31 Comments
Nov 17, 2022Liked by Hamish McKenzie

"Did you know that a votive candle is one of those short, squat candles that people use for prayer..."

Actually, I thought that was what the tall candles with saints on them were called... seeing as you left us hanging on that little factoid, I decided to look it up because not knowing was bugging me.

The tall candles with saints on them are called: veladoras

<themoreyouknow.gif>

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Nov 17, 2022Liked by Hamish McKenzie

I reran the Dear Sugars series with Cheryl Strayed at a very vulnerable time in my life. It felt like a warm hand on my chest when I was outside in the frozen Minnesota winter for work.

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Love love love this series.

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Love this, and not just because Cheryl recommended my newsletter, Oldster Magazine! <3

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So many beautiful and timely takeaways for me today. Thank you!

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What a great interview, Hamish! Cheryl, you are a gem. I love your authenticity and that you're here on Substack!

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I can personally attest to Cheryl's generosity of spirit with other writers. I attended a retreat she led last spring, and worked up my courage to introduce myself because I'm a frequent commenter on her Substack. I figured it would just be a brief (but gratifying for me) conversation, but she asked me my name, knew exactly who I was, and was incredibly warm, encouraging, and appreciative of my presence in her online space. She has subsequently become a subscriber to my newsletter, which still shocks me every single time I see her name in my stats. She doesn't need to do this, but she does. And just knowing she's out there on the other end of the line, so to speak, is a tremendous gift. It keeps me showing up even when my creative tanks feels like it's on empty.

For sure, Cheryl's a superstar as a writer. But she's also just a superstar as a person. We are all lucky to have her here at Substack.

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Nov 17, 2022Liked by Hamish McKenzie

That candle call back later in the interview made me LOL. Great work, Hamish!

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Cheryl Strayed is one of the great writers of her generation---- a beauty, a wit, a joker, a mother, a problem-solver, and a frickin' queen!

Hamish! Old Chap! I do hope you fell to your knees eleven or twelve times during the pod cast and thanked the gods for what Cheryl "just" said!!

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So true about working, producing writers being unable to pay rent--and having to live with those two truths at times. And of course, how some find that surprising. And the need to be able to laugh about it.

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She also hosts incredible writing retreats!! So wise. Love this!

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This is powerful! I'm going to explore this more. Thank you.

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This story of this very talented writer is very inspiring to me.It gives me hope,now,at sixty two and being a broke writer and internet marketer!

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I am loving all of these conversations

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I was listening to the episode on my old, clunky Bluetooth headphones that go BATTERY LOW when the battery gets low. And they did that a few times and then Hamish asked the question "what do you make of Twitter then?" And right then my headphones went POWER OFF. 😆

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