Life, Actually with Rebekah Kane

58. Comparison, Connection & Camino with Greener Fields' Hannah Nash

• Season 4 • Episode 11

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On this week's episode of Life, Actually, I chat with the host of one of my favourite comfort podcasts - Hannah Nash from Greener Fields.

Hannah is in the final year of her Masters in Psychotherapy, a therapist in training, coach and podcast host.

I really loved this episode as we dive into some topics really close to my own heart - comparison, connection, Irishness and so much more. 

Check out Hannah's podcast Greener Fields on Spotify and follow her on Insta to keep up to date with all the amazing things she's working on:


I had the pleasure of being a guest on Greener Fields recently, so be sure to check that out too! Find my episode here.

Check out Backpackhers, the tour company Hannah used for her Camino trip here.

We also talk about the amazing Trisha from Trisha's Transformation who you can follow on Instagram here.

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 (00:12)
Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Life Actually or welcome for the first time if this is your first time listening. Thank you for joining us in this corner of the internet and it is really great to have you here honestly and today is a good episode for you to join in because I have a guest episode for you with the wonderful Hannah Nash. Hannah is the creator and host of the Greener Fields podcast where she talks to Irish people at home and abroad and to those who call Ireland home about life in your 20s and 30s and if the grass is really

greener on the other side or where you water it. Greener Fields is one of my all-time favourite comfort podcasts. I genuinely absolutely love it anytime I'm feeling homesick or just need a new perspective or a little bit of inspiration or just a bit of comfort. I love sticking it on Spotify and listening to it on my walks and on my way to work because I just love listening to people's life experiences and stories and it's so inspiring to hear how similar and also how different

everybody's lives are. So definitely recommend giving it a listen if you haven't checked out Greener Fields before. I was also really lucky to have been a guest on Greener Fields myself, which you can find a link for that episode in the description below. Or if you search it, is called Follow Your Heart with Rebekah Kane And if you know me, you know that that is very, very much up my street. So I would absolutely love if you checked that out. So today, Hannah and I dive into perfectionism.

comparison, the importance of connection and the biggest life lessons she's learned from now nearly 100 episodes of Greener Fields, which is an absolutely amazing achievement to have 100 guests on over 100 weeks almost is honestly incredible. And I'm telling you now there are 100 quality episodes as well. Hannah is also a coach. She is a therapist in training and she is in her final year of her master's in psychotherapy.

which whenever I was listening back to this and editing it over the weekend, it made me realise how much I actually wanted to study psychotherapy. I was like, wow, this sounds really interesting. Literally from like a two minute conversation on it. And it's funny because then later in the conversation, we dive into how nothing is really as it seems. even if somebody's life looks really perfect and looks really fun and enjoyable and something sounds really interesting, you don't see all the hard work and everything else that goes in behind the scenes. You don't know

maybe the negatives that come with that, we really are just shown one little snippet of perfectionism on social media and in through conversations and how we really should not compare ourselves to other people, to other people's journeys, to where they are in their lives and where we are in our lives. And I just thought that was a really perfect example of not comparing ourselves to other people because I was like, wow, maybe I need to study psychotherapy. And then when she was talking about all the hard work that's gone into it and the weekends that she spent writing her thesis and everything else, I was like,

I actually don't know if I want to do that. So I just thought that that was quite a relevant example. But I do really think you're going to enjoy this week's episode. I hope that you can share it with people who you think will enjoy it as well. If you haven't before, I would love if you leave a rating and a review on Spotify or Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts and share this episode with anybody who you think will enjoy it.

Without me jabbering on for any longer, please enjoy this week's episode of Life Actually the Podcast with Hannah Knight.

Today I am joined by my fellow Irish woman and the host of one of my favourite podcasts, Hannah Nash. I discovered Hannah and her podcast, Greener Fields in the summer, when I was feeling a little bit homesick and her episodes acted like the perfect comfort blanket. In each episode, Hannah chats with the guests about the realities of life in your 20s and 30s living in or away from Ireland at this stage of life and also asks the ultimate question.

Is the grass greener on the other side or is it greener where you water it? Thank you so much for joining me today, Hannah. It is such a privilege and I am so excited to have you on. So welcome to life, actually. Thank you so much, Rebekah. Honestly, that introduction and that description, I'm going to steal that for when people ask me for things that was so beautifully put. So thank you. You're welcome. You can have it. I'll send it over to you after. Wonderful. Wonderful. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast. really excited.

I'm excited to get stuck in. Would you like to tell everybody a little bit about yourself and introduce yourself to start off? Absolutely. think, I feel like this question is the hardest question and now it's getting thrown back at me. I'm like, my God, my poor guest. But listen, I am so grateful to be on again. My name is Hannah. I'm 27 years old living in Dublin. I was actually born in the States. I was born in California. I moved home with my family when I was four.

