Life Begins…
It’s funny how midlife creeps up on you. One minute you’re a young looking 20 something feeling rather annoyed at being asked for ID at the bar, the next you’d do anything to have that happen one last time.
When I was younger, the idea of being 40 or (gasp!) beyond, seemed terrifying. Partly, probably because the way that midlife women are portrayed on TV and in the media – no longer the Main Character in any sense, but as peripheral figures – nagging mums, difficult bosses, wives who get left for younger women; and partly because of my own ill-conceived ideas about what being older ‘meant.’
In my 30s, this idea was turned on its head as I started writing positive real-life features for women’s magazines. Suddenly I was interviewing women in mid and later life and finding being vibrant, inspiring and adventurous doesn’t have a shelf life. There was the woman who became a fashion influencer in her 70s, the 50-something woman embracing far-flung travel. Others were parachuting, conquering fears, changing careers, breaking free from societal norms and having brand new adventures. Thriving.
Talking to so many wonderful women inspired me. Not just in my writing but in the way I viewed my own life. By the time I turned the big 4-0 I really had started to believe it was the age, to quote the old adage, when ‘life begins.’
Youth is great and all, but while I’d have my old body back in an instant, I can’t say the same for my mind. I’ve learned so much in my four (plus) decades on the earth and I feel more self-assured, more capable, more comfortable with myself. And I can only see that improving over time.
That’s what makes midlife such a great time to have an adventure or start something new. Whether that’s trying a new career, taking up a new hobby or taking a leap of faith and moving abroad.
In the case of Nina in ‘The Riviera House Swap’ it’s a time when she takes stock of her life and wants to throw caution to the wind.
Our culture is still obsessed with youth and looking young. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a bathroom cupboard full of creams that I hope will delay the worst of ageing’s outward effects.
But it’s important to realise too that in many ways the half-way mark is exactly the right time to have an adventure.
Start reading Gillian’s brand new book The Riviera House Swap here: https://mybook.to/therivierahousesocial