Hello and welcome to a community for old(er) women writers and readers on Substack, hosted by Debbie. Please introduce yourself in the comments! I'll go first...
Hello Debbie. I am Sylvia, an 86 year old widow living in central France. It is deeply rural here. I share my home with a dog, two cats, and two hens. I also have two horses and a cat at a small private farm nearby. I care for these animals daily. My older horse is retired and I ride the younger one out regularly with great pleasure. I have 4 sons and 6 grandchildren who live in different parts of the world. One son and his family live nearby. I have recently joined Substack but have not yet posted here. I am writing memoirs about aging actively and adventurously. I enjoy watercolour sketching. I am in relatively good health and benefit from artificial hips and knees. Ongoing health challenges amount to no more than tendinitis and carpal tunnel. I am happy to have found this community and look forward to seeing how it develops as we share our experiences of aging.
Welcome Sylvia, how inspiring you are! Riding a horse at age 86 strikes me as quite remarkable, requiring both strength and flexibility! Your example reinforces my commitment to do much more strength training in 2025. I’ve been lazy and haphazard about that this past year… and I really noticed how much weaker I’ve become on our recent skiing trip in Japan. Onward!
Thank you for your comment, Debbie. I should say that horse riding takes many forms... I ride a horse I have owned for 10 years and whom I know well. We do not usually go out for more than 2 hours at a time, and we mostly walk. The old horse accompanies us at liberty as does the dog. However, you are right that the riding certainly contributes to my core and leg strength both of which are helpful at my age. But mostly I love being out in nature watching the seasons changing, watching the interactions of my animal companions and their responses to the farm and wild animals we meet along the way. The most adventurous last year was riding in the US Canyonlands area, Bryce, Red, Zion and the Grand Canyons. But all at a walk and riding as sight seers not sporty riding as we did in the past.
Hi Debbie. I'm enjoying [B]old Age! Thanks for creating such a welcoming space for other writers. I'm just getting started with your Substack, and can't wait to read more. I'm an author and musician. I've been publishing a weekly newsletter called The Hump Day Gazette for the last two years. The Gazette was born out of a need to lighten my own mood. While I often write about serious subjects, I include humor in my articles whenever I can. Laughter is the best coping mechanism for getting through the hard times. Thanks for the opportunity to share my work with you and your readers! https://jannazonder.substack.com/
I hope I'm okay to post this! I am a 33-year-old PhD student and psychotherapist from Manchester, UK. I stumbled across your Substack and was instantly hooked! For years, I have been interested in why research into social media and the internet more widely focuses almost exclusively on teenagers and young people. Research on older adults tends to focus on a deficit mindset and consistently forgets to acknowledge the role of older adults as content creators and trailblazers!!
Therefore, as my PhD research project I decided to investigate the experiences of older adults (aged 65+) on Substack and how this impacts their wider well-being.
Thank you for your wonderful and inspiring Substack!
Hi Nikki. I publish a weekly newsletter on Substack called The Hump Day Gazette. When you're looking for people to interview, I'd be happy to help. You can reach me at jannazonder@substack.com
Nikki, I was just about to leave a comment on your first post! Great idea to solicit help with your research on Substack. I'd love to learn more; you can contact me at my Substack email: debbieweil@substack.com
I'm 77! Imagine. I can't. My most recent Substack is about my very recent hip replacement (left) surgery. Please check it out at The Armchair Journalist, @nancy jainchill. One of the things I note is that the experience didn't make me feel old or older. Go figure.
Hello, My name is Phebe (Karen) Beiser. I’m 74 and married to a woman, Cathy, who one year ago was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I am her only caretaker right now. Have written poems & journalled about this, so far not on Substack.
I am brand new to writing in Substack — so far about the Election but soon to share more personal musings from my life.
