Ooh... i like that. This is very helpful. Thank you. This is exactly like some of the work I do for other people... hence, @TheStoryMedic... and it's good to have that reflected back to me. Dose of my own medicine, as it were. I'm glad I tripped across this, this morning.
I think I've made friends with all the versions of myself finally. I've had to do that work to be able to do what i do for others. It's how to do this next part, turning 60 in a few days (not the aging part, I'm good with that. Always have been)...
it's still having to work to just make ends meet while supporting 2 other adults, rebranding my work while looking for bigger sources of income, hoping some of it is passive - all while having to work harder to feel visible to other people, not to myself. Folks are insisting on giving me their seat on the bus for f!@# sake!
Oh, I felt this in my bones—especially that line about folks offering you a seat like you're some relic. Here's the thing no one tells you: visibility after 60 isn't just about how the world sees you… it's about how you interrupt the stories they've assigned to you.
Here’s something I started doing that changed everything:
When you introduce yourself—on a Zoom call, in your bio, in a casual convo—lead with what you’re building, not what you’ve done.
Not “I used to be a _____” or “I help others _____.”
Say: “Right now, I’m creating ____.”
Or: “I’m in the middle of launching ____.”
Own the present-tense power.
It shifts you, and it jolts them into seeing you as the firestarter you are—not someone they need to pity or park in the back row.
You’re in a reinvention season—and I’ve built some tools around that exact thing. But for now, just try that one move. Watch how it opens up space.
Also: happy early birthday. May this year make noise.
That's a very beautiful and moving thing to offer one's younger self and current self. It is feeling too raw for me at this precise moment but I hope I'll be able to do that very soon.
Once again, I find some hearty food for thought here. Brava!
Ooh... i like that. This is very helpful. Thank you. This is exactly like some of the work I do for other people... hence, @TheStoryMedic... and it's good to have that reflected back to me. Dose of my own medicine, as it were. I'm glad I tripped across this, this morning.
I think I've made friends with all the versions of myself finally. I've had to do that work to be able to do what i do for others. It's how to do this next part, turning 60 in a few days (not the aging part, I'm good with that. Always have been)...
it's still having to work to just make ends meet while supporting 2 other adults, rebranding my work while looking for bigger sources of income, hoping some of it is passive - all while having to work harder to feel visible to other people, not to myself. Folks are insisting on giving me their seat on the bus for f!@# sake!
Oh, I felt this in my bones—especially that line about folks offering you a seat like you're some relic. Here's the thing no one tells you: visibility after 60 isn't just about how the world sees you… it's about how you interrupt the stories they've assigned to you.
Here’s something I started doing that changed everything:
When you introduce yourself—on a Zoom call, in your bio, in a casual convo—lead with what you’re building, not what you’ve done.
Not “I used to be a _____” or “I help others _____.”
Say: “Right now, I’m creating ____.”
Or: “I’m in the middle of launching ____.”
Own the present-tense power.
It shifts you, and it jolts them into seeing you as the firestarter you are—not someone they need to pity or park in the back row.
You’re in a reinvention season—and I’ve built some tools around that exact thing. But for now, just try that one move. Watch how it opens up space.
Also: happy early birthday. May this year make noise.
This resonated deeply either way me. I’m going to try it. Thank you.
That's a very beautiful and moving thing to offer one's younger self and current self. It is feeling too raw for me at this precise moment but I hope I'll be able to do that very soon.