And yeah, I have my fingers in a lot of different things at the moment. I am working part-time in the most incredible small group, women's small group personal training gym, shout out to Victory Fitness, they're absolute legends there. I am in my third year, my final year of a master's in psychotherapy and counselling, which is everything and more. It's the most incredible job. It has been a real challenging journey to get to this point, but because we are in my last year, I really feel like I am.

getting there, is incredibly exciting. And yeah, like you mentioned, I am the host of a podcast called Greener Fields, which talks all about fairly similar things. And it's been the most incredible journey. had no expectation for what it would become. And I have met such beautiful people because of those conversations. I personally got so much from each conversation. And it's just wonderful that I get to share that. So yeah, it's a little bit about me. Lovely. Thank you so much. And I'm honestly so excited for this chat because you're such a dynamic person.

with so much going on and I think let's just get stuck right into it. So as you said, many fingers and many pies. You listed so many accolades and achievements and different things that you're doing there that most people could not juggle at once. What has you done so many different things? Is it, you always wanted to be kept busy? Are you the kind of person who enjoys being kept busy or has it just evolved to be like that because you're a young woman in your 20s, you...

have dreams and goals and want to study. How did you get to this point? It's funny because when we are talking about busyness in psychotherapy, it's always a thing that we might question clients on. Are you being super busy to hide from something X, Y, and Z? And I've been on my own journey of what busyness has meant for me over the last couple of years. But at the moment, what busy means to me and the fact that I have so many different things going on is because I love so many different things. And I'm in a very privileged position that

I am not working full time, I work part time. I'm supported mostly, mostly, but supported by my parents, that I have the capacity to try a lot of different things. I just feel that I am definitely someone who, I don't know, I just feel that I want to, if I have something in my mind, I really feel I'm at this stage in life where if I don't try it, I'll be kicking myself. And I think Greener Fields is such a perfect example of that. It's that I think me,

five or six years ago would have never even dreamed of putting herself out there like that. That would have terrified me. And it still really does, to be honest, in different ways. And I just looked back at Hannah in February, 2023, and I'm so proud of how brave she was. And I've kind of taken that lessons, and Greening Fields has given me more than I could ever give anyone else who's been engaged with it, to just try different things, to dream really, really big. Because I guess I feel like I can do more if I...

believe that I can do more. And I've seen that when it comes to the capacity of Greener Fields. And I guess at the end of the day, I love a lot of different things. I, psychotherapy, working, Greener Fields, they all come back to people. I really, really love people. And I find that being busy with these different things makes me fundamentally happy. And also it is for the future. is for what that will look like. So I definitely am very much trying to stay in the present and enjoy all these busy things. But I have

big dreams and goals and ambitions that all these things I hope will bring me there. It's so interesting that you say, but you know what we can do, what we do achieve and what we go after in life is so influenced and so impacted by what we actually believe is possible for us. And if anybody follows me on social media or anybody has listened to this podcast in last six months, all I talk about is running and I honestly.

You wouldn't have caught me running a kilometer like four months ago and I ran a half marathon on Sunday, my first ever one. And I was so proud of myself, but truly I did not know that was possible for me. I was fully convinced I actually can't run. I've got bad knees. I've got bad joints. I don't have the right body, whatever the nonsense that we tell ourselves to get us out of actually doing things that we want to do, but we're we just don't believe we can do them. Or maybe we're afraid to admit that we want to do them. So it's really interesting that you touch on that as well in terms of.

you know, trying different things also. Psychotherapy, that is such a fancy word. It sounds very complicated. What is it and how did you know that you wanted to go into it? Yeah, I mean, honestly, this is such a great question because I feel like I'm always trying to talk about this because I'm so deeply passionate about it. But I also understand that it is a real complex world. There's also a lot of stigma attached to it. And I guess my journey in psychotherapy was one I can feel like started

when I was really, young, but I didn't put the name on it. I used to always say, I wanted to have a room with my name on the door and I wanted people to come to see me and when they left, they feel happier. I now know as a 27 year old, as someone who's now almost three years completed into a master's in psychotherapy, that I can never make anyone happier. We don't have that power, X, Y, Z, but the intention was still there. My undergrad was in exercise and health science and I was a big...

I'm still I'm a huge, huge lover of the physical health side of a person. I love being physically active myself. I grew up playing sports in scouts, always outside. And I was happiest when I was physically active and outside. And anyway, got into working in that world, did an undergrad in that world. But I also find that it felt really disingenuine promoting health and talking about the five a day or getting active or getting moving without really considering

mental health side of a person. I didn't want to just say, you know, stay connected, X, Y, Z. I wanted to actually know what it takes and be in a position to get someone to feeling a little bit better about life, about themselves, and maybe not better, but to feel something. And so I was always drawn into more of more than maybe potentially life coaching, which there's such a role for those things like that. But like, what, like, why do trying to get to understand myself in a way is like, why do we feel the way we feel?

Why are we our harshest critics with all this different suffering and stuff like that? I was so, I guess, interested in how the world works within our mind. And a long story short, became of, I can't just promote health without talking about the mental health, but I want to be really in on the mental health too. And I was in a really lucky position to go back to study this master's. And it is, guess what psychotherapy is, it's a space where people can be

truly seen and heard for themselves in a non-judgmental way. We cover so many different things within the world. I'm obviously just a newly trainee counselor at the moment, but we talk about so far things like self-esteem, confidence, depression, anxiety, body image, all these different things from the highs to the lowest lows of life. And it is the most incredible job in the world. I am in a privileged position every time I walk into that therapy room.

