86. We made it. What's next?
intentions, commitments, and plans
☕️ the main thing
Once upon a time (actually in 2021), I had to pack for a really long — sort of indefinite — trip to Asia.
It was a trip I wanted to make. I was going to help care for my mother, who was afflicted with dementia. But it was also filled with uncertainty and questions. There was one thing of which I was certain: I needed to make space for this experience mentally and emotionally.
So, I decided to do a major cleaning of the plate. I dropped everything I could, with the exception of a couple of things. One was the podcast. I had also just started a newsletter for midlifers that I didn’t want to let go.
And you know, I’m so glad I didn’t.
Writing Midlife Cues helped me through that challenging period. I wrote through periods of sadness, fear, and grief. I put fingers on the keyboard as I boxed, sold, donated, and threw away #allthestuff of a previous life. My work on Midlife Cues was one thing I knew for certain about myself. And I clung to it as I rode through waves and waves of, “Uh, I don’t know. I’m not sure. Let me try.”
The tiny newsletter has evolved so much since then. It got itself a moniker, for one! It grew with more and more reader friends discovering it. Listening to feedback and paying attention to reader signals, I tweaked and refined and cut and added. Today, I am pleased with how Midlife Cues reads and looks.
(Thank you to all of you who’ve ever dropped me a note letting me know what you thought about the newsletter, including the many, many cups of coffee you bought for me during the early days! I so appreciate it.)
Which leads me to the main thing of this edition. What’s next!
My goal for Midlife Cues is the same as always. I want this to be a valuable resource as we live our midlife experience. It will continue to focus on personal growth, which, I realize from all this time researching and writing about it, is highly nuanced and very personal.
Each Sunday edition will continue to explore the themes of personal leadership, resilience, and intentional living. The popular series, A Midlifer in Profile, will also make a comeback in 2024.
All Sunday editions will continue to be available to read for free.
And now, you can support the newsletter as well.
I have enabled the paid subscription function so that those who would like and are able to support my work can do so. 😊 Whatever I may release in addition to the Sunday editions, such as the limited series on Modern Retirement, planning templates, and community access, will be available to paid supporters.
By becoming an annual paid subscriber for the cost of ONE hardcover book, you can support Midlife Cues, and we can keep this party going ad-free. Plus, your support will ensure the continuous supply of coffee and tea — basic requirements for continued research and writing. 😉
(Or if you choose to support it monthly, you can do so at the cost of one good chocolate bar a month. This is especially helpful for research.)
I am excited about all the things that we’ll get up to doing this year.
Whether you become a paid subscriber or not, I am grateful that we are connected through this newsletter. And I hope we can strengthen that connection by turning this into a weekly conversation. I invite you to hit reply or leave a comment on the website, so we can turn this into a two-way chat. Hey, a community even!
And I will continue to show up in your inbox on Sundays. You can’t stop me. (Well, technically, you can if you unsubscribe. But I hope you won’t!)
🔗 readings
A few of the ones I came across while we were on a holiday break:
“Midwinter is a reflective time, a period of ruminative evaluation, a pause in the year which allows us to gather ourselves again. […] A space opens here to feel the kind of emotions that tend to get buried in the rush of the lighter months.” The Art of Hibernation
“Everything that happens to us in life—good or bad—is shaping us, informing us literally and figuratively for the future.” This Is When You Use It
“The assumption behind resolutions is that something must be corrected and improved. One vows to be better than one was the year before. […] The trouble with all such self-oriented promises is that they deal in chicken feed.” This year, make a resolution about something bigger than yourself.
💭 mull over
“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity.” — Francis Bacon, Sr.