What a beautiful and true line “Does that make me a pessimist....nah..... just a whole, complete person.... with all the facets and all the emotions we've been given to explore and experience this life.” Yes being open to all of it - that’s the goal - it’s like Rumi’s Guest House poem 🙏🏻💕
Absolutely BRILLIANT Maureen! As someone who has also had countless bouts with the clown, I think it can be an important part of the process to stay down for a while. Call it whatever you want, but to take sometime to just lie there on the floor - to gather, to mourn, to surrender - sometimes it’s the jewel we need to light the next chapter…
I’ve really appreciated reading the “raw” description of the emotions you are expressing. I’m a year older, and like you have a daughter off your college and a cranky 15-year-old son in high school (actually, I don’t know if yours is cranky). I have an appreciation of adversity, not because I enjoy it, but because hard things are part of life. E.G., my mother died from breast cancer when I was seven. What, exactly, would be the solution to that? I am a relatively successful and relatively happy full-time employed, married parent of two? I “turned out fine.” But that does not change the loss I feel for my mother who I never knew as an adult. That loss stays with me. As does the loss, by the way, that comes from being old enough that there are certain things I’m not ever likely to do, now that I’m 54. Never mind the ways I’m increasingly invisible to people who are looking for youth over experience. Or that I can see my older friends slowing down. The midlife crisis is real. Thanks for not sweeping it under the rug.
Yes my 15 year old is cranky - maybe that can be my next creative project Notes from the Mom of a Cranky Teenager 😂 But on a serious note - yes the loss and grief are real. We want solutions but I believe we’re really craving connection and the relief that comes from not feeling the terminal uniqueness of what we’re experiencing 🫶🏻
My god...you've left me reeling. From the substack silliness, or petulancr, to the friends lunch seeking 'just tell us WHAT TO DO". We are a darn tough crowd. I learned more about myself to day than I have in weeks, saw too much of my surroundings in your experiences, to do anything more than thank you and ask you to keep it coming.
Wow! I happened to read that article. You got compared to Taylor Swift! ........ She's a genius and relatable to the masses.... so i guess you are too. Anti-hero is a very complex song!
What's wrong with having a mid-life crisis? Nothing..... very helpful if you actually let yourself have it and don't hurtle your soul so fast to the "end" that you miss 90% of the benefit of the crisis. Good for you letting your self just 'be.'
Letting yourself not hope does sound like a protective space. A few years ago i heard 'hope' criticized in some format... media, book, podcast.... can't remember. And i thought it was a novel concept and realized there is a time to not hope. There are places on the path of my life where i've found it helpful too, times when it's healthy to take a breather from hope. Does that make me a pessimist....nah..... just a whole, complete person.... with all the facets and all the emotions we've been given to explore and experience this life.
Always love your opening graphic. It's perfect again!
What a beautiful and true line “Does that make me a pessimist....nah..... just a whole, complete person.... with all the facets and all the emotions we've been given to explore and experience this life.” Yes being open to all of it - that’s the goal - it’s like Rumi’s Guest House poem 🙏🏻💕
Absolutely BRILLIANT Maureen! As someone who has also had countless bouts with the clown, I think it can be an important part of the process to stay down for a while. Call it whatever you want, but to take sometime to just lie there on the floor - to gather, to mourn, to surrender - sometimes it’s the jewel we need to light the next chapter…
I enjoy your writing.
Hmmm.., that’s a hard-won question with an easier answer; should the clown get back up?
Absolutely. Positively. Yes.
Celebrating the downs is acceptable - but don’t wallow in it for too long.
You’re still elastic.
Bounce and roll – away from the things that knock you down.
Find other things.
Bounce anew.
😊
Thanks Don - maybe the clown just needs a rest to live to bounce another day 😂🫶🏻
Thats the tonic!
I’ve really appreciated reading the “raw” description of the emotions you are expressing. I’m a year older, and like you have a daughter off your college and a cranky 15-year-old son in high school (actually, I don’t know if yours is cranky). I have an appreciation of adversity, not because I enjoy it, but because hard things are part of life. E.G., my mother died from breast cancer when I was seven. What, exactly, would be the solution to that? I am a relatively successful and relatively happy full-time employed, married parent of two? I “turned out fine.” But that does not change the loss I feel for my mother who I never knew as an adult. That loss stays with me. As does the loss, by the way, that comes from being old enough that there are certain things I’m not ever likely to do, now that I’m 54. Never mind the ways I’m increasingly invisible to people who are looking for youth over experience. Or that I can see my older friends slowing down. The midlife crisis is real. Thanks for not sweeping it under the rug.
Yes my 15 year old is cranky - maybe that can be my next creative project Notes from the Mom of a Cranky Teenager 😂 But on a serious note - yes the loss and grief are real. We want solutions but I believe we’re really craving connection and the relief that comes from not feeling the terminal uniqueness of what we’re experiencing 🫶🏻
My god...you've left me reeling. From the substack silliness, or petulancr, to the friends lunch seeking 'just tell us WHAT TO DO". We are a darn tough crowd. I learned more about myself to day than I have in weeks, saw too much of my surroundings in your experiences, to do anything more than thank you and ask you to keep it coming.
Thanks Susan - your note is what keeps me going 🙏🏻💕
Wow! I happened to read that article. You got compared to Taylor Swift! ........ She's a genius and relatable to the masses.... so i guess you are too. Anti-hero is a very complex song!
What's wrong with having a mid-life crisis? Nothing..... very helpful if you actually let yourself have it and don't hurtle your soul so fast to the "end" that you miss 90% of the benefit of the crisis. Good for you letting your self just 'be.'
Letting yourself not hope does sound like a protective space. A few years ago i heard 'hope' criticized in some format... media, book, podcast.... can't remember. And i thought it was a novel concept and realized there is a time to not hope. There are places on the path of my life where i've found it helpful too, times when it's healthy to take a breather from hope. Does that make me a pessimist....nah..... just a whole, complete person.... with all the facets and all the emotions we've been given to explore and experience this life.
Always love your opening graphic. It's perfect again!