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...
Amy Gahran: Solo polyamory and getting off the ‘relationship escalator’
If you’ve ever been with a partner and asked, “Is this relationship going anywhere?” or been swept up in a romance without stopping to question if it’s really what you want, then you may already be familiar with the “relationship escalator.”It’s a phrase coined by journalist, Amy Gahran, to describe the default set of steps society expects all intimate relationships to follow. She challenged the cookie cutter approach to modern love with her groundbreaking book, Stepping Off the Relationship Escalator.This week, she chats to Jill about unconventional intimate relationships including consensual nonmonogamy, polyamory and asexuality, as well as her own experiences of solo polyamory, and what she’s learned from being in relationships that don’t follow the standard social script. Amy is based in Boulder, Colorado, and also writes under the pen name Aggie Sez on her blog, Solo Poly. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or @jillstark__ or support the show and get subscriber-only, early and ad-free episodes on Patreon. Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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44:58
Rosie Batty: On hope, finding yourself amid trauma and grief, and building a life with meaning
This week’s episode is one we’re really honoured to bring to you. Our guest is someone with boundless courage and compassion, who has shared some of her most vulnerable moments with the world so that others might feel less alone. Rosie Batty is, as she says, the member of a club no mother wants to join. She lost her 11-year-old son, Luke, in 2014 when he was killed by his father that thrust her into the national spotlight as passionate campaigner on the issue of family violence. In this raw and moving conversation, Rosie speaks with profound clarity about how she found hope in the darkest of places, and what she has learned about identity, solitude, the power of human connection, and cultivating a strong sense of self. Rosie has spent the past ten years tirelessly advocating for social, cultural and legal change, on family violence inspiring millions not just in Australia but around the world. In 2014, she won the Pride of Australia Award and in 2015 was named Australian of the Year. Rosie is not on social media but you can read more about her memoirs, A Mother’s Story, and Hope here. If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, call or visit 1800RESPECT (in Australia) or contact your local support organisation. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or @jillstark__ or support the show and get subscriber-only, early and ad-free episodes on Patreon. Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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50:52
Jacinta Parsons: On reclaiming your forever self, the wisdom of older women and lessons from living with chronic illness
Season 2: Episode Six Jacinta Parsons: On reclaiming your forever self, the wisdom of older women and lessons from living with chronic illness Reaching mid-life and reckoning with the ageing process can also be a time of invisibility and isolation, particularly for women. Living with a chronic illness can also be a lonely place. It can feel like the world is moving on around you while you’re stuck in freeze frame. But what if these experiences were actually the birthplace for bringing forth the greatest version of ourselves? One that is truly at peace and comfortable alone.This week’s guest has lived and researched both these topics and has many lessons to impart about the importance of finding our ‘forever self.’ In a moving and intimate conversation, Jacinta and Jill get vulnerable as they dive into some of life’s biggest topics. Jacinta Parsons is a broadcaster, public speaker, ABC Melbourne radio host and author of three books that delve into the complexities, frailties and wisdom of the human condition:Unseen: The Secret World of Chronic Illness; A Question of Age; and the soon to be released,A Wisdom of Age. You can follow Jacinta on Instagram: @jacintaparsons or visit her website here. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or @jillstark__ or support the show and get subscriber-only, early and ad-free episodes on Patreon. Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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44:25
Cyndi Darnell: Sex and the single life – intimacy, sexuality and non-traditional relationships
This week’s episode is a really juicy one so buckle up! Can we have a fulfilling, safe and healthy sex life when we’re unpartnered? Is sex an essential part of the human experience or are there other ways to find intimacy? Our guest this week is Cyndi Darnell, a certified clinical sexologist, psychotherapist and couple's counsellor based in New York. She works with singles, traditional couples and people in open, polyamorous, kinky and consensual non monogamous relationships. She walks us through what sex can look like if we’re not partnered, how our sexual appetites change through different seasons of our life, and the less conventional, but no less fulfilling, relationship structures available to us. In an extremely candid episode, Jill shares experiences from own sex life, as Cyndi helps navigate a path through a topic that is often shrouded in shame and secrecy. And Cyndi speaks about her rich and full child-free, single life and how she’s rejected social expectations and embraced ‘relationship anarchy’. You can follow Cyndi on Instagram: @cyndi_darnell or visit her website here. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or @jillstark__ or support the show and get subscriber-only, early and ad-free episodes on Patreon. Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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52:50
Alexandra Collier: Single motherhood by choice: the triumphs, challenges and secrets of solo parenting
Today’s episode is one that many of you asked us for – what does it take to have a child on your own? Whether you’re sure you want kids, still trying to decide, or want to be child-free, this week’s guest has many life lessons that can help you figure out, or reaffirm, what’s right for you. Alexandra Collier was 37 and living in Brooklyn with the man she loved when she woke up to a ravenous hunger to have a baby that unfortunately her younger partner didn't share. What happened next is an extraordinary story of courage, hope, and what it means to start a family on your own terms. Alexandra’s memoir Inconceivable: Heartbreak, Bad Dates and Finding Solo Motherhood is a moving account of that journey, and she shares with Jill the logistics, emotional complexity, financial implications and judgement she faced when she chose to become a single parent. But she also speaks of the joy and empowerment she’s found in following her own path, and what life looks like for her now with a five-year-old. Alexandra is an award-winning Melbourne writer who has written for theatre, screen and print. She lived and worked in New York for a decade where her plays were produced Off Broadway You can follow Alexandra on Instagram: @alexandracollierwrites and learn more about her book, Inconceivable, here. To stay in touch with Well Enough Alone, you can follow us on Instagram @wellenoughalonepod or @jillstark__ or support the show and get subscriber-only early and ad-free episodes on Patreon. Well Enough Alone is a Spare Room production. Our producers are Kieran Simpson and Trent Bartlett. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon 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. Get early access to new episodes by subscribing on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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