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Welcome to another episode of the Hardcore Humanism Podcast. Today we are talking with musician, podcaster and activist Rain Phoenix. Rain is the founder of Launch Left – a creative space for artists which includes among other things a record label and podcast. The goal of LaunchLeft is to empower creative artists by providing them a platform and opportunity to shine. Rain is also a musician - her 2019 album River was inspired by the tragic death of her brother River Phoenix in 1993. 

 And that brings us to one of the topics that I talked about with Rain in our conversation – the universality of loss. Unfortunately, we all have experienced or will experience loss at some point in our lives. This loss can manifest in many different ways. It can be the loss of a loved one, the loss of job or career goal or the loss of our physical or mental health. In fact loss is such a certainty that it is crucial that we have an understanding of how to conceptualize loss and how to cope with it. 

 Yet, as common as loss is, it can often be something of a taboo topic. We are allowed to talk about our loss for a time. We are allowed to grieve for a time. But after that, we are expected to just move on and get over it. But that is often not how loss works. Our past is not just our past. It informs our lives as we move forward. And a loss, even if it was from decades ago, can still actively inform how we think, feel and what we do in the world. And one of the things that is so powerful about how Rain is approaching the issue of loss is that she is saying it’s OK that we may struggle with loss in one form or another throughout our lives. 

 Rain’s approach to loss and the universality of loss is part of a much larger concept that she discussed with me, which is the concept of what Rain calls “militant love.” In the Hardcore Humanism therapy and coaching program, we want you to apply principles of humanistic psychology to your life so you can find your purpose, work hard to achieve it, and build a supportive community around you who will support your most authentic and purpose-driven life. And one of the most important humanistic principles is the notion of unconditional positive regard. It’s that idea that all human beings deserve to be treated with kindness, respect and dignity. 

 And Rain’s concept of militant love takes that notion even a bit further. The term militant is often used in a negative way, implying that someone is violent. But as Rain describes it, it means that in order to really show our humanity, we need to be committed to loving ourselves and to loving others. And maybe some may view that as militant in that it’s confrontational and extreme. But considering how easily we can be unloving to ourselves and others, and how confrontational and extreme we can be at times by being unkind, maybe it’s OK that we get a bit more extreme and confrontational in how we love ourselves and others. And for many people, when we find our purpose in life, it is because we love something so much that we want to really put our heart and soul in it, just as Rain explains how she approaches militant love.

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