I consider myself foremost a poet but co-authored a book with Rashma Kalsie in New Delhi, India. The book is The Buddha & the Bitch: 2 Women, 2 Worlds, 1 Practice (Hay House, New Delhi, c2018 with new and used copies available on Amazon). We tell the story of chatting via the internet, becoming friends in spite of our differences (she youngish, heterosexual, married, with a daughter/me oldish, lesbian, single at the time). Eventually I visited her (2013) and we travelled to South India to organize topics for this book we h inside us. The book tells about our journey from New Delhi to Pondicherry as well as our personal journeys as women writers, as spiritual beings, and inquisitive people. In 2018 I returned to do some promotion of the book and celebrate our success!
I am co-founder of the Ohio Lesbian Archives in Cincinnati, Ohio. Now in our 35th year, OLA is the only LGBTQ collection of newspapers, flyers, records of the former Crazy Ladies Bookstore, artwork, buttons, photographs, personal journals, and more—all centered on greater Cincinnati & the region. After seventeen years in a church basement, we moved to an historic building in Over the Rhine area downtown. For more info, https://ohiolesbianarchives.org.
I “own” that I am now an Elder. I lost two women close to me in 2019–a partner Janice and a best friend Bev. I have been dealing with their passings ever since. Grief and loss have become important topics as I age and grapple with the reality of death.
Dogs are my close companions as well as an ornery tabby cat. They lighten my life.
Hello all! I am Shana, 70 years old, Blackfoot-German-Welsh ancestry. A Washington and Alaska person, the past 4 years I have been part of my Mom’s care team here in Texas hill country. I bought a tiny house and live blue in a red state. I write about trauma, resilience, and whatever is front and center in my life — most recently a trip to French Polynesia. I have two websites about my trauma healing work: organizationaltraumaandhealing.com and thetorchcollective.org. My Substack is Healing Circles. Very happy to have found you!
Just found this with reference to Elderstack! So cool! Think you already know me… I am 80 this year, I live in Southwest Michigan, I am a widow going on eleven years, have a guy friend, have five grandkids… all young adults, one of whom is gay. I write about the bits and pieces of life as I turned eighty, now as I continue growing along. I write about being active is the most important thing we can do to keep youthful and engaged no matter what our age! I’m forever a Pollyanna but adamant … don’t call me honey! Congrats to you, dear Debbie on having such a following… I had no idea about your podcasts! I will be there! Much love! ☺️🫶
Hi Debbie, I love what you're doing here. I have found Substack to be a fun and inspiring place to be at age 62. Wonderful to connect with writers of all ages here.
I write a Substack called Letters From Turkey Town, about love, grief and hope. I live in an RV and travel the US full-time. https://tinahedin.substack.com
I'm a sort-of retired high school English teacher (sometimes I sub), new to substack. I'm 66 with a b-day coming in Feb. I'm young and healthy and hope to continue in this vein. But I've noticed that somewhere, I crossed over into elderhood. My husband is ten years older than I and is aging differently and with more physical difficulty than I am. Not sure why. I sing in a Threshold Choir.
I'm a died-in-the-wool femininst, a student of archetypal psychology (master's degree) and I write a Substack called Modern Mythology, where I look at what's happeining now through an archetypal lens, because everything old is new again. Actually, nothing is old; we've seen it all before. It simply changes expression a little. The moment I saw this community a ping of recognition sparked in my heart: this is for me.
Hi Debbie and thank you for creating this space to connect with [B]old women who are courageously sharing our wisdom and voices at a time when we are not encouraged to do so. (Especially these days.) I'm turning 66 on November 30 and at the threshold of retiring from my career as a marketing communications writer. I took a detour 17 years ago from the for-profit world to work at a public university (from which I'm soon retiring) and to help other nonprofits raise more money for their missions. My Substack "This Much is True" is newly launched. I consider it my "sandbox" right now; a place to play and explore my emerging interests and newfound role as an elder with some time on her hands and something to say. I'm so excited by the prospect of joining a community of women who are finding, refining, and expressing their voices and "walking" beside each other during this chapter of our lives.
