Emma John: Being Single In Your Forties

09/02/21 • 59 min

Emma John is an award winning journalist and author. Her most recent book, Self-Contained, is a memoir which chronicles what it’s like to enter your 40s without having been in a serious long-term relationship. It’s a book that celebrates the fullness of single life – the highs and lows.

Our conversation is an unapologetic, unflinching look at the single experience, with a particular emphasis on how hobbies, interests and platonic relationships, as long as shorter-term romantic ones, can become centre stage – filling the space a relationship might otherwise.

We also discuss:

What it means to be ‘self-contained’
The difficulty of trying to write a narrative as a single woman (Who hasn’t met someone at the end/without a happy ending) - What is my narrative arc- without the happy ending?
The one constant in your life is you
The myth that it’s only OK to be single if you’re living a hedonistic, free lifestyle
Why solo travel isn’t really solitary – especially if you’re in South Carolina
Why following your passion can be a brilliant reason for doing things alone
Why your life starts right now – not when you meet your ‘Other Half’

Emma John’s book, Self Contained, is available to buy now.

My book, Alonement: How To Be Alone and Absolutely Own It, is also out now from Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops.

Social links:

Twitter:

Instagram:

Contact: [email protected]

With a one-off payment of £5, you can listen to the Alonement podcast ad-free. https://plus.acast.com/s/alonement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We also discuss:

What it means to be ‘self-contained’
The difficulty of trying to write a narrative as a single woman (Who hasn’t met someone at the end/without a happy ending) - What is my narrative arc- without the happy ending?
The one constant in your life is you
The myth that it’s only OK to be single if you’re living a hedonistic, free lifestyle
Why solo travel isn’t really solitary – especially if you’re in South Carolina
Why following your passion can be a brilliant reason for doing things alone
Why your life starts right now – not when you meet your ‘Other Half’

Emma John’s book, Self Contained, is available to buy now.

My book, Alonement: How To Be Alone and Absolutely Own It, is also out now from Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops.

Social links:

Twitter:

Instagram:

Contact: [email protected]

With a one-off payment of £5, you can listen to the Alonement podcast ad-free. https://plus.acast.com/s/alonement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Lorraine Candy: The Joys Of Cold Water Swimming

On the show this week I have Lorraine Candy, one of the most influential people on the UK’s magazine industry and formerly editor-in-chief at Cosmopolitan, ELLE & latterly Sunday Times Style. Lorraine is also the host of the Postcards from Midlife podcast, and author of new book, Mum, What’s Wrong With You – a funny, practical manual for anyone raising teenage girls. I found this conversation so refreshing – Lorraine is full of helpful advice about looking after yourself and living your most grounded, authentic life. We discuss:

The joys of cold water swimming
How alone time underpins self-awareness
The ‘distraction’ problem inherent in the wellness industry
How tuning in with your individual energy levels can have a game-changing effect on your work output
The relationship between hormonal changes and mental health
& much more

Lorraine Candy's book, 'Mum, What's Wrong With You?': 101 Things Only Mothers of Teenage Girls Know, is available to buy now.

My book, Alonement: How To Be Alone and Absolutely Own It, is also out now from Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops.

Social links:

Twitter:

Instagram:

Contact: [email protected]

With a one-off payment of £5, you can listen to the Alonement podcast ad-free. https://plus.acast.com/s/alonement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Mo Gawdat: Why I'm Becoming A 'Half-Monk'

I’m honoured to introduce this week’s guest, Mo Gawdat – an author, speaker, serial entrepreneur, former chief business officer at Google X and one of the most innovative thinkers I’ve ever come across.

‘I only allow my brain two different types of thought: a useful thought, or a joyful thought, or it shuts up’ – this quote from the podcast is typical of Mo’s logical approach to his inner world. While we discuss familiar topics like meditation, journaling and solitude in this topic, Mo’s perspective is particularly refreshing in the sense that he goes back to Square One, and forms an original opinion on each of these practices rather than simply following the approach that others have taken before him. It’s this compelling combination of a sharp engineering mind, combined with childlike curiosity, emotional intelligence and a good deal of humour and wit that makes Mo so special – and I think you’ll know what I mean when you listen to this episode.

Key topics include:

Mo’s fascinating ‘half-monk’ concept
The value of ‘being’ as well as ‘doing’
Why Mo loves to form connections with baristas
How Mo’s late son Ali inspired his happiness concept
The dark side of journaling: how it can lead to ruminating on unhelpful thoughts, and what to do to counteract this

Mo Gawdat's latest book, Scary Smart, is available to buy now. His book, Solve For Happy: Engineer Your Path To Joy, is also available to buy.

My book, Alonement: How To Be Alone and Absolutely Own It, is also out now from Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops.

Social links:

Twitter:

Instagram:

Contact: [email protected]

With a one-off payment of £5, you can listen to the Alonement podcast ad-free. https://plus.acast.com/s/alonement.