Meg Bowles

Welcome to The Moth.

I'm Meg Bowles.

We hear this term, I feel seen, often enough.

People jokingly say it when they find someone who shares an appreciation of something, a mutual love of argyle socks or fried pickles.

But some people wish they could be seen in a deeper way, while others hide in the shadows for their own protection.

In this episode, we play with the idea of being and not being seen.

When not being seen or acknowledged shines a light on a deeper social construct, or when being seen can literally put your life in danger.

Our first story comes from the writer Eliza Reed, who lives in Reykjavik, Iceland.

She shared her story live on stage at the Union Chapel in London.

Here's Eliza Reed, live at the moment.

Eliza Reid is a writer and founder of the annual Icelandic Writers' Retreat.

Eliza served as First Lady of Iceland from 2016 to 2024.

Eliza and I sat down recently to talk more about her time as First Lady and what that experience taught her.

suddenly you walk into this world and, you know, there's no defined roles, there's no, you know, and yet there are all these expectations on you.

I'm curious, what were those expectations?

I mean, I was kind of amazed to learn that.

I mean, I, I know you didn't get paid to be first lady.

Obviously you're not an elected official, but did you have a staff or a budget or cause you were asked to do things in that role of first lady?

So my last question, how do you feel you're different from the woman that you were prior to walking into that role?

How do you think that role changed you or affected you personally?