I’m not the most creative human being on the planet, but I do like to make up scenes in my head. I spent a lot of time reading books on the couch about far away places, things that could never happen in real life, and imaginary worlds filled with any type of living being that you could think of.

As a chronic over thinker, Sherlock Holmes brought out a world where I could overthink and it still wouldn’t be enough to understand these stories. “How did Sherlock know that? What does deduce mean? Are there people really out in the world that have the brain power to understand underlining tones, patterns, and hidden meanings? Could I?” Sherlock Holmes was always one step ahead, smarter, with more brain capacity than anyone else.

In “The Adventures of the Veiled Lodger” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle we discover Sherlock Holmes talking to a woman, Mrs. Merrilow, who has a story to tell. That story involves her tenant named, Mrs. Ronder, who’s face is extremely disfigured and hidden behind a Veil, hence the “Veiled Lodger”. Mrs. Merrilow notes that the tenant wants to talk to Holmes. While visiting Mrs. Ronder, we learn how she came to become disfigured, the tragedy within, and why she wants people to know.

It’s cliche but as I grow older, it feels as though the capacity in the brain for imagination and the willingness to read about the intangible dims. Instead of creating worlds in our heads or reading about strange places, we’re consumed with bills to pay, work drama or our overloaded schedules we keep. We’re less likely to read between the lines and dig deeper into stories, asking questions and figuring things out for ourselves. You can see a little bit of that in this episode when I speak about the motives behind Mrs. Ronder sharing her stories.

At first I was wholeheartedly in the camp of thinking she distorted the truth about what happened. The more I think about it, I’m beginning to wonder if it wasn’t a lie, if it was just a guilty woman clearing her conscious and trying to make sure someone knew her truth. In all reality, we may never know, but it’s fun to try to figure it out. Is she giving Holmes and Watson the full story or is she twisting it a little bit to justify her actions? No one is alive to contest her word, but if they were, would they?

What do you think?

I’ve always wanted to start a podcast, but I’ve never had the content ideas. One of my friends is a creative and he gave me some advice that he probably heard from someone else. “Create the kind of art that you’d want to listen to. What kind of podcasts do you like?” That’s how this podcast was born.

For over 10 years I’ve been listening to podcasts to fall asleep. I’ve been listening to other people talk about the social and political state of Mexico (El Club de Los 21), listened to modern takes on myths and legends (Myths & Legends), and most importantly, I listened to LeVar Burton read short stories from popular authors (LeVar Burton Reads). When LeVar ended his podcast, it left a hole in my night routine and I needed something else to fill it. “With Rachael” is an attempt to fill it. Whether no one listens to it, or 10 people listen, I will do my best to create a space where mindless scrolling is not allowed, but inserting yourself into a story is encouraged. I hope you enjoy- because I most definitely will.

x Rachael