Midlife Musings March

Life Lately, Healing Meets Blooming, Ask A Therapist, Happenings, Pig Day Pics

Welcome to the March edition of Midlife Musings!

I’m delighted to be back in your inbox with this month’s dose of insight, encouragement, and a gentle reminder that midlife is a season of renewal and self-discovery.

As shared in this welcome post, each month I offer reflections and inspiration tailored to this stage of life. Plus, don’t miss the weekly episodes of Tranquility du Jour Season 2 on all things midlife magic—creativity, wellness, and the art of living well. Looking for even more? The paid subscription is overflowing with resources.

Inside this month’s edition, you’ll find:

• Life Lately – A peek into my world and what’s inspiring me now

• Word of the Year Update – Healing with a dose of blooming

• Ask A Therapist Q&A – Perfectionism & how to work with it

• Happenings – Offerings to nourish your midlife journey

• Paws & Pints – A Celebration of National Pig 🐷 Day

This month we’re celebrating one year of Midlife Musings! Join me for a special Substack Live from Paris on Thursday, March 27 as we toast to a year of creativity and connection. I’d love for you to join the celebration!

Now, grab your journal, pour a warm cup of tea, and take a deep, grounding breath. Let’s step into our 13th edition of Midlife Musings—a space for reflection, inspiration, and embracing what’s next.

Happy 1st Anniversary, Midlife Musings community!

PS I hope you enjoyed your previous Midlife Musings newsletters and have a chance to peruse additional posts waiting for you here, too.

PPS Clicking the heart at the top or bottom of this email makes it easier for others to find Midlife Musings. 💗 Oh, and it also warms my heart! Please hit reply and let me know what’s resonating with you this month.

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:

• Advanced Tranquility Chapter 1 on Wellness

• My solo to Enter One by Sol Seppy for June’s International Adult Ballet Festival

• Recording more Season 2 podcast interviews for you

What I’m loving:

• Late night snuggles with Mookie the pug

• Exploring new-to-me DC spots like Quill & Crumbs and Cafe Cino in Plantr

• Paris dreaming and preparation for a trip in 10 days—ballet classes in French, fashion exhibits, tea sips, Lenny Kravitz concert

What I’m consuming:

• Watching White Lotus

• Drinking AG1 and Calm magnesium powder

• Reading Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—And How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari, Heal Your Nervous System by Dr. Linnea Passaler, and All Fours by Miranda July

What I’m wearing:

• Pink Beats headphones

• Pink nail color

• Light pink leopard-print scarf

What I’m noticing:

• Pink blooms popping on trees around DC

• Longer days and the warmer temps that nurture the soul

• A continuous stirring in my belly around change

Here’s a peek at my February in Review and a recent list of favorite simple pleasures. 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!

Healing Meets Blooming

Continued reflections on my word of the year, healing.

There’s a moment in spring when the world shifts. I can feel it coming. The air warms, the light lingers a little longer, and pink buds begin to open all around DC. Blooming is quiet at first—almost imperceptible—but then, one day, everything feels different.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about blooming as a way of healing. Not the dramatic, bursting-into-color kind, but the slow, steady opening that happens after loss, after transition, after a season of stillness.

Healing isn’t about returning to who we used to be. It’s about becoming. A slow, intentional unfolding that has been waiting beneath the surface unnoticed or ignored.

For years, I poured myself into everything outside of me—relationships, work, rescue pets, responsibilities, the endless to-do list that can consume a life. It’s easy to forget that beneath all of it, we carry seeds waiting for light. To be watered. To be tended to.

Maybe it’s a creative passion left untouched.
A sense of adventure dulled by routine.
The ability to sit with oneself—not as an absence, but as a presence.

Change has a way of stripping things down to their roots. And in that raw, uncertain space, I’m realizing that there are things within me that still long to bloom.

But this kind of blooming isn’t rushed. It asks for something different. Patience, gentleness, a willingness to sit in the discomfort of the in-between.

So I’m starting small:
🌸 Waking up early just to sit with the quiet.
🌸 Returning to books that once made me feel most like myself (hello, The Artist’s Way).
🌸 Creating without expectation, just for the joy of making.
🌸 Letting go of things that no longer feel like me.
🌸 Spending lots of time with my journal so I can better understand my thoughts.

No grand gestures. Just a quiet tending to what is growing within me.

I don’t know yet what I’m fully blooming into. And honestly? That used to scare me. But I think I’m learning that maybe it’s okay not to know. Maybe it’s not about having an answer but about trusting the process. Trusting that what is meant to grow will.

I’m no longer waiting for an external situation to bring the sunshine. I’m trying to be both the gardener and the bloom—tending, nourishing, making space for what’s next.

If you’re also in a season of healing, I invite you to ask:

✨ What within me has been waiting for light?
✨ Where can I soften and open, even just a little?
✨ How can I be more patient with my own unfolding?

Because blooming isn’t about forcing. It’s about trusting the season, trusting yourself, and knowing that when it’s time, you will be ready. I hope you’ll join me on this continued journey of self-exploration as we both look within.

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For a two-hour virtual event focused on blooming, check out the April 12 Seasonal Soirée.
For a four-week in-person healing group in DC, peruse The Art of Midlife: A Transformational Salon Series starting April 3.

Ask A Therapist: Perfectionism

Q: I struggle with perfectionism and self-doubt. How can I let go of the pressure to “get it right”?

A: Ah, I see you! Perfectionism often stems from a fear of failure or the need for external validation. The key is shifting from “How can I be perfect?” to “How can I be present?” Growth happens through messy, imperfect action. Not flawless execution, my love.

Here are a few simple ways to start releasing the pressure:

✅ Reframe mistakes as learning opportunities – Instead of thinking I failed, try I’m learning something valuable.

✅ Set “good enough” goals – Instead of aiming for perfection, ask: What’s a version of this that feels doable and fulfilling?

✅ Try the 80% rule – If a task is 80% done and serves its purpose, release it instead of overworking the last 20%.

✅ Limit comparison traps – Unfollow, mute, or take breaks from social media that triggers self-doubt.

✅ Take small, imperfect steps – Action builds confidence more than overthinking ever will. Try something new before you feel completely ready.

✅ Use self-compassion as your default – Ask yourself: What would I say to a friend in this situation? Then offer yourself the same kindness.

Perfectionism doesn’t have to define you. Let gentle progress guide the way instead. I’m right here cheering you on! What small step can you take today?

Happenings

A variety of offerings to nourish your soul

Substack Live from Paris on March 27 at 12:30 pm ET

Seasonal Soirée on April 12

Midlife Salon Series on April 3

Annual Substack Membership

Paws & Pints: A National Pig Day Celebration

Learn more about this Pigs & Pugs Project event and our mission here. Oh, and here’s an adorable reel, too!

How I Can Support You

Tranquility Coterie yearlong program (waitlist)

Download a digital course and start learning today

Subscribe to my Private Substack Collection for more midlife tools

Browse my books and planners

1:1 Coaching & Therapy

About Me

Hello! I'm a psychotherapist in Washington, DC, author of seven lifestyle books (next one on midlife), and host of the Tranquility Coterie. I’m in love with my 50s, ballet, pigs, pugs, and orangutans (random mix, I know!). I support women in finding more balance, beauty, and tranquility during this second half of life. More on my website and on Instagram.

A portion of all offerings support Pigs & Pugs Project, Borneo Orangutan Survival, and 1% for the Planet. Thank you for helping to make a difference!