SEASONED VOICES

 

Here is something I am excited to share with you. In the past few months, I have been talking with a small group of women bloggers, and we’ve banded together over our common interests and a desire for an online community and ongoing conversation.

 

When I started this blog, The Pits and Pieces, I thought it would be a little corner on the internet where I could practice being a writer, articulate my thoughts and opinions. I didn’t realize there was a whole world of other women bloggers out there, in their own little corners, doing the same thing. And when I began to discover these women, my world expanded.

 

While our blogs may vary in themes and styles, we all share a need to connect with other women entering different stages of their lives.  We’ve come together in a group aptly named SEASONED VOICES, which reflects the stage of life we’re in, lots of lived experiences behind us. Some of us share a love for travel (see Tracy’s profile below), and we all share a love for books and discovering our growth and inner lives through writing and reflection. Each of us has written a short profile on ourselves. Please go take a look at their blogs (linked in their profiles below). I can guarantee you will find something you like. And so, I present:

SEASONED VOICES – “Flavoured with insight. Infused with heart.”

Helen Davidson: Ageless Possibilities

In 2020, when I launched Ageless Possibilities, I wanted to step into this later stage of life with intention, trusting that curiosity, passion, and a sense of purpose were not behind us - they were waiting to be claimed. I wanted to write about how life had shaped me as I stood on this threshold. I hoped to challenge the tired narratives about aging. And, I was looking forward to reflecting on the ageless possibilities that are open to us.

Fast forward six years. I am now writing about my lived experience as an older woman - someone who makes more intentional choices, has let go of long-held expectations, and now focuses on what truly matters. I am no longer trying to make sense of my journey rowing north. Now, I paddle these waters with more clarity about where I am going.

Ageless Possibilities is not a guide to aging well. It is my space for reflection. It is an invitation to join me in unfolding a deeper relationship with ourselves and with the lives we are living.

Joan Ridsdel: W.I.S.E.R. WOMAN

I haven’t always thought of myself as a writer. I journaled off and on for decades until 2016(ish) when I began my blog. It was only then that writing became a meaningful and regular part of my life.

Although writing was and is an act of self-expression, it quickly became more than that, a way to explore my own growth, to help make sense of being a woman in midlife, and to offer reflections that I hope support others walking alongside me.

In my work as a life coach, I support women in midlife and beyond to navigate change with more ease and compassion. I created The Tap and Write Studio, a safe space for women navigating transitions, ready to release outdated beliefs, connect deeply within, find clarity and inner wisdom through a unique combination of EFT tapping and therapeutic/reflective writing.

I joined Seasoned Voices, an amazing group of writers, because connection, community and supporting one another reflects my personal and professional values. I look forward to adding my voice and reflections to the rich tapestry of experiences we all bring to the page.

Linda Keating: The Precious Days

There was a joke going around social media:

      

       Them: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

       Me: “Retired.”

 

Ba dum dum. In my case, pretty accurate. 

Retiring.  That was the door that would open up space to consciously live the challenges and triumphs of later life. Retirement is a fresh, clean page, an expansive landscape on which to center the everyday fears, longings, musings, and choices that I believe I have in common with so many women of a certain age.

 

Writing. That would be my medium. I have flirted with being “a writer” since middle school. It started with a few poems, then pieces published in the high school newspaper. As a college English major, my passion for writing essays took top priority. Then the work world took over, and my love of writing took a backseat to the tasks of my profession. When I retire, I thought, I’ll have time to write.  

 

Blogging. My first retirement goal was to set up my blog, "The Precious Days.” I write about my retirement as a journey to discovering new meaning in later life, exploring a self free from work identity, hustle culture, and pressure. It’s a blog about slowing down, examining life– past, present, and future–and living those precious days with curiosity, reflection, and gratitude. 

It is my hope that through my blog, women will find ideas and experiences that resonate, along with “a lot of reflection and a little inspiration.”

Tracy Smyth: Travel Bug Tonic

I never set out to be a writer. But somewhere along the way, I realised that writing was a surprisingly effective way to make sense of our beautiful, bewildering world. Travel Bug Tonic emerged from that impulse, as a space to explore how travel and wellbeing braid together, especially as I navigate this unfolding season of midlife where everything seems to be shifting… including me.

Writing is how I slow down enough to hear myself think. It is how I collect the threads of meaning that would otherwise slip past. It is also how I turn experience into something that feels like an invitation rather than advice. On my blog, I experiment with weaving wellbeing into the way I travel, play with awe as a daily practice, and tell the truth about the missteps, detours, and the inevitable misadventures that often leave the deepest impressions and the most useful lessons. 

Mine is not a blog about chasing countries or conquering bucket lists. Instead, I write to uncover curiosity, playfulness, and gratitude for the ‘tonic’ travel offers us, whether it’s across the globe or five minutes from home. 

My hope is that readers will laugh, nod along, and maybe feel nudged to create their own small or big adventures, just as I’m learning to do in this season of life.

                                                         ***

So, what can you expect from this group of Seasoned Voices? With the seasons as our guide, you can expect a collaborated post every few months (the first coming mid-February), where we may write on a common theme or different views on the same topic. We may draw inspiration from our stage in life and each write the truths about growing older, choosing differently, or delving deeper through discussion into topics that matter to us. We refuse to shrink into aging’s stereotypes and we suspect you, our readers, feel the same. We want to begin a conversation, and we would love for you to join in.