Thrive Solo

Send us Fan Mail

On this week's Minisode, I'm talking about the concept of shame.

I've received an alarming number of messages from women who listen to the podcast, telling me that they're struggling with feelings of shame around their single status. To me this just seems so...wrong.

Subsequently, I've been compelled to do a Minisode on the topic because it feels as though it warrants some kind of acknowledgement and some airtime.

In this episode, I share my feelings about single women feeling shame regarding their relationship status. In my opinion, there is no reason for any of us to feel shame based solely on the fact that we do not have a partner.

I truly hope that my thoughts on this subject are in some way helpful. 

Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: @spinsterhoodreimagined

Follow me on Twitter: @LucyMeggeson

Email me: [email protected]

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

In this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to my sister, Annabel.

Annie has recently changed careers and is now an English teacher at a secondary school in London; but before that, she enjoyed a glamorous career as a journalist and the Beauty Director at Red Magazine. She has written for multiple publications, including The Guardian, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. She is also the mother to four teenagers (three of whom are triplets) and my beloved nephews and niece.    

In this conversation, Annie and I cover an array of topics including: the world’s biggest launch party to celebrate my new podcast, which consisted of Annie, me, and one of my nephews; why it’s been helpful to have a sister who hasn’t travelled the ‘conventional’ path of marriage and kids because it’s given her a front row seat to what being a ‘spinster’ actually looks like; and how she has never felt that my journey of not having children has required any pity.

We chat about: how her career started off at Goldman Sachs but she quickly realised that a career in banking was not for her; how she went onto work as a journalist for many years, but decided to pack it in a few years ago to become an English teacher; and how both of us think that, actually, I’m the older sister because I’m the boring, practical and bossy one so we reckon our parents got us confused when we were little.   

We also discuss how she has never judged me or thought there was anything missing from my life just because I don’t have my own family; the things that she has seen to be advantages and benefits of being single and childfree; and how she strongly feels that the lives of those women who don’t have children are equally as valid as anyone else’s.  

Annie also talks about: how much it annoys her when people say that those who don’t have kids are selfish, and what she thinks they mean by that; how she has learnt alot about herself through being a mother; how, with hindsight, she can see that bringing up four young children was all-consuming in the early days of motherhood; and how she completely disagrees with those people who suggest that if you don’t have children, then you’re not ‘complete’.

And finally, we talk about the time she met Jennifer Aniston at a party, and the time she interviewed her (I know!); AND we get real about the elephant in the room - whether or not she thinks my cleaning is as good as her previous cleaner. ;)   

I sincerely hope that you all enjoy listening to this conversation!

Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: @spinsterhoodreimagined

Follow me on Twitter: @LucyMeggeson

Email me: [email protected]

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

In this Saturday's Minisode, I'm talking about a book called 'You Are A Badass: How To Stop Doubting Your Greatness & Start Living An Awesome Life' by the fabulous Jen Sincero.

This book really is one of my favourites, and it's also one that I go back to time again when I'm in need of a bit of inspiration or a kick up the ar*e. Jen Sincero is a brilliant, bright, funny, cool, down-to-earth American woman who went from living in a converted garage at the age of 40, to living a life of her dreams.

In this minisode, I talk a little about the book itself, and a little about my feelings around the things that the book touches on. I really hope you enjoy the episode, and that you immediately go and order your copy!

UK Link to 'You Are A Badass': https://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Are-Badass-Doubting-Greatness/dp/1473649528/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

US Link to 'You Are A Badass': https://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Badass%C2%AE-Doubting-Greatness/dp/0762447699/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=you+are+a+badass&qid=1654520722&sprefix=you+are+a+%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1

COME & JOIN MY FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: @spinsterhoodreimagined

Follow me on Twitter: @LucyMeggeson

Email me: [email protected] 

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

In this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to the one-and-only Bella De Paulo. Bella is a Social Psychologist, author of, among other books, ‘Singled Out: How Singles Are Stereotyped, Stigmatised And Ignored, And Still Live Happily Ever After’. Her Tedx talk, ‘What No-one Ever Told You About People Who Are Single’ has been viewed by over 1.5 million people. 

