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How do you define loneliness? How did the pandemic impact the way that you define and experienced it? What does success look like for you? What is one positive association you have with being alone? These are just a few of the questions Athena and I explore in this summer rewind episode that tackles the multiple facets of loneliness, how to decide what is for you and what is for the public, and how to create your own definition of success.

Episode Highlights

• 4:00 The Problem of Loneliness
• 8:00 Establishing Intimacy Between Reader and Writer
• 11:00 The Skills of Being Honest
• 16:00 Finding the Vessel for Your Story
• 20:00 Defining Success for Yourself
• 27:00 Digital Loneliness
• 35:49 Intentional Isolation
• 42:00 Loneliness and Hyper-independence

Resources for this Episode:

• Cherry Picking Pleasure by Athena Dixon (part of her column in Open Secrets Magazine)
• The Incredible Shrinking Woman by Athena Dixon
• Get Your Free Human Design Report
• Ditch Your Inner Critic Now

Athena’s Bio: Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, Athena Dixon is an essayist and editor. She is the author of The Loneliness Files (Tin House), The Incredible Shrinking Woman (Split/Lip Press) and No God In This Room (Argus House Press). Her work also appears in The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic (Haymarket Books) and Getting to the Truth: The Practice and Craft of Creative Nonfiction (Hippocampus Book). She writes the monthly column Radical Pleasure for Open Secrets Magazine. Athena is an alumni of V.O.N.A., Callaloo, and Tin House and has received a prose fellowship from The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and a Second Book Residency from Tin House. She serves as the Nonfiction Editor for Split/Lip Press and a Consulting Editor for Fourth Genre Magazine.

Connect with Athena

• Website: https://athenadixon.com/
• Instagram: @the_muse_paper
• Facebook: @AthenaDevonDixon

Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Ditch Your Inner Critic: https://lisacooperellison.com/subscribe/
Website: https://lisacooperellison.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisacooperellison/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UColPDzpoQlVktIv7-f7ObRg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisacooperellison/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-cooper-ellison-b5483840/


Produced by Espresso Podcast Production: https://www.espressopodcastproduction.com

Building Better Memoir Scenes: https://janefriedman.com/building-better-memoir-scenes-with-lisa-cooper-ellison/

Connect with your host, Lisa:
Get Your Free Copy of Ditch Your Inner Critic: https://lisacooperellison.com/subscribe/
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Produced by Espresso Podcast Production