And I just feel really lucky. It's been a really hard road to get here. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. But it is the best job in the world and I cannot wait for a future within it. Wow, I can really tell how passionate you are about it and how much you learn it. And you're making me want to study it now. feel like you need to get a little bit. Convincing Rebekah, definitely convincing. That's for sure. You really are. It's so beautiful to hear somebody genuinely feel so passionate about what they do and

genuinely care about what they do as well because, you know, for anybody listening, I've recorded an episode for Hannah's podcast before this, and we spoke about not really knowing what you want to do whenever you come out of uni. And it's so easy to just get caught on the weight of life. And you end up doing jobs that you may do well, but you really just don't care, which some people are completely fine with that. I struggle with that personally, because I feel like everything needs a purpose and I need things to fulfill me.

and need to feel fulfillment through things, you can psychoanalyze that and tell me if that's right or wrong. But it's really beautiful hearing that somebody like you are genuinely so passionate about it. So thank you for sharing that with us. Do you think that social media has had an impact on how we see ourselves, self-esteem, body image, all of that? Yeah, I think so. And it's actually what I did my undergraduate thesis on was social media and body image and self-esteem. And I remember I created

experimental body, human self-esteem and whatever it was. And that was a couple of years ago now. And I definitely, I guess we can only ever draw from our own experience. And I would say that it would impact how I feel about myself. And I obviously am looking at it through a lens, a lot of my friends who have emigrated, who are traveling, and I would see that they have this massive, amazing social life and they're traveling the world and they've got sun tans and everything like that.

And I'd be sitting at home in a really privileged position, but I would feel like I'm lacking something. I would feel like I'm missing a huge fundamental part of my 20s because I'm not on a boat party. I'd be thinking I have no friends because I'm not currently socializing in that moment right there. And it has impacted how I feel about myself when it comes to my own, I guess, sense of body image and things like that. And particularly with things like Australia, when we are in the depths of winter here, they are in the heights of summer.

And so with so many friends that were there, I think we don't recognize it. And that's where the harm is. it just kind of is something that we just kind of just take on and we feel worse. That's why I said I'm really conscious of it now. And that does help. I am very aware that if I pick up my phone, I am I'm putting my mental well-being not at risk in inverted commas per se, because of a little bit of a strong word. But I know that there's a risk associated with that, because I have thought worse about myself when I pick up my phone. But I think when we know that

we have power in that. And through conversation, we can recognise that life is life no matter where it is, no matter what the weather is like. But I definitely think and I think it's potentially only going to get worse with people who are little bit younger than me, who grew up more with phones. I think it's something that's going to have to really monitor it. I don't know what the future holds for social media and mental wellbeing and mental health.

But I think it's going to be huge. And I'm still trying to navigate my own association with it, my own association with iPhone. As someone who doesn't actually like to be on it a lot, it's important for my future business and for Greener Fields to navigate what that looks like. It's also an amazing tool for connection. So I think it's really complicated, but I just know that I would sometimes feel worse when I'm on a phone for more than I should be. But that awareness that we are comparing.

snapshot of a moment of to a highlight reel helps me but then yeah there's it's so multifactual it's something that think yeah awareness can help but what more can help I don't know I'm maybe it's a research paper to do in the future. That definitely needs to be added to your list of things. Something else to specialise in. It is 100 % true I think comparison is definitely the thief of joy and

I find as well, because other people's lives, the highlight reads of other people's lives are so accessible these days, we find ourselves comparing and comparing where we are in life to other people and feeling jealous for things that we might not even want. Like, it's fascinating. I spoke in a recent episode about the fact that quite a few of my friends are pregnant at the minute, which I'm so excited for them.

so excited for them. And in my head, I'm like, a little baby, like that would be so nice. And then I think about it and I'm like, I am so happy for them. But I live in a different country with a boyfriend who is from a different country. We have no family close by. We live in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Not only is it not practical, I actually don't want it. Like I'm enjoying this phase of my life. And yet there's always that little twang of, like you feel like you need to keep up. But so much of it.

It's self-imposed, but equally, it's almost thrown on you what we see, whether it's the way somebody looks. It was Victoria's Secret Fashion Show last night or the night before. And I remember it just brought back all these memories of me being like 14 and looking up like fad diets of how can I look like Candice or Rosie hunting and Whitely or whatever. And it truly is. I'm so happy in my body now, but that impacted me so much as a teenager. 100%. And I think it's one of those things where

when you're in your twenties, like I've got friends who have houses and children or have friends who are currently backpacking South East Asia. I have friends who are living at home. I have myself. And it's so fragmented, the different paths we've gone on. And like you said, you can be so happy for someone else. But I feel like it's OK to also admit at times that you're a little bit jealous, that there's a little bit of twins. We feel like that's almost something to be ashamed of. I think it's human. And I think we should never be ashamed of things that are human.

