I started blogging in February of 2009, anonymously. I had so much I wanted to say and no good forum in which to say it. As a 54 year old woman I didn’t even know what ‘social media’ meant and wasn’t using Facebook or Twitter. But, I knew I wanted to write and I wanted to share my experiences.
Delicacies, my first blog was a very honest, sometimes blunt exploration of my life as a divorced woman, trying to find love and occasionally sex through on-line dating. I talked about my caregiving responsibilities for my ex-husband, my adult sons and all sorts of serious and not so serious matter. Writing under an alias gave me the freedom to tackle any subject and I have had fun doing so.
What I’ve discovered in part from that experience was the power of words to effect change. I speak more from a personal point of view, though I do think I helped other women in similar positions see our commonality as women in the second half of life. Through sharing and education we feel less isolated or frustrated when there are issues in our lives. Certainly, the challenges of menopause, dating, caring for loved ones are difficult when we feel alone and unheard.
Over time, my readership grew and and my desire to become a stronger voice for women’s issues began to impact my life. I changed careers and began working as a freelance writer. A Page of My Own is the blog where I began to develop my promotion tools for this new phase of my life. There I write about a less personal side of my life, and I share my experiences as a writer. But it still wasn’t enough, there was something missing.
I began to think about a new blog, as an avenue to bring more information and resources together, on a variety of topics, for women over the age of 40. A Woman’s Page is to be that vehicle. Here is where I combine my desire to talk about the issues pertinent to women in the second half of life and my love of writing. I have touched on the issue of sexuality, impacted by menopause and overall aging issues, I’ve talked about the need for HIV and STD testing for women and their potential partners, and I’ve talked about educating our daughters and granddaughters about sexuality. I will be doing a series of posts on caregiving in the upcoming days. And, from there…any number of ideas.
What other topics do you want to see addressed here? What kinds of conversations would you welcome that relate to your life?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Educating our children about relationships would be a challenging topic for most of us. I would like you to explore this one, because I doubt that we talk or think about it enough, but we do grow wiser with age and experience and it is one thing on which we might be able to share some ‘benefits of hindsight’ with our young ones.
I have just had this challenge – when my daughter asked my advice about how to handle a crush, while not wanting to damage her steady relationship. She asked questions like
‘is it normal to have a crush on someone else even when you are in a steady relationship’;
‘does this mean that I am not happy with X – I thought I was happy with him – how do I know how I feel now?’;
‘my friends say I should explore this new ‘crush’ but I don’t want to cheat and I don’t want to break up with X’;
‘how should I behave around this new person – I can’t just not see him because of the situation where we are likely to meet each day.’
I found it extraordinary, and honouring, to be asked these questions by my own child – I would never have asked my mother about this kind of thing. I was touched by the opportunity to talk about choice – how we all have feelings that surprise us sometimes, but we don’t have to leap into an affair with someone just because we feel butterflies in our tummy when they walk past.
Wow, that’s a tough question and one that many of us have faced I’m sure. You should be honored that she asked you, you must be very close.
I like the idea of “choice” as a way to address that topic, so many people ‘act’ without realizing they’ve made a choice which will have consequences. Making an informed decision means be responsible for whatever happens.
I will be glad to help explore that topic a little more; I’ve been there myself.