Thrive Solo

Send us a textSupport the showOn today's minisode, I'm talking about why the most important asset we have is our energy.Whilst we may worry about people's opinions and judgements when it comes to our single, childfree lives, we need to wise up to this one truth: the energy that we radiate carries far more weight than our relationship status, our qualifications, our bank balance, or anything else. It's not about whether or not we've ticked all the boxes of society's expectations.  When it really comes down to it, people remember how you made them feel. Deep down, us humans aren't really fussed whether you're single or coupled, black or white, rich or poor, tall or short, 35 or 75 - they only care how they feel in your presence. That's the real kicker.   Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textSupport the showIn this week's episode, I talk to writer and professor, Craig Wynne. Craig is a writer and professor at the University of the District of Columbia where he teaches rhetoric and writing studies to first year students. His courses are themed around relationships and single studies. He is also a happy bachelor although this wasn’t always the case. In 2015, the end of romantic relationship had brought on a whole host of negative feelings around being single. This took him on a journey and exploration of all things single.Craig subsequently wrote a book, How To Be A Happy Bachelor, in which he provides his own observations, anecdotes, advice and takes on all things related to singlehood, and which is primarily written from the male point of view. Because after all, there are many books out there designed to show women how to be single, but no so many for men!   Topics that Craig & I cover are:his university student’s views on being single;the internalised singlism that Craig suffered from following the break up of his relationship in 2015;how he came across the work of Bella DePaulo which was the catalyst for his journey into singlehood;how he brought some of his single research into his work, including a course called ‘How To Be Single & Happy’, and how this led the book deal for ‘How To Be A Happy Bachelor’;how men also received stigma around being single, although it looks very different to the narratives around single women;how men often find it harder to form social networks which can lead to isolation;how Craig does date, but finds that the single life suits him;The groups MGTOW (Men Going There Own Way) and INCEL (Involuntary Celibates) and their anger towards women;the vastly differing meanings behind the words ‘spinster’ and ‘bachelor’;Craig’s thoughts around men’s behaviour when dating online;how Craig met his most recent lady friend organically on a subway platform. (I LOVE this!);the terms ‘matrimania’, ‘singlism’ and ‘amatonormativity’.Craig and my mutual love of music, and going to gigs alone;Craig’s Website:https://www.thehappybachelor.org/ Buy Craig’s book (UK), How To Be A Happy Bachelor:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Happy-Bachelor-Craig-Wynne-author/dp/1792407076 Buy Craig’s book (US), How To Be A Happy Bachelor:https://www.amazon.com/How-Happy-Ba Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textSupport the showIn this week's minisode, I'm talking about 8 key things that we need to let go of.These include:- negative self talk- assuming we can't- other people's drama (and our own)- people who no longer bring value to our livesYou'll have to tune in to find out the other 4... ;)Press 'Play' and let me know what you think! Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textSupport the showIn this week's episode, I talk to poet, writer, teacher and editor, Tania Hershman. Tania, as she describes herself on her website, is “a queer writer of odd things, short, very short, and longer.” Now based in Manchester, UK, she moved to Jerusalem from London in 1994 where she was a science journalist for 13 years, writing for publications such as WIRED and NewScientist. She subsequently gave it all up to pursue her love of writing fiction and later, poetry. Tania has a degree in Maths & Physics, a diploma in Journalism, an MSc in Philosophy of Science, and MA and a PhD in Creative Writing. Tania has published multiple short stories and poetry books, and last year released her debut novel, ‘Go On’ - a ‘fictional memoir-in-collage’ about a woman moving very happily through the world alone.Topics that Tania & I cover are:how she defines the word ‘queer’ and applies it to herself;how the way she writes has never been particularly conventional;Tania’s fascination with cemeteries, and the BBC Radio 4 programme she made around the second biggest cemetery in Europe in which she explored how, as a single woman, she might want to be remembered;how she was described in a review of the programme as ‘baffling’ due to her single status;how she has always felt like the ‘weirdo in the room’, and now uses the word queer as an empowering term;why Tania loves the word ‘permission’ and dislikes the word ‘should’;how she loves ’stealing’ from science and using it as inspiration for her writing;her time in Jerusalem, and how while she loved her work and her time there, the extreme pressure on single people made her feel like a weirdo;the 10 year relationship she never expected to have which she embarked upon, in part, to conform to what was expected of her; and how her parents seemed to take her