SEASON FINALE: Heidi Clements: Single after 60 – the freedom, self-love and empowerment of age
If you want to know how to be happy alone and show up proudly and unapologetically as your authentic self, you need to listen to this episode. This is our season finale and what a way to close out season two! (Thank you all for listening!) Jill speaks with the incredible Heidi Clements, a social media sensation who has inspired women all over the world with her empowering outlook on ageing, self-acceptance and how to thrive as a single, child-free woman in her 60s. Heidi is a screenwriter, author, storyteller and self-confessed clothing enthusiast. In viral videos of her getting dressed each day, you’ll get not only her uniquely fabulous sense of style but also her intimate thoughts on what it means to be an older woman moving through the world in ways that society doesn’t always embrace. This was a powerful conversation, filled with compassion, courage and raw honesty about Heidi’s personal struggles, but also her triumphs. You can follow Heidi on Instagram @welcometoheidi or on TikTok. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or follow Jill @jillstark__ Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Paul Dolan: Can you be truly happy alone? (Spoiler: single, child-free women are the happiest)
What do we actually need to live a happy life? Are marriage and children the pathway to fulfilment, or do they actually make you less happy? This week, Jill talks to someone who has studied these questions in depth and come up with some illuminating answers that not everyone wants to hear. Professor Paul Dolan is one of the world’s leading experts on happiness, a professor of behavioural science from the London School of Economics, the author of several books on happiness, and host of the podcast, Get Happier, among others. He’s spent more than three decades researching how we can measure and value the richness of the human experience, and what he’s found is fascinating. One of the things we’re often told from an early age is the best way for us to achieve fulfilment is to get married and have kids. But does the science align with the fairytale? Do we need to partner and procreate to be a fully actualised and contented human? Or can we be truly happy alone? This is an illuminating and validating conversation about the science of doing life solo. You can find out more about Paul’s work through his website, learn more about his books here and check out his podcasts here. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or follow Jill @jillstark__ Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Michelle McQuaid: the cost of being a ‘good girl’ – finding freedom from people-pleasing
How do we let go of perfectionism and people-pleasing and learn to put our own needs first? This week, Jill speaks with Dr Michelle McQuaid, an internationally recognised positive psychology expert, about how more women are breaking free from damaging people-pleasing patterns and living as their authentic selves. Michelle is the author of six best-selling books, and an honorary fellow at Melbourne University’s Centre for Wellbeing Science. Her life and work explore the intersection of mental health, identity, and the societal norms that quietly erode our sense of self, with a particular focus on how women are conditioned from an early age to be the ‘good girl’, and how we can shed these limiting beliefs. She also recently found the courage to end her 23-year marriage and gained freedom and fulfilment as she enters what she describes as her “Grey Queer” years, exploring her bisexuality and prioritising her relationship with herself. Michelle also shares her fascinating personal story of growing up with a family background of drug addiction and homelessness, which has given her a unique perspective in building identity and resilience. You can find out more about Michelle’s work through her website, read about her Good Girl Game Changers project on her Substack, and check out her book, The Perfectly Imperfect Little Girl, here. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or follow Jill @jillstark__ Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Therese Shechter: ‘My so-called selfish life’ – how the child-free movement is reshaping the world
To have kids or not have kids? In a world where marriage and parenthood are still seen as the expected life path, what does it mean to defy convention and choose a different way? This week, Jill talks to award-winning documentary filmmaker Therese Shechter about her revolutionary film, My So-Called Selfish Life and the unstoppable rise of the child-free movement. In a world where reproductive rights are under attack, Therese explores how the freedom to choose whether or not to become a mother has never been more urgent. She’s a child-free woman whose work delves deep into a subject that has often been shrouded in shame and stigma, and finds that for many women, there simply is no physiological or emotional imperative to have children. Therese also drops some truth bombs about the “biological clock”, and the surprising number of women who regret becoming mothers, and finds that much of what we’ve been told about the drive to procreate is a social construct. Just one quick content note: this episode was recorded last year, prior to the US election before we knew that J D Vance, that famous lover of childless cat ladies, would be Vice President, so keep that in mind while you’re listening. You can follow Therese on Instagram @trixiefilms, find out more about her film, My So Called Selfish Life here or head to her website for information on her other work. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or follow Jill @jillstark__ Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Cindy Gallop: I’m unmarried, no kids, dating younger men casually for sex, and I’m blissfully ecstatic.
This week’s guest is the very definition of thriving solo. Cindy Gallop is a trailblazer for single, child-free living. She’s torn up the rule book, rejected outdated societal expectations, and actively celebrates her solo life. She’s also someone who is open about the fun she’s having as an older woman dating younger men casually for sex – a trend she says is the relationship model of the future. In this episode, she talks to Jill about why she loves being unmarried and child-free and the liberation she finds in her own company. An entrepreneur and a social disruptor, Cindy describes herself as the ‘Michael Bay of business’ because she likes to blow things up. As the founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, Cindy’s visionary reimagining of the porn industry has challenged misogynistic and unrealistic depictions of sex. It’s a movement that promotes healthy, consensual and authentic sexual behaviour that empowers women and prioritises connection and open communication. Cindy also talks about her unique perspective on ageing and loving her body, and how she’s living life unapologetically on her own terms. You can follow Cindy on Instagram @cindygallop or follow @makelovenotporn, and check out her website here. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or @jillstark__ WellEnough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson andTrent Bartlett. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
About Well Enough Alone - A Guide To Thriving Solo
Well Enough Alone is a celebration of solo living that tears up the “sad and lonely” single script and embraces a path that can be joyful and fulfilling.Because there is more to life than “partnered and happy” or “single and searching.”There is solo and thriving.Hosted by best-selling author and award-winning journalist, Jill Stark, this podcast is for anyone who’s ever been told that being single makes you incomplete. Or that life only begins when you find “the one”.To leave “well enough alone” means to stop trying to change something that’s already good enough.What if the one you’ve been looking for is you? Could embracing your single status rather than fearing it be the key to a happy life?Jill talks to inspiring guests, some who are single and some who aren’t, about what they’ve learned from time spent in their own company, and interviews experts in psychology, human behaviour, business, health and wellbeing, about how to thrive alone.Whether you’re happily single, trying to get comfortable with your solo status, or partnered and looking to carve out more time for yourself, Well Enough Alone will empower you to live your life your way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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