-cluttered my computer, I decided it deserved to be out in the world.

In a couple of weeks I will finish a re-vamping of my Substack. It will be new and improved. There will be even more deep diving into precious moments, to re-kindle awe and wonder, to find the marvellous in the mundane.

Until then I hope you enjoy what is probably the only podcast I will release this year. May it bring you ten minutes of pleasure and thoughtfulness.

Join me for another incredible conversation with novelist, artist and ultimate shapeshifter, Rob Bell. We discuss his new novel, There's Only One Noon Yeah, naming yourself and then growing out of that name, the many shades of love, including how to keep falling in love with your spouse, and a new definition of that over-used word, enlightenment.

Between us we also create an epic piece of performance art, featuring how to turn a tech hiccup into a metaphor for geo-political crisis. It's just a thing we do.

Find Rob:

Instagram: @realrobbell

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/robbell

Buy the book, There's Only One Noon Yeah, from www.robbell.com or in the UK, https://amzn.eu/d/dncGRa4

Find Tina:

www.tinasederholm.substack.com

www.tinasederholm.com

Instagram: @tinasederholm