10 Things You Didn’t Know About Kathy Scott

Kathy Scott is curator and producer of Wonderlust, a little stage of curiosities at Body&Soul dedicated to the exchange of wonder and discovery. It’s about curiosity, connecting some of the brightest lights and brilliant sounds on this island and beyond. But lots of people know this about her. We asked her for ten things, most people don’t know…

1. I am addicted to podcasts. I haven’t had a TV for 10 years and started listening to podcasts instead which led to a huge surge in creativity. I have always absorbed information by listening to conversations, talks, radio and long form podcasts – it seems to activate a different part of my brain. I guess my imagination likes to colour in the spaces and join the dots. I listen to about 3 podcasts a day – anything from Sounds True, On Being, Desert Island Discs, Start Up, This American Life. This part of my world has inspired all of my creative projects – the art of conversation never ceases to inspire me.

2. I am in a little love with Instagram – it lights up my day. I follow my favorite people there; yoga teachers, writers, artists, designers and other inspiring luminaries.

3. I have a touch of synesthesia – I thought everyone had it until I ended up at an event at The Science Gallery and realised that I hear music in colour. It’s a quirk that I embrace – it adds a lot of colour to my world.

4. Permission – The word gives me the chills. I guess I have a thing with authority and bureaucracy, which is both a brilliant and a dangerous trait. Anything from form filling, taxation, visas, and the NCT to the rules of the road & not walking on grass. There is an inner rebel in me that likes to cross the line. It gets me into trouble but it also helps to throw out the rulebook and question the powers that be sometimes.

5. I have a brain freeze about directions – if I stop my car to ask someone, the minute they start to elaborate and give me directions – I immediately forget what they have said, pretend I have understood, drive up the road (usually in the wrong direction) and check out Google maps.

6. Maps – this is acutely related to the point above. I am not so brilliant with maps. My attention span seems to loose interest so I tend to spend a bit of time lost on the road if I don’t pull 100% focus. I am aware of this glitch now after years of wrong turns so am getting better all the time. It’s also a plus glitch especially if you have read Rebecca Solinit’s A Fieldguide to Getting Lost.

7. Meditation – I practice every day to tune in and open up my attention field. It calms my system and increases my capacity to really connect with myself and the people around me. It’s my happy place as that where the magic resides.

8. I am in love with hot seventies glamour – Studio 54, Halston New York Vibes and have a penchant for jumpsuits. I have an incredible Stella McCarthy silk navy palazzo jumpsuit that STILL HAS THE TAG on it. My friends kill me about this. I am always waiting for that perfect party – Guess I’d better make it happen soon

9. I have a passion for Lighthouses – this is not a secret. The lighthouse was the symbol for a project I designed www.irelandicelandproject.com.?I lived in a beautiful Lighthouse for a while in the North West Fjords in Iceland. It’s my favourite country to get away to. I feel really at home there.?

11. I am freaked out by… Rollercoasters, Birds (Tippi Hendron movie) Raccoons (Near Escape in California) – not great with Liquorice Allsorts or Turkish Delight either.