Midlife Musings July
Life Lately, Paris, Trying on a Dream, Ask A Therapist
Welcome to your July edition of Midlife Musings!
I’m delighted to be back in your inbox with this month’s blend of insight and encouragement. This edition is designed to inspire your midlife longings. So I invite you to carve out a little time for it. Light a candle, make a cup of iced tea, and settle in.
Inside this month’s edition, you’ll find:
Life Lately — A peek into my world and current inspirations
Come to Paris with Me — Five weeks of inside peeks and prompts
Reflections on Trying On a Dream — Taking steps forward
Ask A Therapist Q&A — Feeling invisible
Offerings — Support for your midlife journey
As shared in this welcome post, each month I offer reflections tailored to this stage of life. Weekly episodes of Tranquility du Jour Season 2 wrapped up on June 30. I hope you enjoyed this finale!
Looking for more support? The paid subscription is overflowing with multimedia resources. Here’s what current paid subscribers are saying:
Now let’s begin. Take a deep breath, open your heart, and join me for our 18th edition.
PS I hope you enjoyed your previous Midlife Musings newsletters and have a chance to peruse additional posts waiting for you here, too.
Life Lately: A Peek Inside
Please join me in taking a pause to consider your own life lately: highlights, observations, and challenges.
What I’m working on:
Dreaming up real-time, sensory-rich content for Kimberly in Paris—a virtual experience I’m curating from the City of Light. Think: café musings, ballet bloopers, and sidewalk café reflections
Embracing this new chapter at 52 with intentional solitude and creative expression
Continuing my healing journey
What I’m loving:
The post-performance glow (here’s my solo—let me know what you think!) from dancing under stage lights at 51
Gathering notes and quotes for a new book project weaving memoir with midlife musings
My freshly renovated closet—black everything, a few stripes, pops of pink and leopard print
Handwritten notes and snail mail surprises
What I’m consuming:
Reading The French Ingredient by Jane Bertch and No One Tells You This by Glynnis Macnicol
Dreamy Paris playlists and Benson Boone (random combo, no?!)
That mix of nervous anticipation and deep longing that precedes an adventure
Still watching And Just Like That (I know, I know)
What I’m wearing:
A black caftan, ballet flats, a big sun hat, and big sunnies
Packing light layers for café journaling and strolling along the Seine
Leotards for ballet class to top with a midi skirt for being a flâneuse
What I’m noticing:
How everything feels heightened in midlife—joy, grief, beauty, uncertainty, noise
The way the body remembers choreography long after the music fades
Glimmers in small moments: pink petals, an empty page, the sound of French being softly (love how they use their inside voices outside, too!) spoken around me, iced matchas paired with an almond croissant
The spaciousness that comes with letting go and the new dreams that slip in to take their place
Here’s a peek at my June in Review.
Now, your turn. What are you working on, loving, consuming, wearing, and noticing? Spend some time with your journal and check in. Your soul will thank you!
Let’s Rendevous… in Paris
For five weeks this summer, I’m trading my usual routine (a sultry DC summer) for cobblestone streets, corner cafés, flaky croissants, ballet classes en français (send good thoughts!!), and French lessons at the Alliance Française de Paris.
And I’d love to bring you with me—virtually, of course.
But this isn’t a guidebook. And it’s not a glossy highlight reel. It’s a real-time unfolding of daily life in the City of Light. The beauty. The messiness. The mishaps. The wonder.
Inside Kimberly in Paris, you’ll receive:
⚜️Videos + audio notes from the heart of Paris
💌Love letters and reflections straight from my journal
🩰Glimpses of ballet class, café musings, and tiny delights
🎀Treasures and tips to inspire everyday beauty
🌸Optional: postcard, live event, and La Vie Parisienne digital course
You’re invited to choose your adventure (or “boarding pass” as Coterina Tammy coined it): Petit Voyage or Grand Voyage. I hope to spend time with you over the next five weeks—no passport required!
Trying on a Dream
Reflections on trying on something new.
