Before I start to unravel my mind and spill out my thoughts on you all, I think it would be polite to introduce myself and give you a bit of insight into the person behind future posts.
So, greetings and salutations…are you a Heather?
In basic terms, my name is Rochelle a.k.a Roz (or in this case R L Hyde) and I’m a tattooed Mother of 2 boys from a small town in Scotland. I have a relationship with my legal human, Dan, but I will talk about that in-depth at a later date in a future post. I live life on the veg and became vegetarian in early 2018. I have always had an affinity with animals and I adore them all, especially rabbits and Highland Cows but at my core I am a Caninetrovert, I prefer the company of dogs to humans to the point that I will always say hello to a dog and not always the owner at the other end of the lead. I have a Labrador called Wade Wilson who is one of the hairiest Lab I’ve ever known! He is my healer dog, he is the first dog I’ve had since I lost my doggy soulmate in November 2018, my black Labrador Vader who was 10 years old at the time. Dogs are a huge part of my life and soul, I recently qualified with distinction to be a Canine Behaviourist and I’m studying to add Pet Bereavement Counsellor and Canine Nutritionist as well as updating my veterinary assistant skills and pet therapy to my achievements.
Music was and will always be my forever love. I got into music from the age of around 5 and growing up it was made very obvious to me that I wasn’t at all one of the “cool” kids in my tastes. I remember having a project for Primary School and being asked to bring something in to do with something in America. I made a cassette tape with all the best artists from America from 50’s Rock ‘n’ Roll and Rockabilly style to the Blues and Blue Grass of the deep South, to the Motown sounds of Detroit and I even had some of the earlier stuff “Hanson”(Who I have been a fan of since 1997) did before everyone knew they were “long haired guys who sang “MMMBop””. I am and will always be however, a rock/metal girl at my core and I have to thank my parents for their awesome music taste as I grew up with the sounds of T.Rex, Nazareth, Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Heart, Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Motley Crue etc and I knew it was just a part of me, it spoke to me in a way other music didn’t and it healed my soul. With being the youngest of 3, my eldest Sister being 10 years older and my elder Sister being 7 years older meant I also got into music they listened to that no one my age really liked but I did. Seattle Sound bands such as Mother Love Bone, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Blind Melon, Temple of the Dog, Stone Temple Pilots etc and in 1997 before “Nu-Metal” became a thing my sisters introduced me to the likes of Limp Bizkit, Korn, Disturbed, Marilyn Manson, Silverchair and Coal Chamber. Something just clicked with me and again every time I heard it. It was destined for music to be a part of my soul and I resonated most with these artists. I have always had a very eclectic and diverse taste in music, even now I could be listening to my favourites such as Halestorm, In This Moment, Black Stone Cherry and then I can switch it to Ava Max, Jessie J, Post Malone and yes, even RuPaul.
As I said at the start of this introduction, I never was the “cool” kid and I realised a long time ago that that wasn’t something I really ever wanted to be, I just want to be myself and have people in my life who allow me to be me without questions or without trying to push their ways upon me. I’m at my happiest when I feel most myself and free, whether that be dancing on my bed with my earphones in not caring what I look like or what anyone thinks, to curled up with a book and a blanket and getting absorbed into someone else’s world to simply being in nature; give me a Loch, some stones to skim and a glorious mountain backdrop and I’m a very happy woman.
There’s a lot that makes up a person; stories, moments, words, hobbies, thoughts, attitude, morals but it is the initial “what you like not what you are like” that can make you get a sense of connection with a person. I am continuously learning to be unapologetically myself, to look beyond expectations and labels and remind myself that I don’t need to fit into any kind of genre, I don’t need to be anything or do anything that doesn’t resonate with my soul and that isn’t true to myself.
I hope you join me in this journey as I put my words and myself out there into the world to try and promote positivity, good mental health, kindness being the new punk and just generally living every fucking moment of life to the beat of your own drum.
Welcome to my fireplace, it’s red hot!
I hope to shoot the shit with you more soon.
Love Hard. Be Fierce. Horns High.
