156: Wendy Dossett

Nostalgia Interviews with Chris Deacy

My guest this week is Wendy Dossett, whom I have known for around 30 years from when we were both based at the University of Wales, Lampeter. Wendy is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Chester, specializing in Buddhism, and has more recently been studying Addiction Recovery Spirituality. Wendy grew up in Hastings and we talk about what it is like to return to the place of one’s birth and the teachers who actively chose to teach in a school with challenges.
We find out about Wendy’s love of live music, the first gigs she went to, and how she got into American protest music, Bob Dylan and Two-Tone. We talk about pop nostalgia and the importance of lyrics and the ‘moment in timeness’ of seeing an artist live as well as about cover versions and how they match up.
Wendy discusses why she studied English and Religious Studies at university. Her mum was an Anglican and her dad was interested in the paranormal, and we find out about her interest in ‘meaning of life’ questions and against whom she might have been rebelling.
We discuss the interplay between Buddhism and nostalgia, and the changing nature of the self. Wendy reflects on the past in the light of addiction recovery and the notion that change is possible, and we find out about the project that Wendy has undertaken around such fellowships and the concept of Higher Power. Wendy focuses on the notion of recovery and the moving forward element to it.
We talk about the living element to these terms and the importance of ‘ordinary experience’ vs. the power dynamics that lead some figures to be presented as authorities, and how it applies to what for example is ‘proper’ Buddhism. This leads to a discussion around power dynamics and who are the legitimated voices in any discourse.
We discuss the alchemy involved when people share their negative experiences of the past, in the context of recovering from addiction, and the notion of ‘busting shame’, and how all of this links with questions of impact in academia, and how we are all struggling human beings. We find out what Wendy’s younger self wanted to become when she was older and whether she looks back more than she looks forward.