Turning 65 before the year ends. I write in an eco feminist tone about making the feminine visible as well Place. I believe we way we treat the earth and place often reflects patriarchy and the way women's bodies are valued. I work part time as a mental health doc in Australia. Currently I’m otherwise often in Kyoto Japan where my husband and I having a later life adventure after somewhat sort of impulsively buying a house one year ago. Pre-covid I travelled frequently to Paris and ran a women’s tour based around mindful-sensory experiences and the inner journey of midlife. Kyoto is about exploring aging and the spiritual preparation necessary to age and die (I THINK! ) I recently started on substack and would love to build more community here. BOLD is a great word for this stage. Bucket list. Finish and publish my books soon. Being poly creative and ADD its taken too long!
Newbie here. Love meeting BOLD ladies. I'm a writer and educational consultant in the Boston area. I have 3 launched kids. On my website, I blog on living the creative life through hard times. May venture into Substack newsletter but for now, I'm enjoying the fantastic writing/writers/creatives I have found here. I'm always looking for wise elder role models.
Hi Debbie and all - I'm Marcia (Mar-see-uh) with accent on the first syllable please. :) Yes, I have one of those names that is often pronounced in different ways. I won't be offended if you use one of those I consider incorrect, but I do prefer the one I outlined above.
I am 73 and have been writing since I was very young. I've lived a few degrees off the equator, in Papua New Guinea, and a few kilometers from the Arctic Circle, in Dawson City Yukon, but currently live in Alberta Canada, with my husband of 44 years and a lovely Burnedoodle named Livy.
I'm fairly new to Substack, having begun about a year ago, after Mailchip shut down my newsletter due to something I did not do and was not allowed to rectify. Sigh.
I post a newsletter about my writing and other life adventures as well as snippets of things, excerpts from my upcoming writer's memoir, inspirational meditations, etc. I've just begun posting Sunday Snipits - short bursts, some behind the paywall.
I have about 12 books on Amazon now, an ecclectic mix of Christian devotionals, middle-grade fantasy novels, and contemporary novels for adults. I recently published a children's book, Merrigold's Very Best Home, which has been a delightful journey.
I look forward to "meeting" everyone here. Thanks for this opportunity! :)
Hello everyone! Thanks, Debbie, for this generous invitation to be among so many wise women elders.
I'm Amy with the publication Living in 3D: Divorce, Dementia and Destiny, launched Oct 2023, about a journey both personal and universal: the way in which we navigate big changes in our lives, especially when they come later in life.
In my case, the journey has been about navigating gray divorce and dementia caregiving while fiercely holding onto my destiny: the belief that this is not where my story ends. I was 62 when I made the decision to leave my 33-year marriage and within a month of that decision, I suddenly became the full-time sole live-in caregiver for my mother with advancing dementia.
That was two years ago. Through my own hard-won inner work and standing up for myself, and being met by my ex with a similar willingness not to burn everything down, we had an amicable divorce, which I have written about. My mother died in April, and so my caregiving, as it inevitably would, ended, and grief has become a new focus of my writing.
Two years into these big life changes, I've changed and evolved in ways I could scarcely predict and so my newsletter is undergoing a pivot that I am still feeling into--the divorce and dementia caregiving that were so wrenching are receding into the background and Destiny is taking center stage.
I'm a native New Yorker, live in Venice, Florida but next March I'm moving to Barcelona, Spain. Both my dual-national daughters live in Europe (one in Barcelona, the other in Paris) given their half-Swedish heritage through their dad. And I feel a yearning to return to Europe where I lived for 22 years.
On my bucket list: publishing a novel. I have one out to agents now and my fourth is underway. At 64, never too late is my mantra: if not now, when? Happy to be among other [B]old women who feel the same way!
Hello! And thank you for this opportunity to introduce myself and my publication.
I'm Allie from Allie Rambles. I recently realized that I was still struggling mentally with life in my middle years. I came to the conclusion that I have been in a Midlife Crisis that I never addressed back in 2015.
For the last 9 years I believed I was making rational and thoughtful decisions with my life. I was living on my own successfully after my divorce, I made great strides in healing the relationships with my kids (now 26 and 24) and I was living my dreams of travel and spiritual awakening. But I was still not strong.
In these last 4 years I have made bad decision after bad decision until I finally hit bottom. At 52 I'm living with my mom, unemployed, no savings, no vehicle and perimenopause is kicking my ass.