But it's definitely an experience that I would have myself. And particularly, I was thinking about, I was working in the gym this morning talking about the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. And it's, you know, there's lots of controversy about it and things like that. I also, had to think when I was looking at the content from it, I was, I didn't feel good in myself when I was looking at that content. And yes, when we're watching TikTok, it's served up to us. We're not following people, it's not conscious. But I have an active role in this as well. I think sometimes,

we feel like we're passive consumers of social media. But I know that what I'm seeing is beautiful women and it's wonderful that for them and X, Y and Z, that shouldn't take away for how I feel about myself. And I have a responsibility to take care of that for myself. And navigating that is really hard because again, I remember being 14, 15, 16. I remember the magazines. We grew up in a time, our mothers particularly grew up in a different time.

And I actually really feel for that generation because we have a little bit more knowledge. We know a bit better. But I remember thinking about Special K and Tea Tree and stuff like that. And I thought I was fine. I thought I had a great body image. And it's only hindsight when I thought about it and reflected and put some work in. I'm like, no, I was really impacted by society at that time. Still very much so. But I think now I'm trying to be a little bit more active in my kind of, I guess, my relationship with.

the different things that are happening when we're comparing not just ourselves to our friends, but ourselves to people who will never meet, never know. And I try to bring it back to the kind of humaneness of it. And that's why I love conversations because they're so human. Looks like my favorite signs in the world, which is people going into the ocean when they're all like screaming and shouting and like their faces are so funny looking because I think we miss that. We're missing the humaneness to life.

And I find it really endearing and I'm trying to surround myself with just as much as humanly possible because it helps me a lot with everything, I think. Connection is so important. And again, it's something we touched on in the episode we recorded for your podcast as well. After COVID as well, we just forget how to be around people. It really, took me so long to recover socially from COVID and I'm not, like truly, I don't enjoy going out as much now.

find small talk really difficult because I don't even know why really. It's just that you just don't know how to do it because we're still so out of practice. And even though it was a, let's say a two year period, know, we're two years past the end of that two year period now, but we're still recovering from it. That coupled with the disconnection that we feel from people, from our phones, from social media, from the fact that we live on technology. I have been on my laptop nine to five today.

and after as well, like everything is so dependent on other people, but through a screen rather than an actual human connection. Do you think there's an importance in actually getting out there, meeting new people or nurturing relationships with people you already know? A thousand percent. And it's something that I'm trying to be so much more active in. And I think back to maybe last year when I was in the middle year of my masters, I didn't do this very well. I moved book home to Dublin. I started placement.

And I would spend all my weekend studying or writing thesis or doing greener fields, which is like my love. But in fairness to it, it's not in-person connection. And I had a summer where there was no college and I saw a lot more people and I changed up to a job which was much more in-person, much more engaging. And I felt better about everything. And I was like, what is it? I couldn't put my finger on it. And now I recognize through reflection, through personal therapy and different things like that, that that pillar of social connection

like I need to hold that up really high on my list. Like I'll take care of myself, take care of my health, I exercise a lot, I got a better yearly, like I physically have nailed the basic health things, but what I always put down to the bottom is my social connection because I can be okay on my own. For a lot of the pandemic I was and I worked from home and I'm almost like hyper independent, again, probably sometimes to my detriment, but I know that

one thing I've learned over the last a while is that I can recharge with people. It's not always something you have to do on your own. And now when I look at my weekly calendar, I am looking literally day to day, like, when am I seeing people? When am I laughing? When am I, you know, when am I sending a text into a group chat to see if anyone wants to go? And these are sometimes friends that I have had for a long time, sometimes new friends, honestly, at this rate, anyone, because I know I will feel better having had a chat in person.

than if I don't. And again, that is because I do take a lot of rest. I do recharge my social battery. But what I find is that I thought I had to recharge my social battery more than the reality was. And I wasn't giving myself the chance to express my social battery. And like you said, in my own greener fields, I used to find that all super easy because I was a kid in school and there was so many activities on. As an adult, has to be much more for me anyway, it had to.

to be something that I had to be serious, like take really seriously. And now, like I said, when I look at my planner, I'm like, this needs to be highlighted. And if I don't do it for one week, you better believe I'm gonna do it the next week because I just recognize that, again, we go in ourselves. I lost a little bit of confidence in the pandemic. I wouldn't be the most confident person in general, in different capacities, like in some things, absolutely.

But I'm still a 20 something year old girl just trying to navigate the world. But I feel like surrounded by some good people and laughing a little bit helps with that. really does. Community is so important. And I think we're all learning that again. something that you've done really wonderfully with Greener Fades is build a community of

Irish people and even just other immigrants or people from other countries who have moved away from home or come back home. And in every episode, you talk to a different person about is the grass greener where you water it or is it greener on the other side? What home means to them and just discuss their life stories. So what was the reason for you starting Greener Fields? I think Greener Fields started

I guess I've always been a huge podcast consumer and I always felt like I'd want to start a podcast, but I didn't want it to be like an average health one, which my qualifications led to. And the idea for Greener Fields came out of pure conversations I kept having with myself, with my friends, with my mom. I was constantly saying, should I stay, should I go? No, I couldn't go. I was in a master's. I don't know where I thought I was going. But it's this idea that I just, didn't feel, feel.

content where I was. I don't think that's by the way, and again, I am the luckiest person in the world in other aspects, but I just felt antsy. was like, it was out of the pandemic. And I could see my friends are all emigrating and I was getting like overload of Australia and Canada and London and goodbye parties, which is still really happening. And I just felt like I was missing a beat. was like, what is wrong with me for not wanting to go or not going?

