Help Existing

This week I'm joined again by Buddhist Monk Tashi Nyima, who you might recognize from past episodes, Help With Despair Over the State of the World and Help With Generosity. Tashi had a near-death experience recently, and I wanted to have him on to talk about it, and what it illustrates about death from a Buddhist perspective. In this episode we talk about: --Tashi's brush with death and what it taught him --Buddhist teachings on death and dying --How to confront the fear of death and prepare for death ahead of time And much more! I hope you find it helpful. Here is the link to Tashi's blog, which has information on how to join his Zoom sanghas. Help Existing is listener supported. Please consider donating to my Venmo @rachel-krantz.

This week I'm joined by one of my closest friends in the world, author and teacher Shannon McLeod. Shannon is the author of the wonderful new story collection Nature Trail Stories, as well as the novella Whimsy. She's also taught English at a high school and elementary school level and works as a reading specialist. In this episode, I wanted to talk to Shannon about the realities that teachers today are facing. We talked about: --How to be a better ally for teachers. --What teachers today face, from shooting threats to phones in classrooms --Her tips and experience with burnout --The pandemic and remote teaching, and how she's seen kids change since --How technology and trauma are impacting students' ability to read and write --How her teaching life informs her creative life --And much more! As always, I hope it's helpful. --- You can donate to Help Existing on my Venmo @rachel-krantz. Every bit helps!

Continuing on a similar theme as the baby decision episodes, I wanted to have a conversation about what aging while child-free (and/or unmarried, and/or nonmonogamous, and/or without a stable job) might look like. I'm joined again by the counselor and author Kathy Labriola, who you might recognize from last season's episode, Help Dealing With Jealousy in Relationships & Career, as well as from my book, Open. Not only does Kathy have an excellent new book out about aging while nonmonogamous, Polyamorous Elders, but she is herself a badass example of aging while unconventional. She is queer, child-free, and has multiple partners-- but is married to none. In this super practical conversation, we talk about many different things to consider when aging outside the box, including: --Differences in civil rights granted in a domestic partnership versus marriage --Different things even younger people need to do, like filling out advanced care directives, writing a will, and thinking about long-term care insurance --Thinking about housing long-term, and how to pay for it if you're not rich --Why having a child is not a guarantee or even good insurance that you will be taken care of in old age --How she has set up her life and practice to operate outside of traditional capitalist structures And much more! I am always inspired by Kathy, and I know this conversation gave me a long list of things to do and think about. I hope it helps you too! -- Help Existing is listener supported. If you found this helpful, please donate to keep it going on my Venmo @rachel-krantz. Please feel free to get in touch if I can help you with anything as a consultant, coach, or otherwise @rachelkrantz on Instagram & Twitter, or via the contact form on my website, www.racheljkrantz.com. Words of encouragement are much appreciated too! As is buying/reviewing my book, OPEN. www.prh.com/open

In Part 2 of this super-personal series, I'm speaking again with author and therapist Merle Bombardieri about the decision of whether or not to have kids. Merle is the author of THE BABY DECISION, which I found to be refreshing in its lack of agenda for or against having children. In this follow-up episode, which was more coaching-heavy than the last one, we address: --How to process this decision with your partner --A new exercise that might help you embrace a decision --How my being nonmonogamous might factor into the decision --The pressures of pronatalist culture --Lots else! Merle Bombardieri, MSW, LICSW, has been a private practice clinical social worker and psychotherapist for over 30 years. She specializes in parenthood decision-making, infertility, adoption, and making the most of a childfree life. The first edition of her book THE BABY DECISION was published in 1981. Although she enjoyed raising her daughters, Bombardieri has also been an advocate for childfree people since 1979. Another advocacy project was founding the support group Boston Single Mothers by Choice in the early 1980s. -- Help Existing is listener supported. If you found this helpful, please donate to keep it going on my Venmo @rachel-krantz. Words of encouragement are much appreciated too! As is buying/reviewing my book, OPEN. www.prh.com/open

This week I'm talking with sex educator and author of the new and inclusive dating guide This is Supposed to Be Fun, Myisha Battle. We're talking specifically about online dating: ways that both non-monogamous and monogamous people can better coexist on these apps, common mistakes people make, and tips around messaging and disclosure. She also got into a little bit of personal dating advice for me...I hope this is a helpful conversation for those of you who are dating or looking to get back out there. You can find Myisha Battle, her book, and her monthly zine at www.myishabattle.com. She's on Instagram and Twitter @myishabattle. Please take a moment if you can to rate and review this podcast so more people can find it. Even just a line is good. Same thing with my book Open. If you can take a minute to give it a star rating and review on Goodreads or Amazon, share it on social media, tell your friends about it, and request it at your local library, all these things really help me out! And finally, if you'd like to support this podcast, throw a dollar in the hat @Rachel-Krantz on Venmo. You can find me at @RachelKrantz on Instagram and Twitter. Thanks, and see you next ep!