Mile Oak: Home Truths

Welcome to episode 46 of *the story pilgrim*: *Mile Oak – Home Truths*.

This week, I walk straight from my front door in *Mile Oak, East Sussex*, up onto the *South Downs National Park*, with nothing but my phone, microphone, and a handful of quotes that have shaped how I see the world.

This is a more personal, reflective episode — no big adventure, no flights, no guest interviews — just a local walking meditation filled with thoughts on *home, adulthood, change, identity, emotional honesty*, and the little things that anchor us.

I reference:

Plato (yes, the video cut out—don’t worry, the audio’s there and the slideshow’s tasteful),
A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh (quiet wisdom in a noisy world),
Queen lyrics (because why not? Freddie understood longing),
Underneath the Lintel by Glen Berger (a show that shaped me),
and Slavoj Žižek (challenging us to examine the cages we live in).

If you’re here for storytelling*, *philosophy*, *slow travel*, *quotes that matter*, *mindful walking*, or you’re curious about how *everyday life*, *relationships*, and even the *weight of a mortgage shape our sense of self — this one’s for you.

This is also the first full episode I’ve recorded since moving into our new house, adopting a *rescue dog*, and trying to balance the urge to roam with the pull of *stability and routine*. It’s raw, a bit rambling, but it’s real.

Chapters

00:00 – Voice-Over Intro: Welcome to Mile Oak
02:35 – Big Questions, Answers Closer to Home
05:37 – The Value of Stillness (A.A. Milne)
09:50 – Philosophy of the pocket dial
14:35 – A great view and historic story about Shoreham and the first gay bar in the UK
17:47 – Queen, Todd & Letting Emotion In
21:18 – All about my adopted dog
25:04 – A Fairy Grotto
27:43 – Zizék philosophy - lack the language to articulate our unfreedom
32:41 – Looped back to Home - Outro

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And if you’re already part of the journey, your task this week is simple: *share this episode with one person*. Someone who might need to hear that *big questions don’t always need big answers*. Just space, and time, and the willingness to keep walking.

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