And then I would talk to my friends and I would have conversations and they'd be like, yes, traveling South East Asia is amazing. But also I got bali bali and also I really miss home and I miss my friend's wedding or I miss my niece's birthday and I'm lonely and the friends are transactional. And then I would talk to my friends who have emigrated and they would say things like, yeah, but I still have to work and pay taxes and buy toilet paper. And I was like, so I'm not seeing any of that online.

and I'm comparing myself to your best days and I'm comparing my worst days to your best days, which is not fair. But it was of subconscious. And then essentially I was like, there's just a conversation to be had here. And I started it. I started originally interviewing my friends. I was really lucky when I spoke the idea into life for the first time for a few friends, for my mom, for my friend and producer Ross Kelly, who's an absolute legend.

They were so supportive and I just feel so lucky that these people said, do it, go for it, don't hold back because I really wondered, particularly without Ross's help and his like, just launch it, just launch it, just launch it. Would I have ever launched it? And I don't know. And I just feel so lucky that people around me that I spoke this into reality with were there, but also that I just trusted that this was a conversation that I wanted to have.

The fact that other people wanted to have it with me and the fact that people wanted to listen is the added bonus. But it was one that I really wanted to have and it has given me so much more than I can even put into words. But it has given me a sense of peace knowing I'm not the only one thinking the things I think. 100 % agree with everything you just said. It is so easy. Again, comes back to comparison like, they have it better, but equally.

one of my closest friends and she's also my cousin, she had a baby last year and I'm the godmother and I love that baby. Hutton is like the love of my life, I love him so much and I see her with him and I'm like that's such hard work and this is like the first baby in my life just to bring it back to baby screen, he's the first one in my life as an adult and when you see the reality of let's say motherhood or living abroad or you know living away from your family, studying a masters because hearing about you

hearing you talk about your masters, I'm like, this is fascinating. Like, I love learning. I love studying when I arrive at school, maybe I need to do this. And then the reality sinks in. It's like, well, no, it's really you have to give up a lot of your weekends, you have to give up your job and get a part time job to be able to go alongside it. Like nothing ever comes in a completely perfect wrapped up gold bowl package. And that's okay. That's life. But it's the beauty of life as well. Absolutely. And I just think

You know, it's funny when you mention your friends' kids. It's like, I have a couple of friends with kids now. And I don't know if there's any bigger love than the love you have for your friends' kids when you don't have your own. Like, those kids are just the most amazing. I think there's four or five of them at this right now. And I just adore them. And I think it's definitely such a valid point that, I don't know, I keep learning. it's easier to say than it is to believe. But I am beginning to believe it more often than I am not, if that makes sense when it comes to.

Like there's no perfect anything, but that doesn't mean that what we have right now isn't perfect enough, if that makes sense. Yeah, 100 percent. So talking about Greener Fields and all the different people that you've interviewed, you're on 88 episodes now, is that right? Well, I know how difficult that is because I've had this podcast for two and a half years and I'm on 68. So I completely understand how difficult it is to actually have consecutive episodes week after week.

for a year and a half, that is so impressive. So huge congratulations, honestly, that is amazing. Of all the 88 people you've interviewed and all the conversations you've had, probably hundreds of hours of conversations, what are the biggest lessons that you've taken away and are there any common themes amongst the discussions? Yeah, and I think if you told me when I was starting this, I'd still be going 88 weeks later, I feel like absolutely no way.

because I thought that it would die out or my love of it has died out. If anything, it's increased and I feel very lucky. Yeah, I just feel really lucky and I just adore it. Like I said to you before, I'm my own podcast biggest fan and I'm really proud to say that. And I guess when it comes to the lessons or the things I've learned, they're just, I think there's a couple of things. Firstly, it's that we're all just human. that's what I mean by that is that we mask it up.

we're afraid to be vulnerable and things like that. But what Greener Fields has taught me is that actually our capacity to connect with people is fundamentally there because we are people. And it doesn't matter what kind of life they've lived or experiences they've had, whether we agree or disagree on something, there's just so much humanness in people. when people are okay to be a little bit vulnerable, and I'm not talking about fully vulnerable here, even slightly.

there's connection can occur. And I think that is the most powerful thing in the world. When I feel like I can connect with someone across the screen, when we laugh together, when I hear parts of their story, when I see them smile or laugh, it's like, there's just a lot to be said for just connecting again, going back to that, the humanness of it. Something else I've learned is that we're never...

going to be 100 % certain about anything. And every guest I've talked to, whether they're in Ireland or abroad or thinking about staying or thinking about going, no one has ever said fundamentally 100 % this was always the right decision without any caveats. There's always even a slight one, which I think sometimes I would be in the camp before maybe a couple of years ago, that I had to wait for the perfect time or the perfect moment or the perfect partner or the partner in the first place. And from my amazing ADA guests so far, it's like,

actually you don't because I don't think if you wait for that long you'll be waiting for your entire life and they remind me almost every time I ask at the end of the conversation a little bit of advice or a lesson almost every single guest in a different way would say something like if you're thinking about it just do it trust your intuition believe in yourself try it you can always come home so for me in a kind of roundabout way I take that as something that you're never going to be 100 % ready that's okay go anyway

And I've taken that and adapted in different ways before. But I also think that there's something kind of innocent and sweet to be said about the kind of Irishness of it, whether we are born here or not. I've had, you know, I've had Americans who have moved here, all these different things that like there is just something special about Ireland, something special about Irishness, something special about home. And I think it's something I'm incredibly proud of.