more seriously as part of a couple;how Tania is an introvert and needs time alone in order to feel well;the death of her beloved cat, her subsequent breakdown, and how it actually helped her to come back to the truth of who she was;how frustrating it can be when people don’t believe that, as single people, we can be happy;Tania’s upcoming novel in which being single is the default, solitude is celebrated, and being in a couple is not only considered suspicious, it’s possibly a crime! I CANNOT WAIT to read this.Tania’s Website:https://www.taniahershman.com/wp/ Follow Tania on Instagram:@tania_hershman_writesBuy Tania’s Book, Go On:https://www.ta Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textSupport the showIn this week's minisode, I'm talking about why my part-time job as my sister's cleaner is actually totally awesome. As many of you will know, following some big changes in my life, I've been cleaning my sister's house once a week for the last two years. And I'm getting used to the gasps of surprise / horror when people discover that this is one of my day jobs (along with being a part-time barista in a coffee shop).But although at first glance this may not seem like the obvious career choice for a 47 year old woman with an MSc in Psychology and a former career at BBC Radio 2, it's actually bloody great. Press 'Play' to find out why...! Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textSupport the showIn this week's episode I talk to High Sensory Coach and Creative Empath, Elisha May. Elisha is a High Sensory Leader and Coach which means she is able to energetically and intuitively assist transformation in others, and achieve quicker results than a normal coach or therapist. She offers High Sensory Facilitation, for those with the trait of Sensory Processing Sensitivity, now known as High Sensory People, but have been known as Highly Sensitive People and Empaths. She specialises in people wanting to live a life in a non-conventional way, with freedom, adventure, and independence as the theme.Elisha has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by people that have chosen the conventional route but feel this hasn’t enabled them to always remain in their truth and connection with their inner knowing. She is an expert at helping people come back into alignment with the truth of who they are when they have been at the mercy of the conditions and conventions of their society, step out of the depletion and negative exhausting effects of the human conditioning that people have experienced in their life.Elisha is about to launch a new podcast and YouTube channel called High Sensory People with another High Sensory Coach and Empath.Topics that Elisha & I cover are:How she experiences life as a High Sensory Person and Empath;How she has always led an unconventional life and been a free spirit;Elisha’s thoughts and her own story around being childfree;How explaining why you didn’t have kids can be triggering for women who have them;People pleasing, and how it tends to be a largely female issue;The ‘one size fits all’ expectation of life, and how societal programming can sometimes make us feel as though we don’t have choice about our lives;The difference between the true self / soul, and the false self / ego, and how we are slowly learning to bring into union the soul and the ‘human self’;How important it is to come out of our minds, drop down into our bodies, and subsequently bring our consciousness into our heart centre;How humans have a tendency to think they are superior to Mother Earth, how this is simply not the case, and the truth is we are all connected;How women who don’t have children, whatever the reason, are saving the planet!The concept of the Free Woman, and we are needed in this world.How disengaging from the news and adverts would make the world a better place for everyone.Elisha’s Website:https://elisha-may.com/ Follow Elisha on Inst Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textSupport the showIn this week's minisode, I'm talking about our tendency to think that we'll be happy when...we meet the guy / get the promotion / finish the kitchen etc.But the danger with this way of thinking is that it means our happiness is always conditional, always dependent on something or someone outside of ourselves. And when you think about it, this is doesn't make rational sense. The truth is that we are all responsible for generating our own happiness, and the good news is that all of us have everything we need in order to do this. And the cherry on the cake? When we generate good feelings inside of ourselves, we tend to attract more of what we want into our lives.  Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textSupport the showIn this week's episode I talk to writer, Christina Campbell. Christina lives in Northern Virginia, USA, with her cats. She writes about invisible illness, singles’ rights, and the inexorable onslaught of entropy. Her book, And Sarah His Wife, won the Michigan Writers’ Cooperative Press Chapbook Contest in 2017. After earning her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction from George Mason University, Christina co-founded the singles’ advocacy blog, Onely, with her MFA classmate, Lisa Arnold. The site deconstructs cultural stereotypes about single hood, such as the myth that unmarried people die alone, eaten by their cats! Christina’s writing on Onely has been featured, quoted, or referenced in numerous publications, including The Atlantic.com;  PsychologyToday.com; the book Going Solo: the book Singlism: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Stop It by Bella DePaulo; and the book It’s Not You: 27 (Wrong) Reasons You’re Single, by Sara Eckel.Topics that Christina & I cover are: What motivated her and her college classmate, Lisa Arnold, to start their blog, Onely;Why Christina started writing about systemic singlism and discrimination against single people;How Christina has been affected personally by systemic singlism;Bereavement leave, how even that seems to favour those who are married, and how Christina wasn’t entitled to take bereavement leave for two of her close relatives;How single people aren’t able to choose recipients of certain benefits, whereas married people are automatically allowed to benefit their spouses;How single hood has meant that Christina has been hugely financially disadvantaged in respect of her health care;The project Christina worked on which found that single people, at a certain salary rate, finish their life at least $1,000,000 worse off than their married counterparts;How both Christina and I have been asked by 6 year old girls why we’re not married, and why we live alone; and how important it is to show little girls that it’s ok to be alone.Despite several relationships, Christina has always been very content on her own and never really felt the need to couple up;The stigma around childless women and how they are often perceived as ‘selfish’.Bella DePaulo’s term ‘single at heart’ and how Christina and I feel about it.How our ‘women’s intuition’ is our strongest tool against the patriarchal narratives;Last but not least, our beloved ‘fur baby’ cats! Christina’s Website:https://christin Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textThis week's minisode is the second part of a workshop I did on Valentine's Day.Following on from last week, I talk more about living an intentional life, the incredible power of the mind and what that means for us, how we have more agency over our lives than most of us realise, the importance of leaning into the things that make us feel good, how many of us don't dare to dream because we often don't believe that the things we truly want are possible for us, and much, much more.I hope you enjoy it! Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!

Send us a textSupport the showIn this week's episode, I talk to writer and presenter, Bev Turner. Bev has had a hugely successful career as a writer, author, radio and TV presenter. She is also mum to three kids and girlfriend to her gorgeous boyfriend, James. She has her own TV show - Bev Turner Today - on GB News, and has been a regular on ITV’s This Morning and Good Morning Britain, BBC Breakfast, Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine Show as well as many others. Her radio work includes 5 years hosting her own show on LBC, as well as three years co-hosting with Eammon Holmes on BBC Radio 5 Live. She co-hosted her own podcast, As Good As It Gets, for a year with her friend, Marina Fogle, and has guested on Marina’s own podcast, The Parent Hood, and Lorraine Candy and Trish Halpin’s Postcards From Midlife podcast.Bev is also the author of three books, Touching Distance, The Pits, and The Happy Birth Book. Plus, she has written for multiple publications including The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Sunday Mirror and Good Housekeeping Magazine.Topics that Bev & I cover are:How Bev was “born broody” and knew from a very young age that she wanted kids;How she bought into the pronatalist view of having children which turned out to be quite different from the realities of motherhood;How her ex-husband went off to row the Atlantic Ocean when their first child was very young;How married women with children often look at single, childfree women with a ‘sliding doors’ view;Bev’s version of a blissful - but rare - Friday evening home alone which allowed her to reconnect with who she is;That lack of headspace and the incredible weight of responsibility are the two things Bev finds hardest about being a mum;How there is no lonelier place than a bad relationship;The story of how her ex-husband, James Cracknell, suffered a severe brain injury whilst cycling across America, and how the impact of the injury had a devastating effect on their marriage;The idea that being single does not equate to loneliness, and neither does being married equate to not being lonely;  How we should all be aiming to change, because if we’re not changing then we’re not growing;How there is no such thing as the perfect family life.Bev’s website:https://www.thebevturner.co.uk/ Check out Bev’s TV Show:https://www.gbnews.com/shows/bev-turner-today Support the showBuy my book, SHINY HAPPY SINGLES (UK) / THRIVE SOLO (US & Canada) at: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/book Join my membership community for single women, Thrive Solo: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/thrivesolo Download my FREE PDF 'Top 10 Comebacks for the MostAnnoying Questions Single Women Get Asked' Go to: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/comebacks Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivesolowithlucymeggeson Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivesolowithlucymeggeson/ Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!