An intrepid son of Epsom is hoping to highlight the town's diversity through the medium of a new podcast.
The Why Aren't You Normal Epsom? or WAYNE podcast will feature Epsom residents and affiliates as guests in a weekly format discussing their own unique outlooks and contributions as ambassadors for the town.
23-year-old Lewis Stephens grew up in the area and only recently completed a remarkable feat of cycling most of Britain's coastline for mental health charity CALM.
As the Comet reported last year, Lewis raised over £3,000 during his 4,000 cycle adventure.
During that time he contemplated what he would do once he got back home, with the idea of "normality" particularly unappealing:
"I was cycling through Scotland when the podcast idea first came up, I was getting stressed thinking 'Why can't you just get a normal job Lewis?'
"And then I started asking myself well 'what is normal?' That was when the lightbulb moment hit to do it," he said.
Indeed, as a central premise it is a strong one because the definition of what does constitute normality differs from place to place, and person to person, even within Epsom.
"We'll have a different guest in every week, from or affiliated with Epsom, all with an alternative hobby or a story to tell.
"There is no such thing as normality, making none of us normal. Something we often do is chase the idea of being normal and that causes more problems than good rather than just working out what you want to do," the Epsom man pointed out.
Lewis said he missed Epsom while on his gruelling adventure but has since got back into the swing of things.
The hope is for this new project to inspire others from the area to take on something they wouldn't have even contemplated before:
"I hope people in the local area listen to this and that something can be changed up if they're feeling in a bit of a rut or they're not getting out of the community what they would like to," he said.
"I think what I learnt since doing the ride was that you can do something worthwhile, something you enjoy, and also turn it into a career experience which is something a lot of people are trying to balance now.
By problematizing the concept of "normal", the WAYNE podcast also holds a mirror up to the gulf between the older "boomer" generation and younger people born either side of the millennium.
"There are pressures from the previous generation to follow suit but that's not how its done anymore, we're moving away from that," Lewis pointed out.
"I think a lot of young people know that and they see these broad horizons in front of them but have no idea how to get there.
"We look at others like celebrities achieving great things but we don't know how to follow them.
"I think what's great about the local level is that you see people just trying things out right here, and how the non-normal thing that they did got them where they are now," Lewis said.
"To conform too much is not the answer to people's problems. You don't learn your own lessons you just act out someone else's.
"Doing something different helps you answer those questions through experience."
Why Aren't You Normal Epsom? is available on Spotify with video clips from the show available on Facebook.
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