I try to show or embrace that pride through greener fields. That's what this conversation is all about. And I hope that that's what comes across because the guests are amazing. The conversation is very special. also, the reason that is the way it is is because of home and the people this place creates. We're very, very lucky. I think we're pretty great. I have to agree. I think we're pretty amazing. I talk about it all the time.

It is. love being Irish. I love being from Ireland and I, you know, I, we talked about it your podcast as well, the complications sometimes that can come with being Northern Irish or North of Irish, whichever way you want it. There is politics and history and and complications there, it's just as an island, as a country, as whatever way you want to look at it. We're just the best. It's the best place. There's such a sense of family. There's such a sense of community.

We have the best sense of humor and my mum actually sent me over, this is no word of a lie, sent me over today a loaf of Wheaton, which I think in the South, I don't know if you'd call it like brown soda bread or something, like a whole loaf from the local bakery, because I was home last weekend and I was talking about how much I missed it. She sent it over today and I have nearly eaten the whole loaf. It got here at 2 p.m. It's nearly all gone. Like we truly are the best at everything. It's so special and the fact that your mum does that are the things that I've had friends who

are emigrated in Australia and the dad would send in a quiz, the Irish Times quiz every single Friday, or my sister is begging my dad for their password for the Irish Times so they can engage. It's like, I just have to think that that is special. I don't have anything to compare it to, of course, but I'm like, I don't know where else in the world mothers are sending their daughters brown bread. I don't know. I think it's special. Just like a local wait. And like in the post, like she wrapped it up in like loads of plastic. I've never seen a more well wrapped up.

parcel in my entire life. Like I had to get the scissors to actually go through it. There were so many layers. It was great. and two jars of Ballymaloe relish. So, you know, it was the best delivery ever. Better than all my ESL parcels put together. On the topic of Irishness, what does it mean to you to be Irish? I think to be Irish to me means honestly,

to just be yourself. And I want to caveat that because I think that's a kind of a weird answer. But I think being Irish is not being afraid to just embrace the highs and lows of everything in between. Like we are a country and we spoke about it in our Greener Fields chat about, you know, we have such a rich history politically, X, Y, and Z. I think to be Irish is to know that there is the highs and lows of everything in between. are...

resilient, we are strong, we are talented in different ways and it's learning to embrace the kind of multitude of that and I think it gives us an understanding, a deep understanding of I guess of potential difference and also potential things that make us similar and I think it's something I find with Greener Fields like I said earlier is that you can connect with people much easier than you think because if you just bring it back to humanist and I think

I think the Irish people are really good at connection. think phones have stopped us, but actually and fundamentally, and I would love to be seen in a world where we bring that back, but the the quick shy talk in that when you're getting your milk in the shop or on the bus or the fact that every time Ryanair plane lands, people clap. I'm like, that's whatever that is, is Irishness. Whatever that thing is. I think it's ability to express your, your

and weirdness, your humanity, the highs and lows, the depths things, because I think, you know, whether our generation as I speak as a 27 year old, haven't, I only know what it's like to be 27 here, but we have all the history, all the riches, the land, everything like that. That's part of who we are as well. And I think expression of that joy, laughter, love, the highs and lows, the humanity of it all. I think that's what it means to be Irish. That was beautiful. You need to that on.

open it and sell it in a gift shop. will be good. One day at Greenerfields, like online shop coming soon. We'll say that. I wish. wish. We'll put our hands together. I like this. I need the help. the help. For sure. You mentioned in one of your podcast episodes recently, I forget what number it was, but you said something along the lines of being, and I think you mentioned it earlier on today as well, you felt like you were the last one left in Dublin.

and everybody was moving away. They were moving to Australia, they were moving to London. It's funny because whenever I heard it in the episode for the first time, I was in the gym yesterday morning and I was thinking, it's like I feel the flip to that. I have one of my home friends who lives in England, she lives in Liverpool, but the rest of my home friends still very much live at home in Belfast. And it's just so funny the way everybody's experiences are different. And it got me thinking about how

home changes as we grow? What do you, I guess, what are your thoughts on that is what I'm trying to say. Yeah, no, and I think for me, it's, guess when I, when I was in that time, when I set up Greener Fields, I was living in Mayo and I was thinking about potentially coming home, which I ended up doing for placement for my masters. And it felt like a lot of my college friends had emigrated. Now I moved away for college.