I'm not looking for pity, I did this. But I'm looking for community. I LOVE that there is a thriving midlife community here on Substack that I can't wait to explore.
I’m 77, living in San Diego with my partner Erika. i’ve written several nonfiction books on genealogy and history. In 2020 I pitched a successful idea for writing a book that did a mashup of ancestors and Tarot. Following the publication of Ancestral Tarot, I wrote Ancestral Grimoire. Those were followed by two decks, Ancestral Magick Oracle and the Ofrenda (offering) Oracle. The latter is based on the imagery found during Dia de los Muertos. (Day of the Dead).
I’ve been on Substack for over a year (The Hidden Path) writing about ancestral work, supernatural experiences, and other strange occurrences. I think I came by my love of working with the Beloved Dead naturally as my mom was psychic and my grandparents attended seances back in the 1920’s.
In addition to my ‘regular’ posts, twice a month I write a Divination Fun challenge that everyone is invited to do. My Substack is https://nancyhendrickson.substack.com
I’m an avid amateur iphonographer and love exploring historic sites here in the west as the ghosts are quite chatty.
The topics you discuss are new to me but fascinating so I did subscribe (all I can do is free for now). What caught my eye the most was your interest in the ancient Ancestral Puebloan ruins. I live in northern Arizona and recently became very interested in the history of the Puebloan peoples. I've visited many locations here and in other states. I look forward to reading your content.
![[B]OLD AGE with Debbie Weil](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_36,h_36,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb1d7636-a0e5-44ef-846d-a6df558eff16_1280x1280.png)
![[B]OLD AGE with Debbie Weil](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/e_trim:10:white/e_trim:10:transparent/h_72,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb939748d-5d80-4d0f-867c-2ed252ac633c_1344x256.png)
Hello Debbie. I am Sylvia, an 86 year old widow living in central France. It is deeply rural here. I share my home with a dog, two cats, and two hens. I also have two horses and a cat at a small private farm nearby. I care for these animals daily. My older horse is retired and I ride the younger one out regularly with great pleasure. I have 4 sons and 6 grandchildren who live in different parts of the world. One son and his family live nearby. I have recently joined Substack but have not yet posted here. I am writing memoirs about aging actively and adventurously. I enjoy watercolour sketching. I am in relatively good health and benefit from artificial hips and knees. Ongoing health challenges amount to no more than tendinitis and carpal tunnel. I am happy to have found this community and look forward to seeing how it develops as we share our experiences of aging.
Welcome Sylvia, how inspiring you are! Riding a horse at age 86 strikes me as quite remarkable, requiring both strength and flexibility! Your example reinforces my commitment to do much more strength training in 2025. I’ve been lazy and haphazard about that this past year… and I really noticed how much weaker I’ve become on our recent skiing trip in Japan. Onward!
Thank you for your comment, Debbie. I should say that horse riding takes many forms... I ride a horse I have owned for 10 years and whom I know well. We do not usually go out for more than 2 hours at a time, and we mostly walk. The old horse accompanies us at liberty as does the dog. However, you are right that the riding certainly contributes to my core and leg strength both of which are helpful at my age. But mostly I love being out in nature watching the seasons changing, watching the interactions of my animal companions and their responses to the farm and wild animals we meet along the way. The most adventurous last year was riding in the US Canyonlands area, Bryce, Red, Zion and the Grand Canyons. But all at a walk and riding as sight seers not sporty riding as we did in the past.
Hi Debbie. I'm enjoying [B]old Age! Thanks for creating such a welcoming space for other writers. I'm just getting started with your Substack, and can't wait to read more. I'm an author and musician. I've been publishing a weekly newsletter called The Hump Day Gazette for the last two years. The Gazette was born out of a need to lighten my own mood. While I often write about serious subjects, I include humor in my articles whenever I can. Laughter is the best coping mechanism for getting through the hard times. Thanks for the opportunity to share my work with you and your readers! https://jannazonder.substack.com/
Welcome Jenna and thank you!