Bella is the recipient of numerous honours and awards, such as the James McKeen Cattell Award and the Research Scientist Development Award. She has more than 150 scholarly publications and has served in various leadership positions in professional organisations. She has written op-ed essays and other articles for publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, NBC, CNN, Time magazine, New York magazine, the Guardian, Forbes, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Bella has also discussed the place of singles in society on radio and television, including NPR and CNN. She has been described by Atlantic Magazine as “America’s foremost thinker and writer on the single experience.”

And as if all of that wasn’t enough, she also happens to have a PhD from Harvard University.   

In this conversation, Bella and I talk about an array of topics including how she came to study and research the single life when initially she was working on the psychology of deception; the fact that she never wanted to be married, and how she realised many years ago that being single is simply who she is; and how she discovered that loving being single and wanting to stay single is, in fact, a ‘thing’.

Bella also talks about how she believes that a single life can be a bigger, more expansive life with more possibility; being ‘single at heart’, a term she coined and is also using as the title for her next book which she’s currently working on; how crazy it is that she hears from many, many people who love being single but think that there is something wrong with them because of that; and some of the biggest misconceptions about single people.

We also discuss some of the research that has been done into singles and how, in fact, the outlook for unmarried people is far brighter than society may assume; how Bella wants to challenge the idea that being single is always a ‘temporary’ state whilst waiting for a partner; and how people who are single at heart happily live their best, most authentic, meaningful and fulfilling lives by being single.

Bella is passionate about getting the message out that if you’re happy being single, and want to stay that way, there is nothing wrong with you, and you don’t need fixing!

Bella's website:
https://www.belladepaulo.com/ 

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

In this Saturday's Minisode, I'm talking about success; what I think it means to some people and what it means to me.

Success can so often be defined in 'conventional' terms, and in a world full of married people with babies, it can be hard not to feel like a failure when you haven't 'achieved' either of those things.

But...success is whatever YOU define it as, and for me it isn't - and never was - about getting married and having kids. Your version of success is yours to choose and yours alone.   


COME & JOIN MY FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

In this week’s episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, it’s just me, myself, and I, talking about my 5am morning routine.

I have been getting up at 5am for a couple of years now - sometimes even 4:30am - and it has completely transformed my life for the better; so I wanted to tell you guys all about what exactly I do when everyone else is still sleeping!

It may sound slightly crazy, and many people have expressed surprise at my getting up so early and / or have taken the pi*s out of me for it, but actually...the joke is on them! Getting up early and starting your day off in an intentional and positive way, not only changes your morning and therefore your whole day for the better, but when done consistently, it also starts to change your life. I do various things including affirmations and meditation, all of which I go into detail on in this episode.

I would urge you to listen to this episode, even if the thought of getting up at 5am sounds like your idea of a nightmare. Why? Because I was NEVER a ‘morning person’ - just ask anyone I know - so if I can do it, you can do it. And if it has made my life better, it can also make your life better. 

There is simply nothing like being up and out early to catch the day at its very best before the rest of the world wakes up. It is truly special, and I promise you, your life will improve if you can master a 5am routine of your own. Go on…press ‘Play’!

Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: @spinsterhoodreimagined

Follow me on Twitter: @LucyMeggeson

Email me: [email protected]

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

In this Saturday's Minisode, I'm talking about how us singles can have a tendency to romanticise family life.

I think that sometimes, because the grass can often seem greener on the other side, it is easy for us to forget the not-so-fun-and-sexy aspects of family life.

In this minisode, I mull over my thoughts on this subject, and look at how we might go about re-framing these unhelpful thoughts in order to feel more empowered about our single, childfree status. 

COME & JOIN MY FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

In this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to the founder of Gateway Women, Jody Day. Gateway Women is an amazing global friendship, support and advocacy network for childless women which was founded in the UK in 2011 and is now headquartered in Ireland.  

Jody is also the author of what many professionals consider to be the ‘go-to’ book on the topic of childlessness, ‘Living The Life Unexpected: How to Find Hope, Meaning and a Fulfilling Life Without Children’.

In this honest and heartfelt conversation, Jody talks about: her difficult childhood and how her early experiences resulted in her initially not wanting to have children; her abortion when she was twenty; and her marriage in her early twenties which ultimately ended due to reasons including the strain of her infertility, as well as her ex-husband’s problems with addiction. 