And I think it's kind of different now because I have new friends now and my friends now are very much based here. And I don't think any of them are going anywhere anytime soon. Well, actually, that's not true. Some of them are traveling. But, know, I think we go through ages and stages and phases of life. And what I've tried to learn, particularly when it comes to the conversation of immigration and what a lot of people reflect back onto me is I don't want to come home until other people are home. What I would say to that is, is that there are people here at home as or in Ireland.

And there are people to make friends with here. Now, it's not as easy. They don't have the history. They didn't go to primary school with you. They didn't play football with you. But my experience is that there are people here who want to make friends too. And it's not a case of waiting maybe for your friends to come back from Australia or X, Y, Because I just feel like if you have the incline to be at home or to come back to Ireland or what that looks like, there are people here who are only desperate.

to go for a hike on a Sunday with you. There are run clubs that I'm yet to go to, but I promise I will. There are run clubs, there are activity groups. There is more happening than I can even put my finger on. And I think it just reminded me that even though at a time it felt like everyone was emigrating, it felt like that because I hadn't made roots or connections at home. And now that I have, I feel like people have emigrated and people are continuing to leave.

But there are also people here and there are more people that I haven't met yet that I cannot wait to meet. And I am excited by that. I no longer see it as something that is as binary as they either stay or go. You have friends that are either in Ireland or elsewhere. We have friends all over the world because that is what happens. But I think the more effort I put into my friendships in Ireland, the happier person I am knowing that there is someone to go for a hike with on a Sunday or a sea swim with on a Friday evening.

It's something that takes effort, probably more effort than I wanted it to for a while. I'm still not nailing it. I'm still figuring it out. But yeah, I think now home looks different because my friends are different. But home will always be, I guess, where people are and whether they're abroad. And I still am as close to some friends who are away from me or who still live in Mayo today. But I'm just glad that home now to me isn't a lonely place, which I kind of thought it would be.

because of the effort, because of the podcast, because of all these different things. So it has changed, but there is still lots of leaving parties. There are still people who want to get on the next flight away. And I don't blame them. I think it's a brave decision to make. But I think if you're listening to this and you're wondering, is there friends at home wherever home is to you? I have to think there are. We just have to find them.

That was very powerful as husband everything that you said tonight. You can see I'm a deep thinker. I'm like, my God, people are gonna listen to this and they're like, she is no crack whatsoever. I swear to God I'm good crack. swear. my God, no, I'm literally thinking the opposite. I'm like, I need this girl in my life every day. Like this year, these are the thoughts that I just bounce off and then I can't stop talking either. It's taken everything in me to like hold back. But just to kind of.

The last subject that I want to talk about before I let you go, because somehow we've been talking for 40 minutes already and I absolutely no idea. I heard you say hike and I heard you say effort and I heard you say, I think solitude in the last five minutes. I would love to talk about the fact that you did the Camino hike in August. Am I correct in saying that? I did the Camino with a lovely girl called Una and her partner and the business they set up.

And I met Una through the podcast. was someone who reached out to me, very like you, Rebekah, and said they had listened to someone on the podcast. They would love to tell their story. And had her on the podcast. She was an absolute star. As I mentioned, she set up a business called Backpack Hers with her partner Emma. And they took about seven or 10, 11 of us on the last route of the Portuguese Camino in August. And it was the most incredible experience. Again, I was always kind of

I've never done a many group trips before because I'm someone who loves my alone time. I love people, but I'm also very impacted by people. It's something I've really had to work on as a therapist to like not take everything on as like an empath and stuff. And I'm still working on that. But there was just a feeling about what Una and Emma were creating a backpacker is that I was like, I just want to go on this group trip. It's incredible value.

always said I wanted to do the Camino. I'm someone who loves to be active. So the idea of a week walking in nature in the sunshine with a bunch of Irish girls sounded honestly like heaven. And to say it was even better than I had hoped would be another statement. was, I really think everything I needed in August, more so because I needed a holiday, I needed a break.

But I also needed to be reminded of the biggest lesson I took from the Camino was that I didn't need to be alone to recharge. I could recharge the people. And I kind of went there and the Camino can sometimes be something that is quite solitude and people can walk on their own. And I was like, yeah, I was about to put on a podcast. Like, I don't want to miss my weekly podcast as I listen to like seven a day. And I don't think I stopped talking or laughing for the whole week. And so for me, my Camino wasn't this solitude walk and

X, Y, and Z, all these different things. For me, it was connection. And it was connection outdoors. It was connection to a lovely bunch of girls. It was the albergues we stayed in, which are these hostels. Like, I'd never done hostile life. I haven't done a lot of those kind of traditional groups. If I haven't done Southeast Asia, I don't drink. So it was never something that I felt comfortable in. I've been working on my relationship with that. And so I felt comfortable in this group.

And was one of the first times where I didn't feel super insecure in a big bunch of people. I felt amazing. I felt like I knew who I was to a certain extent. I felt like I could make friends. I felt like I could connect with people on the deepest topics, but also on the most ridiculous topics. And the Camino is all about that. It's like, know, 18, 19, 20 something pay a day for, I think we did five or six days of walking.