Hi Debbie,
I hope I'm okay to post this! I am a 33-year-old PhD student and psychotherapist from Manchester, UK. I stumbled across your Substack and was instantly hooked! For years, I have been interested in why research into social media and the internet more widely focuses almost exclusively on teenagers and young people. Research on older adults tends to focus on a deficit mindset and consistently forgets to acknowledge the role of older adults as content creators and trailblazers!!
Therefore, as my PhD research project I decided to investigate the experiences of older adults (aged 65+) on Substack and how this impacts their wider well-being.
Thank you for your wonderful and inspiring Substack!
Nikki
Hi Nikki. I publish a weekly newsletter on Substack called The Hump Day Gazette. When you're looking for people to interview, I'd be happy to help. You can reach me at jannazonder@substack.com
Nikki, I was just about to leave a comment on your first post! Great idea to solicit help with your research on Substack. I'd love to learn more; you can contact me at my Substack email: debbieweil@substack.com
I'm 77! Imagine. I can't. My most recent Substack is about my very recent hip replacement (left) surgery. Please check it out at The Armchair Journalist, @nancy jainchill. One of the things I note is that the experience didn't make me feel old or older. Go figure.
Hello, My name is Phebe (Karen) Beiser. I’m 74 and married to a woman, Cathy, who one year ago was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I am her only caretaker right now. Have written poems & journalled about this, so far not on Substack.
I am brand new to writing in Substack — so far about the Election but soon to share more personal musings from my life.
I consider myself foremost a poet but co-authored a book with Rashma Kalsie in New Delhi, India. The book is The Buddha & the Bitch: 2 Women, 2 Worlds, 1 Practice (Hay House, New Delhi, c2018 with new and used copies available on Amazon). We tell the story of chatting via the internet, becoming friends in spite of our differences (she youngish, heterosexual, married, with a daughter/me oldish, lesbian, single at the time). Eventually I visited her (2013) and we travelled to South India to organize topics for this book we h inside us. The book tells about our journey from New Delhi to Pondicherry as well as our personal journeys as women writers, as spiritual beings, and inquisitive people. In 2018 I returned to do some promotion of the book and celebrate our success!
I am co-founder of the Ohio Lesbian Archives in Cincinnati, Ohio. Now in our 35th year, OLA is the only LGBTQ collection of newspapers, flyers, records of the former Crazy Ladies Bookstore, artwork, buttons, photographs, personal journals, and more—all centered on greater Cincinnati & the region. After seventeen years in a church basement, we moved to an historic building in Over the Rhine area downtown. For more info, https://ohiolesbianarchives.org.
I “own” that I am now an Elder. I lost two women close to me in 2019–a partner Janice and a best friend Bev. I have been dealing with their passings ever since. Grief and loss have become important topics as I age and grapple with the reality of death.
Dogs are my close companions as well as an ornery tabby cat. They lighten my life.
Hello all! I am Shana, 70 years old, Blackfoot-German-Welsh ancestry. A Washington and Alaska person, the past 4 years I have been part of my Mom’s care team here in Texas hill country. I bought a tiny house and live blue in a red state. I write about trauma, resilience, and whatever is front and center in my life — most recently a trip to French Polynesia. I have two websites about my trauma healing work: organizationaltraumaandhealing.com and thetorchcollective.org. My Substack is Healing Circles. Very happy to have found you!
Just found this with reference to Elderstack! So cool! Think you already know me… I am 80 this year, I live in Southwest Michigan, I am a widow going on eleven years, have a guy friend, have five grandkids… all young adults, one of whom is gay. I write about the bits and pieces of life as I turned eighty, now as I continue growing along. I write about being active is the most important thing we can do to keep youthful and engaged no matter what our age! I’m forever a Pollyanna but adamant … don’t call me honey! Congrats to you, dear Debbie on having such a following… I had no idea about your podcasts! I will be there! Much love! ☺️🫶
Hi Debbie, I love what you're doing here. I have found Substack to be a fun and inspiring place to be at age 62. Wonderful to connect with writers of all ages here.
