Hi there and welcome back! 

I don’t know about you, but this hot weather has affected me big time lately. I’ve had this yucky feeling as if there was honey crawling through my veins instead of blood, everything has felt so sticky …and slow… and difficult. Even my blog… 🍯

But here we are again! 

The ship has left the safe harbour and is sailing unfamiliar waters…

So far, it’s been an exciting and exhilarating voyage, thanks to all your kind and encouraging comments and your positive feedback! Thank you for joining me and for coming along on this adventure!

Why a blog, you might be asking yourself? 

The first reaction of my friend’s 20-year-old son upon hearing about my blog was 

“Why doesn’t she just post on Instagram??!!” 

Fair enough, especially from a GenZ viewpoint!  I guess that would have been easier, true. Plus, I would probably reach more people more quickly, also true. But for many, Instagram posts can often be a short and short-lived, quick, like-swipe-forget kinda thing, something they scroll through while waiting in line for their turn at the coffee shop or at the supermarket till.  And that’s simply not the vibe I was going for.

Okay, then why not a book??!! 

Weeell, if you’ve read my last post, you already know: I’ve been a bit of a chicken here😉. Writing a whole book??? With real chapters??? And an actual structure??? That just seemed too big a project for master-procrastinator Me! Also: much too scary because there are soooooo many aspects of writing – let alone publishing 😳 – a book that I don’t have the faintest idea about!  – “I am writing a book.” – ?????  Naaaah! That sounded much too serious, too “formal” (if that makes sense), too long-term… 

Hence, between Instagram quickies and a book odyssey, …

…the blog format just felt right.

I’m a big believer in the good old “word of mouth” among people who are genuinely interested, who really care, and who will take the time to indulge in the leisure of reading what I write when they have a moment to actually enjoy it. Like you are doing right now. I hope it feels a bit like a chat with a friend over a cuppa or a coffee – or a nice, cool glass of rosé. Wherever you are and whatever your drink of choice, it makes me profoundly happy that you are here. 

A blog also seemed to be the ideal platform to talk about the myriad of topics that are coming up in and are shaping my life right now, the women-in-midlife stuff that doesn’t get addressed nearly enough. I can choose a topic at random, depending on what’s on my mind and heart, some might be deep and reflective, some fun and hilarious, some upsetting or annoying, some practical… A blog affords me the flexibility I need to stay authentic.  And authenticity, to me, is the foundation I want to build my mission on.

A mission??!!

“Oh dear, there’s a M I S S I O N??!! That does sound serious.”, I hear you mutter into your tea/coffee/rosé.

Don’t worry, it really isn’t. There will be no boring presentation with bullet points and overwhelming yet empty buzzwords. It’s simple. I think it has been at the bottom of my heart for a really long time, but it definitely got pulled to the surface and into the centre of my consciousness by this awful feeling of helplessness and overwhelm in view of the global geopolitical and societal developments in the past few years. Nothing I have any control over.

But I DO have control over how I show up here and now.

So yes, a mission.  My very personal, heartfelt Mission.

To make my little world a better place, one kind word, one kind action at a time.
To spread kindness, to create ripples of human connection and understanding, to do my best to “be a light” (even if just a tiny speck), as Dr Gladys McGarey so beautifully put it in her inspiring book “The Well-Lived Life” (2023). 

Fun fact on the side: she wrote it at 102 years old and, unsurprisingly, appeared on a number of podcasts after it was published. Quite the inspiration! She passed away in September 2024. 

But where was I? Oh yes, my mission… 

I hope to help or inspire someone in a small way, to put a smile on someone’s face over their 2^nd cup of coffee in the morning, to make someone laugh and for a moment forget the annoying exchange with their boss/husband/mother-in-law/teenager/ neighbour/…fill in the blank…., to be the reason someone feels seen or heard or a bit less alone today. 

I know too well what a difference that can make in your day! I’ve felt that tiny yet powerful shift so many times, especially in my first year as a bird-launcher or when my parents passed away,  and I still do, for example when I come across one of  Melissa Neeb ‘s heartfelt posts (@never_empty nest) or one of Becky Hemsley’s beautiful, gentle and still so compelling poems (@beckyhemsleypoetry). Magic happens when you feel seen.

I hope to be able to lift others up, especially women and especially women in this strange phase of life that feels like such a ginormous identity shift, and to hopefully spark conversations where you feel comfortable sharing your experiences in the comments and lift others up in turn.

For myself, on a personal level, this whole blog adventure has been, still is and hopefully continues to be a way to challenge myself, to learn and grow, to try on a new hat, to explore, and – more than anything else – to find new meaning and purpose by creating something that feels special and important and like I might actually be someone who creates those ripples of kindness.