You're walking through rural Spain. Everyone else who's walking is also doing the same thing. It was beautiful, but it kind of gave me that sense of, actually, you can recharge your people and you should, And it was a really sharp reminder. And I really needed to be rung to that, particularly going into my final year of my master's. And I couldn't I couldn't recommend it anymore if I tried. My intention is to go back when I submit my pieces to maybe do another week or two, a different route or something. And during the next summer.

I really think I'll do a part of the Camino even a couple of days every year for the rest of my life, whether it's on my own or with people, because it is just, if you're into exercise, if you're into nature, if you're into something completely different, it is the most special experience. And anyway, I will be raving about it for the rest of my life. And I just want to shout out to Una and Emma and their business backpackers, because they just brought such a lovely bunch together.

Honestly, I'm dreaming of the Camino. When I'm not talking, I'm dreaming of the Camino. And what I've learned from that, I try to take in to every day. I'm trying to take that more in to each day. And also that time in nature, it's like that can only be good for yourself. 100%. And I remember, so I first sent Hannah a message in the middle of July, maybe. And we had arranged to maybe film in August.

talked about maybe filming in a couple of weeks of August. And during that time, I'd seen on my feed, I'm not sure who it was, but somebody had been to Camino and I thought about it. I was like, you I've never considered doing it before, but maybe I would actually really like to do it. And I don't know if you follow Trisha's transformation on, I love her so much. And she's done it a couple of times and she always looked like she had such a ball.

And whenever I message you and I was like, my gosh, I've completely lost track of time. I'm in Italy, but would love to do something next week. You were like, I'm actually wearing the Camino. And I was like, is this an omen? Like, do I need to do this? Because I've only ever heard really beautiful things from it. And even though it is just a walk, it is the whether you do it by yourself or with other people, sometimes just reconnecting with nature, being with nature, being with your thoughts. Unlike what you said.

You can recharge off other people as well. think we forget that. Especially in a post-COVID world where it's so easy to just go into yourselves and we're so comfortable in our own company and with our phones in front of our face, recharging with other people and that sense of connection and community, which I think has been one of the overarching themes and messages throughout this episode, is one of the most important things. Honestly, I really think it's, I couldn't recommend it more if I tried. And I just think it's like maybe it's not

the Camino in Santiago for you. But if it's, I don't know, a day's walk without your phone or maybe it's sending a text to someone that you haven't seen in a while that you're like, maybe I should have a coffee or something like that. And not should, but maybe I want to because I think, I don't know, I just think there's a lot to be said for we can be very easy in life to get very, and I'm super, super organized. I have super schedules and I love that. It gives me great peace most of the time, but there's a lot to be said from shaking that up a little bit.

getting back outside if we can and knowing that maybe for some people they need that time on their own, they need to be on their own, but maybe chancing or trying, getting a good person beside you, having a good conversation about the weather or nothing or everything, it does me the world of good. And it's something I constantly try to add more of into my life because I don't think we could ever have enough of something like that. I mean, it's in.

Thank you so much for sharing all of your thoughts, all of your lessons and experiences on everything on today's episode. I have had such a ball chatting to you the past couple of hours because we recorded for an hour before this as well. I feel like I need to do a part two, three and four just to talk about future plans, your career, greener fields, how it's going to develop. Like I'd love to do a communal part two if you go. And I'll definitely leave the links for a backpack course like KGRS below.

And if anybody is interested in checking that out, I think I will definitely check that out because honestly, when you said you were aware, I was like, know when, this is a sign that I need to go 100%. So I will definitely leave the links to that. But where can people find you? So yeah, we are on Instagram at Cleaner Fields. think there's Cleaner Fields has two S's at the bottom of it. And then my personal page is kananash01. And I also want to shout out my new

page, which is documenting the last year of my psychotherapeutic journey. And it's called Theraphme. So T-H-E-A-Y-P-M-E. So it will be the future therapy business. But for now, it is the documenting place for all that to come. But anywhere, wherever you want to find me, and if anyone who's listening wants to be a guest as well at some point, please do let me know because we love listeners who become guests. That's what I did. And now, well, I've kind of been number one fan.

for a while. I honestly listened to every single episode, but now I am going to be the number one fan of my own episode as well. So I'm super excited. I have lot of Irish people abroad who listen, so hopefully some of them will reach out. You definitely should. Thank you so much for coming on. And yeah, we'll definitely do a part two at some point in the future. I can't already, Rebekah. Sign me up 100%.

So there you have it. I really hope that you enjoy this episode. Like I said, I had an absolute ball recording this with Hannah a couple of weeks ago and also listening back to it whenever I was doing the editing as well. I think it's such an honest and authentic conversation with a really beautiful person. Hannah and I had met maybe an hour before we recorded this episode and the first time I met her was when I recorded my episode for Greener Fields.

I felt like we had such a connection and that you can really feel her authenticity and how genuine she is coming through in her conversation. check her out on her social links, which I have left below. Definitely give Greener Fields a listen. And if you haven't already, I would love for you to leave a reading and review for Life Actually. It really helps the podcast and helps me out a lot. And that is it. So I'll speak to you soon. Merry Christmas if you're listening to this when it comes out and I'll see you next week.


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Rebekah Kane

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