I write a Substack called Letters From Turkey Town, about love, grief and hope. I live in an RV and travel the US full-time. https://tinahedin.substack.com
love your stack; meant to include!
Good Morning Debbie, and well met.
I'm a sort-of retired high school English teacher (sometimes I sub), new to substack. I'm 66 with a b-day coming in Feb. I'm young and healthy and hope to continue in this vein. But I've noticed that somewhere, I crossed over into elderhood. My husband is ten years older than I and is aging differently and with more physical difficulty than I am. Not sure why. I sing in a Threshold Choir.
I'm a died-in-the-wool femininst, a student of archetypal psychology (master's degree) and I write a Substack called Modern Mythology, where I look at what's happeining now through an archetypal lens, because everything old is new again. Actually, nothing is old; we've seen it all before. It simply changes expression a little. The moment I saw this community a ping of recognition sparked in my heart: this is for me.
oops. Forgot the link: https://substack.com/@modernmythology
Hi Debbie and thank you for creating this space to connect with [B]old women who are courageously sharing our wisdom and voices at a time when we are not encouraged to do so. (Especially these days.) I'm turning 66 on November 30 and at the threshold of retiring from my career as a marketing communications writer. I took a detour 17 years ago from the for-profit world to work at a public university (from which I'm soon retiring) and to help other nonprofits raise more money for their missions. My Substack "This Much is True" is newly launched. I consider it my "sandbox" right now; a place to play and explore my emerging interests and newfound role as an elder with some time on her hands and something to say. I'm so excited by the prospect of joining a community of women who are finding, refining, and expressing their voices and "walking" beside each other during this chapter of our lives.
Betsy, can't wait to check out This Much Is True https://betsycraz.substack.com/
Turning 65 before the year ends. I write in an eco feminist tone about making the feminine visible as well Place. I believe we way we treat the earth and place often reflects patriarchy and the way women's bodies are valued. I work part time as a mental health doc in Australia. Currently I’m otherwise often in Kyoto Japan where my husband and I having a later life adventure after somewhat sort of impulsively buying a house one year ago. Pre-covid I travelled frequently to Paris and ran a women’s tour based around mindful-sensory experiences and the inner journey of midlife. Kyoto is about exploring aging and the spiritual preparation necessary to age and die (I THINK! ) I recently started on substack and would love to build more community here. BOLD is a great word for this stage. Bucket list. Finish and publish my books soon. Being poly creative and ADD its taken too long!
Bernadette, wonderful to hear from you. We are taking our first trip to Japan next month!
Thank you for this community:) travel to Japan is exciting. It;s such a gorgeous complex culture. Look forward to hearing of your adventures!
Newbie here. Love meeting BOLD ladies. I'm a writer and educational consultant in the Boston area. I have 3 launched kids. On my website, I blog on living the creative life through hard times. May venture into Substack newsletter but for now, I'm enjoying the fantastic writing/writers/creatives I have found here. I'm always looking for wise elder role models.
Hi Debbie and all - I'm Marcia (Mar-see-uh) with accent on the first syllable please. :) Yes, I have one of those names that is often pronounced in different ways. I won't be offended if you use one of those I consider incorrect, but I do prefer the one I outlined above.
I am 73 and have been writing since I was very young. I've lived a few degrees off the equator, in Papua New Guinea, and a few kilometers from the Arctic Circle, in Dawson City Yukon, but currently live in Alberta Canada, with my husband of 44 years and a lovely Burnedoodle named Livy.
I'm fairly new to Substack, having begun about a year ago, after Mailchip shut down my newsletter due to something I did not do and was not allowed to rectify. Sigh.
I post a newsletter about my writing and other life adventures as well as snippets of things, excerpts from my upcoming writer's memoir, inspirational meditations, etc. I've just begun posting Sunday Snipits - short bursts, some behind the paywall.
I have about 12 books on Amazon now, an ecclectic mix of Christian devotionals, middle-grade fantasy novels, and contemporary novels for adults. I recently published a children's book, Merrigold's Very Best Home, which has been a delightful journey.
