Interview: Vitalcy
Thought I’d share a quick link to an interview I did recently with Vitalcy, an organization dedicated to changing the story around aging. We talked about the dreams I had as a young adult, what played out as reality, today’s life purpose, and what excites me for my future.
Take a look!
Is this the life you anticipated in your 20s, 30s, 40s, last year?
From a pretty young age, I imagined the life I got, at least part of it. I wanted the drama of escaping small towns for a big city and moved to NYC. I wanted a career in the apparel industry and studied at one of the best design schools in the country. I wanted the corner office and became a VP in a large corporation in my thirties. But my imagination didn’t extend beyond that. I didn’t think about life in my 50s or beyond.
How have the life challenges, fears, biggest changes you’ve faced changed you?
I ddidn’t imagine a path where family crises or demands would bring the need to readjust my desires. I underestimated the need for flexibility. I never imagined that I would become an author until life forced me to adjust my priorities and dreams. But those readjustments have brought so many unexpected benefits. I finally understand how resilient I am, how adaptable I am, and how beautiful it is to be a woman who can reinvent her life.
I experienced a devastating trauma in my marriage, a trauma that eventually ended it, a trauma that could have flattened me permanently. It didn’t. I didn’t let it. Although I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, the experience forced me to find the steel backbone buried inside this quiet Midwestern girl. It changed me, changed me for the better as I found my voice, my strength, and threw light on the shadows in my relationship. It was also the impetus for the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever done. Writing a memoir.
What advice would you share with your younger self?
Silence is not your friend. Silence is not loyalty. Silence can damage. You have a voice, don’t fear it.
How do you meet people at this stage?
Still learning this one. New home. New state. New life. All during Covid.
How do you envision rediscovering your purpose in the coming years?
I think I’ve found that new purpose through my memoir. It’s a story of the shadows women live in, the secrets they keep and store away, and how we can become resilient and brave by confronting those shadows. There is much to discuss.