We also talk about how Jody’s continued desperation to have a baby following the breakdown of her marriage found her in an abusive relationship; the period in her mid-forties when she hit rock bottom as the realisation that she would not have children became apparent; and the profound grief and despair she went through as she struggled to come to terms with the loss of the baby she never had, and the life she thought she would be living.

The conversation includes Jody’s thoughts on the concept of ‘disenfranchised grief’ and the sometimes dismissive reactions of those around her; how her own grief manifested in her withdrawal from the world, and her total loss of joy in all the things she used to love, including reading; and how she felt like ‘social plankton’ as a single, childless woman in her forties.  

Jody also touches on the point at which she realised there would be an end to her pain as she started to understand that grief was a process which she would eventually come through to the other side of; the concept of social infertility, a term coined by the World Health Organisation, and being 'childless by circumstance’; and how, actually, childless women are a potential threat to a patriarchal society.  

And finally, Jody shares how she has ultimately found peace with not having children, and how much she can now appreciate the freedom and possibility of being childless.

I sincerely hope that you all enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed having it.

Jody can be found on Instagram: @gatewaywomen. 

She can also be found on Twitter: @gatewaywomen. 

Gateway Women Website: https://gateway-women.com/ 

UK Link to Jody’s book, Living The Life Unexpected: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Life-Unexpected-fulfilling-children/dp/1529036135/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

In this Saturday's Minisode, I'm sharing three clips from a workshop I did a few weeks ago with some of my lovely listeners. 

I talk, among other things, about how we will never find happiness within a relationship because it has to come from inside of us. I also touch on other things mindset-related, including how we should all become more aware of our thoughts because our thoughts - more than most of us realise - are having a huge impact on how our lives look.

I hope you enjoy it. 

Link to my Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: @spinsterhoodreimagined

Follow me on Twitter: @LucyMeggeson

E-mail me: [email protected] 

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

In this week's episode of Spinsterhood Reimagined, I talk to Australian author, Donna Ward. In her first book, She I Dare Not Name: A Spinster’s Meditations On Life, Donna explores, through a collection of essays, the meaning and purpose that she has found in her life as a woman who has lived almost entirely without a partner or children.  

Donna is the founder of literary journal, Indigo: The Journal of Western Australian Creative Writing, and her prose can be found in respected journals and anthologies internationally and online; she also has a past life as a psychotherapist and social worker.

In our conversation, Donna touches on her upbringing on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, her time as a social worker and a psychotherapist, how she realised in her forties that she would not achieve her desire to have a family, and her thoughts around the period of time when her friends ‘disappeared’ into family life. 

We also talk about the time Donna became aware of the the stigma associated with being single and childless; how she coined the term ‘familied’ in her book, and how she felt that she was “falling out of society” due to her position in life; her experience of being alone during lockdown in Melbourne during which time she wasn’t allowed to form a ‘bubble’; and how the community narrative during that time was primarily focussed on families.

Our conversation includes Donna’s experience of loneliness and how she refers to it as ‘the gritty beast’; and how, actually, facing the dark sides of life head on is what makes us the best version of ourselves. 

And finally, Donna shares her belief that the joys and ecstasies of life are the same whether you’re married with children, or single and childless. 

I sincerely hope that you all enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Donna can be found on Instagram: @donnawardwriter. 

She can also be found on Twitter: @donnawardwriter. 

UK Link to Donna’s book, She I Dare Not Name: https://www.amazon.co.uk/She-Dare-Not-Name-Meditations/dp/1760876291

US Link to Donna’s book, She I Dare Not Name: https://www.amazon.com/She-I-Dare-Not-Name/dp/1760876291/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pdt_img_top?ie=UTF8

Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share

Follow me on Instagram: @spinsterhoodreimagined

Follow me on Twitter: @LucyMeggeson

Email me: [email protected]

Support the show

• JOIN MY ITALY TRIP IN APRIL 2027: https://www.explore.co.uk/thrivesolo-italy

• Buy 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 Most
  Annoying 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: [email protected] 

And thank you so much for listening!