I look forward to "meeting" everyone here. Thanks for this opportunity! :)
Hello everyone! Thanks, Debbie, for this generous invitation to be among so many wise women elders.
I'm Amy with the publication Living in 3D: Divorce, Dementia and Destiny, launched Oct 2023, about a journey both personal and universal: the way in which we navigate big changes in our lives, especially when they come later in life.
In my case, the journey has been about navigating gray divorce and dementia caregiving while fiercely holding onto my destiny: the belief that this is not where my story ends. I was 62 when I made the decision to leave my 33-year marriage and within a month of that decision, I suddenly became the full-time sole live-in caregiver for my mother with advancing dementia.
That was two years ago. Through my own hard-won inner work and standing up for myself, and being met by my ex with a similar willingness not to burn everything down, we had an amicable divorce, which I have written about. My mother died in April, and so my caregiving, as it inevitably would, ended, and grief has become a new focus of my writing.
Two years into these big life changes, I've changed and evolved in ways I could scarcely predict and so my newsletter is undergoing a pivot that I am still feeling into--the divorce and dementia caregiving that were so wrenching are receding into the background and Destiny is taking center stage.
I'm a native New Yorker, live in Venice, Florida but next March I'm moving to Barcelona, Spain. Both my dual-national daughters live in Europe (one in Barcelona, the other in Paris) given their half-Swedish heritage through their dad. And I feel a yearning to return to Europe where I lived for 22 years.
On my bucket list: publishing a novel. I have one out to agents now and my fourth is underway. At 64, never too late is my mantra: if not now, when? Happy to be among other [B]old women who feel the same way!
Hello! And thank you for this opportunity to introduce myself and my publication.
I'm Allie from Allie Rambles. I recently realized that I was still struggling mentally with life in my middle years. I came to the conclusion that I have been in a Midlife Crisis that I never addressed back in 2015.
For the last 9 years I believed I was making rational and thoughtful decisions with my life. I was living on my own successfully after my divorce, I made great strides in healing the relationships with my kids (now 26 and 24) and I was living my dreams of travel and spiritual awakening. But I was still not strong.
In these last 4 years I have made bad decision after bad decision until I finally hit bottom. At 52 I'm living with my mom, unemployed, no savings, no vehicle and perimenopause is kicking my ass.
I'm not looking for pity, I did this. But I'm looking for community. I LOVE that there is a thriving midlife community here on Substack that I can't wait to explore.
I just published my first post October 10 (yesterday) introducing myself : https://substack.com/home/post/p-150071990?source=queue
I'd love to have you come by and comment so I can find others like me that may struggle BUT thrive at midlife.
Where I write about my Midlife Adventures : https://allierambles.substack.com/
Have a fantastic day!
~Allie
Welcome, Allie! Looks like your aiming to revise the next chapters of your life.
I’m 77, living in San Diego with my partner Erika. i’ve written several nonfiction books on genealogy and history. In 2020 I pitched a successful idea for writing a book that did a mashup of ancestors and Tarot. Following the publication of Ancestral Tarot, I wrote Ancestral Grimoire. Those were followed by two decks, Ancestral Magick Oracle and the Ofrenda (offering) Oracle. The latter is based on the imagery found during Dia de los Muertos. (Day of the Dead).
I’ve been on Substack for over a year (The Hidden Path) writing about ancestral work, supernatural experiences, and other strange occurrences. I think I came by my love of working with the Beloved Dead naturally as my mom was psychic and my grandparents attended seances back in the 1920’s.
In addition to my ‘regular’ posts, twice a month I write a Divination Fun challenge that everyone is invited to do. My Substack is https://nancyhendrickson.substack.com
I’m an avid amateur iphonographer and love exploring historic sites here in the west as the ghosts are quite chatty.
I read your post, https://nancyhendrickson.substack.com/p/if-youre-curious.
The topics you discuss are new to me but fascinating so I did subscribe (all I can do is free for now). What caught my eye the most was your interest in the ancient Ancestral Puebloan ruins. I live in northern Arizona and recently became very interested in the history of the Puebloan peoples. I've visited many locations here and in other states. I look forward to reading your content.