Tomorrow, I’ll board a plane with a suitcase full of black dresses, ballet slippers, and books to begin a five-week adventure in Paris.
I’m not moving for good. I don’t speak French fluently. I don’t know exactly what I’ll find. But I’m going anyway.
Why? Because I believe in saying yes to what stirs the soul.
This isn’t just a getaway—it’s a lifestyle experiment. I’m exploring what a part-time Parisian life could look like. It isn’t about checking boxes or sightseeing. It’s about slowing down, savoring everyday beauty, and testing out a longtime dream.
There will be café journaling, language lessons, ballet classes en français, audio musings, client sessions, Coterie calls, and a lot of getting lost (hopefully in the best ways).
What makes this feel especially tender is that I’ve spent the past year navigating healing and identity shifts. Maybe you’ve been there, too. In a season where the ground beneath you shifts and you’re left wondering what’s next. This trip is my way of answering that question and not with a plan, but with a big ol’ sense of presence. With a willingness to wander.
It’s vulnerable. It’s thrilling. It’s a little impractical. And that’s exactly why I must go.
We’re often told that midlife is the time to play it safe. But what if it’s the perfect time to shake things up? To stretch beyond routine? To let curiosity lead?
This isn’t just about Paris. It’s about your leap. Whatever that may be.
Maybe it’s booking the trip you’ve been dreaming about. Sharing your writing, art, or voice with others. Enrolling in a class that both excites and intimidates you. Reaching out to someone you miss. Or starting over. Again.
Putting yourself out there doesn’t require perfection. Just small steps. And maybe a bold red lip.
💗 A Midlife Prompt:
What literal or metaphorical journey is calling you right now? What would it feel like to follow that dream?
The adventure doesn’t belong only to the young or carefree. It belongs to the brave. The becoming. The ones willing to wander and wonder.
It belongs to you.
Earlier this week I received a text from a friend that ended with, “Paris is so looking forward to your return. I know. She speaks to me often.” I’m listening.
With a touch of rosé,
Kimberly
PS I’ll be sharing real-time Paris peeks, behind-the-scenes reflections, and sensory inspiration through Kimberly in Paris. Join me there if you’d like a gentle dose of beauty and becoming from the City of Light.
Ask A Therapist: Why Do I Feel Invisible?
Q: Ask a Therapist: Why do I feel invisible in midlife?
A: Answer: It’s something I hear often—this ache of not feeling seen. After years of tending to others, building careers, and holding it all together, many women in midlife share a sense of fading into the background.
Our youth-obsessed culture rarely celebrates the richness that deepens with age and that can leave us questioning our place.
But here’s the reframe: this invisibility isn’t a reflection of your worth—it’s a mirror of how our culture views aging. Midlife is actually a powerful invitation to reconnect with yourself. To be seen, first, by you.
What do you need now? What stirs your soul? Where can you take up more space, soften into your truth, or simply be without needing to explain?"
Reflection prompt: Where in your life are you ready to be seen again… by yourself or others?
Offerings
A variety of offerings to nourish your soul
Digital Courses to nourish your midlife soul—explore the 5 TDJ Tenets, infuse your days with Parisian flair (no matter where you live), discover tools to support your mental health, and journey through Year of Tranquility with weekly lessons designed to inspire balance and beauty.
How I Can Support You
Come to Paris with Me
Subscribe to my Private Substack Collection
Join the Coterie Waitlist
Shop tees and bags (Midlife is the new black tee shown below)
About Me
Hi, I’m Kimberly! I’m a psychotherapist in Washington, DC, author of seven lifestyle books (the next one’s all about midlife), and host of the Tranquility Coterie. I’m smitten with my 50s, ballet, pigs, pugs, and orangutans (a curious combo, but true!). I help women cultivate more balance, beauty, and tranquility in the second half of life. More at kimberlywilson.com and @tranquilitydujour.
With every offering, a portion is donated to Pigs & Pugs Project, Borneo Orangutan Survival, and 1% for the Planet. Thank you for being part of the impact!
I’m so excited for you and your French adventure! See you in Paris! 🇫🇷🥂💗