While cleaning out files on my computer, I came across some blog articles written over 10 years ago when my website was called Musemother. Here is one on Turning Fifty. It may still speak to some of you headed toward mid-life and that half-way point.
Being fifty, (or 55, or 57) is about finally finding your self, your choices, your tastes, your own heart's desire. Mid-life has been like a second adolescence for me, partly because I stayed home with my kids and so the question of what I wanted to be when I grew up was still relevant. I had already gone back to school in my 30's, gotten a master's degree, but what did I really want to do with it? Writing at home in my little room was no longer as fulfilling. I wanted to go out into the bigger world and play with other grown up people! Life in my fifties so far has been about discovering this new desire – to play in the bigger world of women’s workshops: I've taken plenty of them, and now I am leading workshops as well; doing research and reading books, so I could write a book (The Tao of Turning Fifty); created a new website, written a few books of poetry, and now I am leading retreats for women as well as creative journaling classes, which is so much where I want to be. Learning, exploring, following my passion, doing what I feel like – and sharing what I’ve learned from the journey of midlife; which involves more learning about what I love, what I feel, understanding my patterns and places I get stuck, finding out what really excites me. And sharing those discoveries with other women. It sounds like it's all about me - and it mostly is. I have found my vocation is largely found in writing and talking about myself, something I've always loved anyway. I use my own stories to illustrate the mid-life journey, as well as those of others I've encountered.
At mid-life you discover time is short, and at fifty, you come face to face with your own time limit. That means it’s more urgent to find out what really turns you on, what you really want to do with this one, wild and precious life, as poet Mary Oliver puts it. Maybe it scares you a little, maybe you lose some sleep while you mull it over, but you will find you eventually do have the courage, if you take it one baby step at a time, to explore new options, discover new territories, and set out on adventures beyond your back yard.
Alternatively, for some, the adventure is in returning, coming back to the roost to rest, to stop churning and turning in busy busy mode, and simplify their life, and learn to do one thing at a time. That's an adventure too, because it is also unknown territory. Whatever your adventure, getting to know your Self along the way makes it way more interesting. I've only used about half the box of crayons, and there are so many colours to discover! Namaste, Jenn aka Musemother
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