Alan and Mary Kate Talk Quitting
Alan and Mary Kate Talk Quitting
We sat down this week to talk about quitting - in a good way! Let's dive in!
This week Alan and Mary Kate settled in to reflect on the themes that came up during last few episodes of the Real Talks podcast. In last week’s episode, we sat down with Dublin-based musician Ciarán Moran.
We chatted with Ciarán about his music career and songwriting, including his song “It’s OK.”
Ciarán started performing at such a young age, opening for Damien Dempsey at 13.
His early start eventually led him to take a break from solo performing for a couple years, before returning to his passion.
This idea of stepping away from something for a period, and “quitting” got Mary Kate and Alan talking about quitting - the shame, negativity and stigma wrapped into the word.
Alan recalled this article from 2017 that labeled him as “quitting.” As we discuss in the episode, stepping away from something for a period when you know that’s the right thing is a brave choice, and can help you come back when it’s the right time.
Mary Kate talked about how much of your identity can be wrapped up in quitting, in addition to the stigma, and how it affected her in choosing to leave her TV producing job.
It also reminded us of our episode with Olympic boxer Emmet Brennan, who took time away from the sport before pursuing his Olympic dreams.
We would love to hear your thoughts on quitting, and times it’s affected your life! Let us know in the comments.
Lastly, as we mentioned in the episode, we’re so happy to be partnering with Connemara Marble for a giveaway! We’ll be picking a winner to receive their stunning silver and green marble Triskele pendant, pictured above. To enter, you just need to do two things!
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That’s it, and you’re in. We’ll be picking a winner in the next couple weeks. Check out Connemara Marble’s jewelry, and good luck to everyone who enters!
Next Week’s Guest:
We’re delighted to announce next week’s guest is comedian Emman Idama.
Emman is a Nigerian Irish comedian, and a rising star on the comedy scene. Emman MC’s at In Stitches Comedy Club in Dublin, and has been seen on Comedy Central. He’s won Hot Press Irish Comedian of the Year twice, and was a Chortle Comedy Finalist in 2019. He co-hosts the Acting the Maggot podcast. We sat down with Emman in person, while he was in New York for his US debut, which was a sold out headline show, at New York City’s Dead Rabbit.
We were so grateful for Emman’s honest discussion and that we got the chance to talk with him in person, and look forward to bringing you that episode next week.
And with that, some recommendations.
Real Recommendations:
What we’re listening to:
Alan: Still have Kingfishr on repeat, especially the song “Vancouver”
Mary Kate: The new Pillow Queen’s singles have been so good, can’t wait for the upcoming album. Especially loving “Like a Lesson” right now.
What we’re watching:
Alan: A Gentleman in Moscow with Ewan McGregor
Mary Kate: I’ve been revisiting Veep, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is perfect.
What we’re reading:
Alan: “Holding” by Graham Norton, a great second-hand bookstore find ($1!)
Mary Kate: Heidi Rose Robbin’s moon notes (if you’re astrology-curious)
What we’re scrolling:
Alan and Mary Kate: Especially after doing taxes this week, this Aoife Dunne video has us laughing because like she says in the caption what else can you do! Aoife is great.
That’s us for this week! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway, and we’ll be back next week.