Wise Women Appear

Finally, here I was with the time to write and focus on my dream, but I didn’t know where or how to begin. My friends and family were three thousand miles away as I stood on the ground of my childhood, head spinning.

For grounding, I sought out yoga and was immediately blessed with a role model. Joanne VandenHengel, instructor and owner of 3rd Street Yoga and a midlife woman with her own story of reinvention. I wasn’t alone! She shared with me how she orchestrated her transformation from school teacher of thirty years to yoga instructor in her own studio. I stuck to her like glue hoping her wisdom would rub off.

A light bulb moment

Joanne introduced me to another midlife woman who had reinvented herself. Peg Stewart, editor of the Green Tree Times. Peg shared her story of how, at fifty, she created a new life as the editor of a small but thriving community newspaper. And then there was another woman “I just had to meet.” When that woman referred me to yet another, the light bulb went off.

I went back and formally interviewed these women, capturing pure wisdom and inspiration. These new friends were intrigued. No one had ever asked them to talk about their lives. They told their friends online. And that’s when my real journey began. One I never could have imagined.

Read One year, 50,000 miles and seventy wise women

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